Two of the affiliates played their last game tonight, and two others will be starting their postseason tomorrow. Monday's action featured three games and Lansing was the only one to earn a victory... but what a victory.
Las Vegas 5 at Portland 6
Brad Mills got his last start for the 51s for the year (and maybe forever?) and did pretty much what he's done all year: pitched pretty solidly, if not spectacularly. He went six innings and allowed three runs on nine hits, while striking out seven and walking nobody. When he left the game, Las Vegas held a tenuous 4-3 lead, but the bullpen couldn't hold it and give Mills one last victory. Willie Collazo allowed one run in the seventh, and he was followed by former ex-Jay Jamie Vermilyea, who allowed two in the eighth.
The bats tried to stage a late comeback as Chris Lubanski cut the two-run lead in half with a solo homer in the top of the ninth. That was where the charge would end, though, and Portland (the west coast one) took this game 6-5.
The 51s were homer-friendly on Monday night - in addition to Lubanski's solo shot, Aaron Mathews hit a two-run jack, while Mike Jacobs had a huge day with a single, homer and two walks.
New Hampshire 4 at Portland 7
New Hampshire used the last game of the regular season to prepare for the playoffs. B.J. LaMura and Ryan Page, both starters for most of the season with Page recently coming up from Dunedin, both pitched but only went two innings. After a break tomorrow, the Cats will start their series against Trenton. Kyle Drabek and Zach Stewart are lined up to pitch the first two games, with Randy Boone, Clint Everts, LaMura and Page seemingly options for the back half of the rotation. Unfortunately, the five-game series doesn't have any breaks, so the Cats will likely need to use five different starters should the series go that long.
Anyway, back to Monday's game. The aforementioned Page allowed most of the Sea Dogs' runs in his pair of innings. The bullpen shut Portland down the rest of the way on the strength of scoreless innings from Trystan Magnuson, Dan Farquhar, Alan Farina and Ron Uviedo. Man, that bullpen is looking pretty nice - if New Hampshire's starters can get through five or six innings, they'll be tough to beat in the playoffs.
Adeiny Hechavarria led the bats with three singles and two ribbies while Matt Liuzza singled twice and walked.
Dunedin - regular season over. Dunedin starts their series against second-half champ Tampa on Tuesday night.
Lansing 11 at Lake County 0
Now that's how you end a season. The 'Nuts completely manhandled the playoff-bound Captains on Monday, scoring in five different innings to win 11-0. Casey Lawrence hurled seven two-hit innings, walking none and striking out five, and the bullpen just kept on rolling to complete the shut-out.
The Lansing bats recorded 14 hits and 9 walks, and everyone was involved. Brad McElroy had four hits including a double and a triple, Oliver Dominguez (singled and walked) twice, Randy Schwartz singled, walked and homered, Jake Marisnick went 4-6 with a double.... I could go on and on. Well, not that much longer. For about five more batters. But I won't.
The short-season affiliates are finished their seasons.
Three Stars!
3. Mike Jacobs, 1B, HR, 2 BBs
2. Brad McElroy, 4-6, 2B, 3B
1. Casey Lawrence, 7 shut-out innings
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