Eugene and Myrtle Beach Reach Finals, South Bend Still Alive in MiLB Playoffs
Things are looking good for some Cubs affiliates in the minor league playoffs as both Eugene and Myrtle Beach clinched berths in their respective league championships. Meanwhile, South Bend will complete the final game in the opening round series today after play was suspended yesterday due to rain tied at 3-3 in the 8th.
The first round of the respective playoff sets have already seen many strong performances from Cubs prospects.
Trevor Clifton shut down the Salem Red Sox on Wednesday with a six-inning gem that saw him allow just one run on three hits. Clifton looked vicious, attacking the zone early and using all three of his pitches to keep hitters off balance. He struck out six and only walked one on the night.
Duane Underwood was moved from South Bend to Myrtle Beach in his rehab and he made his second start for the Pelicans on Friday. He gave up one run over five innings and left the game trailing by one.
The bullpens of all three teams have been fantastic all week. In the Eugene series, Hillsboro had men on all night but the Emeralds pen was able to coax double plays and get out of it. Casey Bloomquist pitched three scoreless for South Bend Thursday night, while Duncan Robinson did not allow an earned run in four innings for Eugene.
Erling Moreno’s curveball was a thing of beauty on Friday as it baffled Hillsboro hitters all night long.
For most of the year, Pedro Silverio had an ERA of 6+ for Eugene. In August, it sank into the 4’s. He pitched his best game of the year Thursday, allowing no runs while walking four. The highlight stat of the night was that he struck out eight batters.
The top of Ems’ lineup seems to be waking up. DJ Wilson, Yeiler Peguero, Chris Pieters and Wladimir Galindo, who drove in both runs last night, have regained their mid-season form.
David Bote and Jeffrey Baez both went 2 for 5 with 2 RBIs on Tuesday to pace the Pelicans’ offense.
Tyler Alamo’s bat woke up with a go-ahead home run on Thursday and 2 runs so far in South Bend’s suspended game. Hopefully that hot streak continues when it his turn again today. Connor Myers is an exciting player as you will ever see. Like Alamo, he is performing well in the suspended game, going 2-for-3 with 2 RBI, including a blazing triple.
Matt Rose just crushed a ball on Thursday putting the game out of reach with a 3 run shot that might be still going somewhere in Michigan.
South Bend will resume its suspended game at 3 central. The winner advances to the Midwest League semis to take on the winner of Great Lakes on Bowling Green starting tomorrow.
Myrtle Beach starts the five-game Mills Cup series at home Saturday night versus Lynchburg, a very good team in the Indians organization. Erick Leal will take the bump tonight for the Pelicans.
Eugene begins their best-of-three series at Everett tomorrow at 8pm CT. The series continues in Eugene on Monday and, if necessary, Tuesday as well. Dylan Cease will likely start Sunday or Monday for Eugene. That should be very exciting.
