Cleveland Sports Forum

Mitch Longo hits a home run to give Lynchburg a 2-0 lead. I might have to bump him up to 5th on my list.

Hillcats up 4-3 in 7th.

Ah, Hillcats lose a heartbreaker in the 9th. 10-9.

So Lynchburg entered the 9th with a 9-6 lead. Angulo allowed a bunch of hits, a walk, and some runs. Adam Plutko was brought in to save the game, and he blew it...
Like I said, nothing unfair about sending Plutko down for this playoff series. Helped the Keys out.
Civale started off well but went to pot. 6 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 8 K.
Castro 1-4 with solo homer and a walk.
Collins 1-4 and a walk.
Longo 2-5, had a 2 run homer and a 2 run single. 4 RBI.

Game 2 tomorrow at 6:30 in Lynchburg.

The Scrappers game was rained out tonight. With the way it shook out Vermont got home field. Game 1 will be Saturday in Vermont.

Wow, Adam Plutko blew it in A ball! I think he drops down the prospect list a bit, and drops off the 40 man roster.
I guess it's time to check out which minor leaguers need to be added this winter or lose in the Rule 5 draft. college draftees with 4 years in the system, high school and International guys with 5 years.

Minor leaguers noted in action in the majors by BA:

CLE MAJ Allen, Greg LF 2 1 1 2 .250 HR (1)
CLE MAJ Diaz, Yandy 3B 2 1 0 0 .255 BB (21), SB (1)
CLE MAJ Gonzalez, Erik 2B 4 2 2 4 .281 2 HR (4)
CLE MAJ Mejia, Francisco PH-DH 1 0 1 0 .286
CLE MAJ Zimmer, Bradley CF 5 1 1 0 .246 2B (15)
CLE MAJ Armstrong, Shawn 1 0 0 0 0 0 4.38

The Baseball America Minor League All-Star Team is selected by the Baseball America staff. It leans heavily on statistical production, but also weighs prospect pedigree and age.

Mejia makes the second team behind 22 year old Danny Jansen, a AAA blue jay player. "Jansen never played more than 57 games in any of his first four pro seasons, but he finally stayed healthy and began wearing glasses this season. The result was a meteoric rise across three levels, culminating in Triple-A. Jansen's .884 OPS was best in the minors among catchers with at least 400 plate appearances, and he was the only full-time backstop to record more walks (41) than strikeouts (40). Defensively, Jansen committed four errors and allowed just four passed balls, though he threw out just 24 percent of basestealers."

McKenzie makes neither first or second team, behind 10 other starting pitchers. Since "statistical production" heavily influenced these, I suppose his over 3. ERA kept him off the list. This does not mean BA rates him behind 10 other starting pitchers in their prospect list.

Mills Cup Canceled; League will have Co-Champs

Hillcats will play at home Friday at 6:30 in must-win game

By Lynchburg Hillcats | September 8, 2017 12:12 PM ET

With powerful Hurricane Irma approaching the continental US, the Carolina League has decided to cancel the 2017 Mills Cup Championship Series, as two other MiLB leagues have done. This comes by agreement of the four postseason clubs. The winners of the two Division Series will be declared co-champions. It was previously announced that those series were shortened to best-of three.

After being delayed a day, both Division Series got underway Thursday. The Frederick Keys and Down East Wood Ducks took the openers at their home parks. Play moves Friday to Myrtle Beach in the South and Lynchburg (6:30 p.m.) in the Northern Division. Play could end as early Friday in Lynchburg; if needed, Game 3 would be there Saturday as well. If a third game is necessary in the South, it would immediately follow Friday's 5:05 Game 2 at Myrtle Beach.

"This was not an easy decision," said League President John Hopkins Friday. "While much remains uncertain with this storm, it seems clear that there will be major damage wherever it goes, as there already has been in some Caribbean nations. Our immediate area remains at risk, too.

"Our game has a number of people who call Florida and the Caribbean home. With the prospect of potentially devastating impact, it just felt right to call it a season after this weekend's first round," Hopkins continued.

This is the second time the League has had co-champions. In 1999, Hurricane Floyd forced an evacuation of Myrtle Beach during the Mills Cup finals. The Pelicans shared the title with the Wilmington Blue Rocks.

Indians can help the Hillcats by recalling Adam Plutko, preventing him from blowing another one. Perhaps giving Andrew Miller a two-day rehab assignment to Lynchburg?

milb.com has McKenzie working for Lynchburg today, with Civale changing sides and starting for the Keys. I don't think we finalized a deal with the Orioles last night or this morning did we? Even if we did it would be kind of surprising if Frederick started Civale on no days rest.

McK did start and must have done very well as Lynchburg wins 4-0!

So Lynchburg wins 4-0 to tie the series at 1-1 in a best of 3. The winner of game 3 tomorrow will be co-champs.

McKenzie did indeed do very well. Outstanding even... 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 10 K. ... That looks like the line of Indians pitchers recently. He'll fit in nicely.

DeMasi, who was originally supposed to start tomorrow night, ended up coming in and pitching the last 2 innings. No hits, walks, or runs. 3 K. I guess they didn't want to take any chances after last nights meltdown.

I would assume Hartson will start the series finale now.

Haggerty 1-4 with double.
Castro 0-4
Calica 2-3 with a walk, a run, and 2 stolen bases.
Collins 0-3 with a walk.
Longo 3-4 with a run and an RBI
Loopstok 1-4 with 2 RBI

milb.com still shows DeMasi.

5 days ago Sean Brady got the start, so he could be the man, Of course everyone, but McKenzie and Civale will be available. For the Hillcats best shot, I hope Plutko has returned to Cleveland.

You could be right. We will probably see both pitching.

I'll go out on a limb and say we will not see Plutko...

Scrappers and Hillcats are both about to get underway. Hentges starting for MV and Hartson for Lyn.