Bus Leagues Express: August 30

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Corrigan fires perfect game: It’s the first time Palm Beach starter Chris Corrigan has thrown more than six innings in a game, and he made it count. Corrigan threw the first Florida State League perfect game in 11 years in Palm Beach’s 8-0 defeat of hapless Charlotte. Corrigan, who wasn’t even a regular starter in his professional career until this season, struck out nine batters as he retired all 27 batters he faced. At 24 years old, he’s likely not anything more than an organizational soldier, but the perfect game is a tremendous accomplishment no matter the level. Per Patrick Kurish (@PKurish) on Twitter, it’s just the second time a Major League club and an affiliate were both perfect game victims in one season, the last being Atlanta in 2004. It’s the second no-hitter thrown against a Rays minor league affiliate this year, following Indianapolis’ no-hitter of Durham in April.

Hamilton leads Cal League All-Stars: It’s no surprise that Billy Hamilton was named Cal League MVP despite only playing 82 games in Bakersfield. The impact he made was enormous; after finishing 41-29 in the first half with Hamilton playing in just about every game, and they’re 10 games under .500 in the second half, largely without Hamilton. Adam Duvall joins Hamilton on the left side of the team’s infield after setting the San Jose franchise record for home runs. For the second straight year, a Modesto pitcher was named Pitcher of the Year, this time Christian Bergman. Bergman was 4th in the league in ERA, 3rd in WHIP and 2nd in innings.

Prospects top Midwest League All-Star team: Like the Texas League All-Stars, the Midwest League team has some future big leaguers. They’re led by the power hitting Miguel Sano who leads the league with 27 homers while no one else even has 20 yet. He’s joined on the diamond by Austin Hedges and Francisco Lindor at catcher and shortstop respectively. These two could be some of the best defensive players coming out of the 2011 draft, and they’re going to contribute at the plate too. Lansing’s Justin Nicolino highlights the pitching staff after leading the league in ERA and ranking in the top 10 in strikeouts despite throwing fewer innings than all the pitchers in front of him.

Northwest League announces All-Stars: This is the last year of the Northwest League’s midseason All-Star Game hiatus, and with some of the talent that’s passed through this season, it’s a shame this roster won’t actually be taking the field. Seattle’s draft haul has been particularly productive early on, and their affiliate is represented well on this team. Everett lands three position players on the roster, starting with #3 overall pick Mike Zunino even though he doesn’t have enough at-bats to qualify for leaderboards. He’s joined by Player of the Year Patrick Kivlehan, and Taylor Ard who is for some reason both the first baseman and DH.

Berrios dominates again to kick off Appy League postseason: Twins first rounder J.O. Berrios has been arguably, perhaps even unarguably, the top performer out of the 2012 draft class so far, and that carried over to the start of the Appalachian League postseason Wednesday. Berrios struck out seven in six scoreless innings, only allowing one hit and one walk in Elizabethton’s 4-0 win over Danville. Adam Walker had three hits including a 2nd inning two run homer to start the scoring for the E-Twins, and they rode Berrios to the win from there. Pitching ruled the day on the other side of the bracket as well. Johnson City defeated Burlington 2-1, and both the Twins and Cardinals have a valuable one game lead in the three game semi-finals.

GCL Pirates take championship: It’s one of the last leagues to start, and it’s the first to finish. The Gulf Coast League season wrapped up yesterday afternoon as the GCL Pirates beat the GCL Red Sox 5-2 to sweep the three game series. Once again, the Red Sox offense didn’t arrive on the scene until it was too late. By the time they scored, they were already down 5-0 and couldn’t dig out of the hole they created against the tough Pirates pitching staff. Luis Urena‘s 4th inning three run homer proved to provide all the offense the Pirates needed, and Tyler Glasnow‘s strong start set the tone for their pitching staff. Glasnow struck out seven batters in four scoreless innings. This was the first championship in GCL Pirates history.

On tap today

MiLB.TV schedule

Arizona League playoffs kick off

Delgado, Gilmartin pitch for Gwinnett in doubleheader

Kevin Gausman looks to adjust to high-A

Andrew Heaney looks for first low-A win