Bus Leagues Express: August 23

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Cosart returns to rotation: After going on the DL for blisters again this season, Jarred Cosart returned last week with an appearance out of the bullpen before returning to the rotation Wednesday. He was solid, pitching five scoreless innings in Oklahoma City’s 6-3 win over Iowa. He struck out three and generated a lot of groundouts, and he only allowed two hits and a walk. Despite only walking one batter his strike percentage indicates his command probably wavered throughout the start. Only 32 of his 63 pitches were strikes, well below the 66% pitchers like to be at. While his stuff is still there, Cosart has not been the same pitcher since he missed the second half of his low-A season with Lakewood in 2010.

Lookouts send fans ducking for cover: Chattanooga’s 11-1 win over Tennessee Wednesday had to be satisfying for two reasons. One, they hit and pitched well. Two, it gave them a little more breathing room as they try to win the SL’s North division second half crown. The Lookouts hit six home runs accounting for 10 of their runs off a beleaguered Smokies staff, all behind top prospect Zach Lee who made his longest start since being promoted to AA. Lee completed seven innings, allowing just one run. Lee has rattled off four straight quality starts and has a 1.87 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in that span. Each Chattanooga home run was hit by a different player: Nick Buss, J.T. Wise, Blake Smith, Jake Lemmerman, Tommy Coyle and Gorman Erickson.

Matzek roller coaster ascending: Tyler Matzek‘s entire professional career has been a wild ride with more peaks and valleys than any other minor leaguer in that span. He was at his best Wednesday night as Modesto defeated rival Stockton 6-1. Matzek struck out 10 and walked none in seven scoreless innings, and the evidence suggests it was the best start of his rocky career. It was the second time in his career he’s thrown seven scoreless innings (his career high is eight with one run allowed), the second time he’s struck out double digits, and it’s only the second time he hasn’t walked a batter, the first being his previous start that only lasted two innings. It’s impossible to draw any conclusions as is the case with every Matzek start, and he still has a start or two to build momentum for 2013.

Hagerstown getting closer to securing Suns long-term: Municipal Stadium is one of the oldest in Minor League Baseball, and Hagerstown is moving closer to starting a new chapter of professional baseball in the city. What’s described as a large, private contribution to the team has given positive momentum in negotiations between the team and city to keep them around long-term and in a new facility. Many details still need to be ironed out though because 2/3 of the financing will still have to come from the public sector, some from local sources and some from the state level.

Tri-City clinches Stedler division: Although this probably actually took place Tuesday night, the Tri-City ValleyCats officially clinched the New York Penn League’s Stedler division for the 4th time in team history. They lost Tuesday, but after everyone woke up yesterday, they realized they clinched the division thanks to holding the tiebreaker over second place Connecticut. The ValleyCats lead the pace in the NYPL with the best record, and they’re looking for their second championship in three years.

GCL Cardinals clinch playoff berth: Although they haven’t played since Monday and haven’t won since the 17th, the GCL Cardinals clinched the first playoff spot in the Gulf Coast League. With their magic number down to one and their game against the GCL Nationals postponed, the Cardinals earned the division win thanks to the Astros’ loss in game one of their doubleheader. The GCL Marlins have had an ironclad lock on the GCL South division, winning it three straight years, and this is the first time the Cardinals have made the playoffs since they returned to the league in 2007.

On tap today

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