Bus Leagues Express: September 6

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Bundy pitches Bowie to series lead in playoff debut: Dylan Bundy has dominated all season, so it’s only natural that he would be sharp in the postseason. 63 of his 93 pitches were for strikes, and they lasted him six innings in which he only allowed one run and struck out seven. The only run he allowed was a solo home run by Matt Lawson, once traded in a package for Cliff Lee. Bowie actually trailed 1-0 before Rhyne Hughes‘ two run home run in the 4th gave the Baysox the lead. Opposing Bundy was rehabbing Major Leaguer Carlos Carrasco, making his first appearance since August 3rd last year due to Tommy John surgery. Now down 1-0, Akron knows they need to turn the best-of-five series around quickly knowing that Kevin Gausman is looming.

Swauger drills three homers to sink Tulsa: Chris Swauger missed most of August with an injury, but Springfield got him back just in time. Swauger’s three home run game provided half of Springfield’s offense in their 8-6 win over Tulsa, including a 10th inning two run shot that proved to win them the game. After the 3rd inning, the Drillers actually led 6-0, but after Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez left, their bullpen threw six scoreless innings as the offense chipped away. Troy Tulowitzki made a rehab appearance for Tulsa, going 1/3 with a strikeout before being lifted from the game. Springfield leads the best-of-five series 1-0.

Dunedin quietly exits postseason: After leading the Florida State League in runs pretty handily and having a combined three postseason rehab games by big leaguers, the Dunedin Blue Jays were swept out of the playoffs without scoring a run. Lakeland shut them out for the second night in a row, this time hitting two solo home runs in a 3-0 victory. Drew VerHagen got the start for the Flying Tigers, and the 2012 4th rounder turned in the best game of his young career, firing six scoreless innings. Daniel Bennett struck out five in two innings to bridge the game to Melvin Mercedes who picked up his first postseason save. In the championship starting Friday, Lakeland will take on the winner of tonight’s game between Jupiter and St. Lucie.

Blackburn dominates in Cal League debut: Clayton Blackburn‘s season could’ve ended with last week’s eight inning, two run start against Greensboro in the South Atlantic League, but the Giants promoted him to high-A to bolster San Jose’s rotation for the postseason. In his debut, Blackburn looked like he had pitched there all season, striking out nine and allowing just a solo home run in seven innings of work as San Jose defeated Modesto 3-1. Although this iteration of the San Jose Giants may not be as strong as previous seasons, they stand a good chance of winning another Cal League championship. They need to win one of the next two games against Modesto to advance to the semi-finals where the Bakersfield Blaze are waiting for them.

Baseball in Yakima ends with loss: For 23 years, the Yakima Bears have played in one of Minor League Baseball’s smallest markets. With no end to the battle for a new stadium in sight, the team is expected to relocate to Hillsboro, Oregon, a suburb of Portland, for the 2013 season. In Wednesday’s season ending loss to Boise, the Bears were shut down by an impressive start by Felix Pena and ultimately fell 3-2 after being unable to erase an early 3-0 deficit. Dan Vogelbach’s two run single was not only his first hit of the postseason, but it was the biggest blow of the game that propelled the Hawks to the Northwest League championship against Vancouver.

New York Penn League postseason picture now clear: As usual, the New York Penn League went down to the wire before teams knew who and where they would be playing in the playoffs. Tuesday, Auburn clinched their division with a comeback win against Williamsport, and it’s their 8th division win since 2002. That left the wild card to be decided, with Batavia playing a doubleheader and Brooklyn taking on Lowell. Despite falling to the Spinners, Brooklyn will be backing into the playoffs because Batavia was swept in their doubleheader by Jamestown. The Cyclones finish one game ahead of Batavia with a 45-31 record, and they’ll take on division rival Hudson Valley in the first round best-of-three series. Hudson Valley clinched the league’s best record with their 3-2 win over Tri-City who will have homefield advantage against Auburn in the other semi-final.

On tap today

MiLB.TV schedule

Playoffs in full swing

Southern League joins other full season leagues in postseason

Jupiter and St. Lucie meet to decide who takes on Lakeland for FSL title

Northwest League championship begins

Pioneer League finishes regular season