Bus Leagues Express: September 7

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Cole rocked in wild slugfest: After pitching a quality start in his Indianapolis debut, it was a vastly different story in game two of the postseason. He lasted just 2+ innings, allowing eight runs on nine hits in Charlotte’s 14-13 game two win. Unfortunately the bullpen couldn’t really settle the game down as the Indians offense clawed back into the game. Seven of the Knights’ 15 hits were for extra bases, and that included Josh Phegley‘s three run homer in the 1st inning. Things got dicey in the 8th inning for Charlotte when Indianapolis put together a five run inning to pull within one. Unfortunately for the Indians, they’re now down 2-0 to the IL’s Southern Division champs as the series shifts to South Carolina.

Paxton pitches Jackson to game one win: Bus Leagues Top 100 prospect James Paxton got the call to start game one for the Generals, and he delivered a gem in their 3-0 win over Chattanooga. Facing Matt Magill, a solid minor league arm in his own right, Paxton got an early one run lead and ran with it. He struck out nine in six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and walking two. He was in control all night, and 65% of his 88 pitches were strikes. In the 3rd inning, it was 2012 3rd overall pick Mike Zunino smacking a run scoring double to plate the only run Jackson would need. Four innings later, back to back doubles by Francisco Martinez and Stefen Romero added two insurance runs in support of their bullpen.

Hawkins homers again to even series: With the best record in the minors this season, big things were expected of Winston-Salem in the postseason. It didn’t start off so hot with a game one loss to Myrtle Beach, but they rebounded nicely and came away with a 5-3 victory in the must win game two. At the front of the pack for the Dash was the youngest player on the field, first rounder Courtney Hawkins. At 18, he’s four years younger than his average Carolina League peer, but that didn’t stop him from hitting his second home run of the series, a solo shot that tied the game at three before Winston-Salem took the lead later in the inning. Tonight, Winston-Salem will host a winner-take-all game three.

Jupiter survives rally to top St. Lucie: After coughing up a 6-1 lead in just one inning, Jupiter made a rally of their own to beat the Mets 11-7 and advance to the first championship in team history. Both starting pitchers, Robert Morey and Chase Hutchingson, took early showers, with Morey lasting 4+ innings and Hutchingson just 3.1. An inning after the Mets tied the game at six, they were unable to secure a shutdown inning, allowing three runs including a two run double by Ryan Fisher. In three games, Fisher batted .500 with an FSL-leading four RBI. Starting today, Jupiter will take on Lakeland in a best-of-five series to determine the league’s champion. Lakeland hasn’t won a championship since 1992.

Fort Wayne prevails despite bush league intentional pass: While minor league clubs can gain a small advantage with rehabbing big leaguers in the playoffs, it’s not up to their opponents to negate whatever edge there might be. Fort Wayne took it into their own hands Thursday, intentionally walking Brett Lawrie in his second plate appearance. Two batters later, Chris Hawkins made them pay with a three run home run that gave Lansing a 3-0 lead. Unfortunately for the Lugnuts, after they went up 6-0, Fort Wayne scored nine unanswered runs to win 9-6 and advance to the Midwest League semi-finals. Justin Nicolino was solid as he has been all season, allowing just an unearned run in five innings, but it was a bullpen and shoddy defense that lost the game. Three errors, two committed by Lawrie at third base, led to six unearned runs as Lansing’s season ended prematurely.

Missoula wins consecutive must-win games to punch ticket: Thanks to Billings stumbling down the stretch, Missoula had a golden head-to-head opportunity to leapfrog them into the postseason, and they took advantage with 3-2 and 8-5 wins over the Mustangs the last two nights. With two games to go and needing to avoid the tiebreaker to beat Billings, they edged out their division rivals to earn the right to play Great Falls in the Pioneer League semi-finals. In Thursday’s win, the Osprey used some early offense to build up a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Ross Gerdeman chipped in a quality start, and the bullpen held on just well enough to survive a late Billings rally.

On tap today

MiLB.TV schedule

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Postseason continues across all leagues

Florida State League championship begins