By winning last night, Eugene secured a spot in the Northwest League playoffs. Despite having the worst season record in the Northwest League, Eugene will face the Hillsboro Hops in a best of three series starting on Wednesday night. Hillsboro’s .667 overall winning percentage is the best in the league by a wide margin, and a lot better than Eugene’s .405.
This is not an equal match up by any stretch of the imagination. But … it is only a three game set. We know that on any given night anyone can beat anyone. It happens all the time. And baseball does have a way of sneering at obvious story lines. In a short series between a juggernaut and an underdog, the smart money probably stays on the sidelines.
No matter how the series goes, it means that we’ll get at least two more minor league games after today. That may be all we get; today is the regular season finale across the minors.
Triple A: Iowa Cubs
Round Rock 7, Iowa 5
Chatwood put up zeroes in the first and second, but couldn’t get out of the third.
Tyler Chatwood: 2.1 IP, 5 R, 2 H, 5 BB, 1 K
Dakota Mekkes: 1 IP, 1 BB, 1 K
Danny Hultzen: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 K
Allen Webster: 1 IP, 1 H
Duane Underwood: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 K
Stephen Bruno: 1 for 4, 2B
Jason Vosler: 2 for 4, 2B
Jacob Hannemann: 2 for 4, HR
Double A: Tennessee Smokies
Pensacola 4, Tennessee 3
The Smokies fell to five games under. 500 for the year.
Michael Rucker: 5 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 4 BB, 4 K
Wyatt Short: 1 IP, 1 K
Preston Morrison: 1 IP, 1 H, 2 K
P.J. Higgins: 2 for 4
Wynton Bernard: 1 for 4, SB
Eddy Martinez: 1 for 4, HR
Tyler Alamo: 2 for 4, SB
High A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Myrtle Beach 2, Frederick 1
Frederick 8, Myrtle Beach 4 in ten innings
The first game was the completion of Saturday’s suspended contest. The second game was scheduled for seven innings.
Bryan Hudson: 5 IP, 1 H, 5 K
Manuel Rondon: 2 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 K
Roberto Caro: 0 for 4, SB
Christian Donahue: 2 for 3, 2B
Game Two
Alex Lange: 4.2 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 6 BB, 2 K
Erich Uelmen: 3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 4 K
Roberto Caro: 1 for 4, BB, SB
Jared Young: 2 for 5, HR
Wladimir Galindo: 1 for 5, 2B
Zach Davis: 2 for 3, BB, 2 SB
Aramis Ademan: 0 for 4, SB
Low A: South Bend Cubs
Great Lakes 5, South Bend 3
The Cubs led until the seventh inning.
Erling Moreno: 5 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 K
Austin Filiere: 1 for 2, 3 BB
Brandon Hughes: 2 for 4
Clayton Daniel: 2 for 4, 2B
Chris Singleton: 2 for 4, 2 2B
Short Season A: Eugene Emeralds
Eugene 4, Boise 2
Two runs in the ninth were enough to clinch a playoff slot.
Jack Patterson: 5 IP, 2 R, 6 H, 2 BB, 6 K
Sean Barry: 2.2 IP, 2 BB, 3 K
Ivan Medina: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K
Grant Fennell: 2 for 4, HR, BB
Nelson Velazquez: 2 for 5
Luke Reynolds: 2 for 4, BB
Levi Jordan: 2 for 4, BB
Jonathan Sierra: 2 for 5
Fernando Kelli: 2 for 4, HR
Caleb Knight: 1 for 3, BB
Other Notes
Jacob Hannemann hit his sixth homer. There is no room for him on the 40-man roster, but one day I would like to see Hannemann get a crack at the late season defensive outfielder / designated pinch runner role. I suspect he’d do fairly well in it, even without the blazing speed the Cubs often look for in that capacity. I don’t see anyway it happens this year, though.
Chatwood faced the minimum through two innings thanks to a pair of double plays, but again it was walks that killed him in the third. Two walks, then a triple. Then two more walks, then a hit by pitch. Then he got a strikeout for the first out and was lifted immediately after.
Eddy Martinez now has twelve homers on the season. He is two shy of his career high.
As you probably already realized, there is only one way a team can lose by four on the road in extra innings. Sure enough, Myrtle Beach got beat on a walk off grand slam.
NEWSLETTER
