Bus Leagues Express: September 15

Top stories

BayBears win championship behind Bolsinger: Despite losing key players like Trevor Bauer, Tyler Skaggs and Marc Krauss over the course of the season, Mobile captured the Southern League Championship with a 1-0 win over Jackson. After James Paxton dominated them in game one, the BayBears took three straight to close out the series. Michael Bolsinger struck out five in seven scoreless innings to cap off a solid season with a 3.35 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 115.2 innings across two levels. The only run in the game came on a solo home run by Jonathan Griffin, the huge first baseman who only had five regular season games with Mobile before the postseason started. Between Visalia and Mobile, he had 28 home runs on the season.

Tourists travel to Greensboro to win South Atlantic League Championship: After a game one loss, Asheville’s offense scored 29 while winning the last three games to win the series. In Friday’s series clinching win, they beat Greensboro 10-4, punctuated by a five run 7th inning to really cement their lead. Early in the game, they scored a couple of their runs with solo homers by Tyler Massey and Jordan Ribera and chased starter Josh Hodges out of the game after just 4.1 innings. The 7th inning runs were particularly devastating, all scored with two outs. Ribera had four RBI and was a triple shy of the cycle. Even though this is one of the longest running franchises in the minors, it’s just their 6th championship and first since 1984.

Six years to the day, Missoula is crowned champions again: On September 14th 2006, Missoula defeated Idaho Falls 7-2 to capture their second Pioneer League Championship. Six years later, they won their third. Missoula cruised to a 10-0 win over Ogden in the decisive game three of the finals thanks to a lot of early offense and effective starting pitching. Before Yoimer Camacho could even take the mound in the bottom of the 1st, he found himself up 5-0 as the Osprey knocked Ross Stripling, one of the top pitchers in the league. Five runs were on the board as the first six batters reached base before an out was recorded. While Camacho was cruising to a five scoreless inning appearance, he received a pair of two run homers by Jake Lamb and Yosbel Gutierrez. Along with Mobile, Missoula makes two Arizona affiliates to win championships Friday.

Martinez shuts down Omaha in crucial game three: In just his second appearance in the majors three years ago, Joe Martinez was hit in the head by a line drive and suffered serious injuries. Since then, he’s only made 17 appearances since, including one this year for Arizona. He spent the rest of 2012 in Reno and attempting to conquer the tough conditions for pitching in the PCL. In game three of the PCL Championship, he came through with maybe his best start of the year as Reno took a 2-1 series lead over Omaha with a 3-0 win. Martinez threw seven scoreless innings and struck out seven and took advantage of some early run support. The Aces scored all three runs in the 2nd inning on the strength of two home runs, a two run shot by A.J. Pollock and a solo homer by Tyler Kuhn. Tonight, Charles Brewer will take on veteran Doug Davis, two starters looking to rebound from rough postseason starts in the previous round.

Thunder keep series alive in slugfest: Down 2-0 returning home, Trenton would have to win three straight to capture the Eastern League Championship. A relentless offense helped them keep the series alive in an 11-7 win over Akron Friday. After the Aeros got to starter Mikey O’Brien for a run in the top of the 1st, the Thunder hammered the rehabbing Carlos Carrasco for four runs of their own, mostly due to a three run homer by Zoilo Almonte. Akron would then score six straight to retake the lead, but not to be outdone, Trenton would score seven unanswered runs to close out the game. T.J. House struggled in relief of Carrasco, allowing five runs in 3.2 innings while the Trenton bullpen was able to hold Akron scoreless over the last four innings.

Lancaster cracks Modesto again: For the second time in as many nights, Lancaster’s offense has felt at home at John Thurman Field, not known as a hitting environment. They defeated Modesto 11-2 to take a command 2-0 series lead in the best-of-five Cal League Championship, and they’ll only need to win one out of three games at home to win it all. With four runs already on the scoreboard, Lancaster really put the game away in the top of the 5th when the all-or-nothing Telvin Nash crushed a three run homer to extend the lead to seven. It was just one of seven extra base hits for the JetHawks that also included three doubles by Andrew Aplin. On the mound, 2012 acquisition Blair Walters cruised again, striking out six while only allowing a run in five innings. Modesto is undefeated in elimination games this postseason, so they’re not expected to go down easily.

On tap today

MiLB.TV schedule

MiLB playoffs continue