As the season winds down for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, site columnist Andrew Zajac recaps the week that was, including notes on Luis DeJesus, Dorssys Paulino, Joe Wendle, Aaron Siliga, Jake Sisco, and more.
There's a lot of similarities between the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds. Both are in-state rivals, and both teams use a similar economic model. Yet, despite the similarities, both teams have had very difficult results this season as the Indians have experienced an immense downward spiral while the Reds sit atop the standings as one of baseball's elite. In his latest, Jeff Ellis provides an in-depth look at both teams, using previous Baseball America rankings, to show just how much better the Reds really are.
Can it get any worse than this? On a day when the Indians finally seemed to discover their offensive stroke, Justin Masterson struggled mightily and the team dropped its 14th game in 15 tries. For the month of August, the Tribe has now gone 5-23. It certainly looks bleak, and Jason Ruggiero provides more detail on this as he shares his thoughts on yesterday's game.
A great outing from Jordan Cooper, a deep ball from Jorge Martinez and Jake Lowery, and a four-hit night from Bryson Myles. All of those performances were impressive, but they all fell short of a Carolina Mudcat infielder. Join Jim Piascik as he takes you Around The Farm, where there is still hope and winning (unlike in Cleveland).
The Akron Aeros were poised for a division-clinching celebration Thursday night. All they needed was either a win over the Altoona Curve or a Bowie loss to Erie. Unfortunately, at quitting time, neither scenario materialized.
For Joe Sever, it was about more than just getting a big hit in the eighth inning with his team down a run. It was about pride. Just one batter earlier, the Scrappers best hitter Joey Wendle was intentionally walked with first base open to load the bases for Sever. That made it personal.
The Lake County Captains (37-29, 68-67) scored four runs in the second inning and five runs in the fifth inning to open up a 10 run lead as they defeated the Bowling Green Hot Rods (40-26, 78-58) by a final score of 11-4 on Thursday night. With the Captains win, their magic number for clinching a playoff spot is down to two.
Jordan Cooper finished his 2012 season a high note as he tossed seven dominant innings in a 3-1 win for the Carolina Mudcats over the Potomac Nationals on Thursday night at Five County Stadium. Cooper (9-7) won his third straight start by holding the Nationals to one unearned run while scattering four hits. He struck out seven and walked one batter.
Two-time Cy Young Award winner, 1968 AL MVP, and last 30-game winner in Major League Baseball Denny McLain has been many things in his life, but one thing he is unapologetic about is being outspoken. In a short seven minute conversation with him Sunday at Canal Park, Jim Piascik got the full experience of his brazen, honest look at the Stephen Strasburg shutdown, the Cleveland Indians' situation, and what he's loved about minor league parks across the nation.
In today’s Minor Happenings, Tony looks at the very strong season that High-A Carolina third baseman Giovanny Urshela has had and the jump he has made as a prospect. He also touches on the season that Carolina right-handed pitcher Jordan Cooper has had and what it may mean for his future, provides lots of comments from Ross Atkins on some of their rising young Latin American stars, and provides injury updates and more on players like Lars Anderson, Adam Abraham, Carlos Moncrief, Tyler Naquin, and others.t
Ugh oh. The Tribe is on another losing streak as they lost their fourth game in a row to the Athletics last night 8-4. That is now 13 of 14 games they have lost and an astounding 26 of 31 games. These are the kind of late season meltdowns that get people fired. Nonetheless, Adam McGavin watched the game last night and shares his thoughts on what transpired and more.
The organization began their final week of the season with some of the same ole', same ole' rolling out big games. Jose Ramirez had another ho-hum, three hit performance, and Jordan Smith had another two hits. A couple of starters stole the show though, each going 7 1/3 innings, and giving up a total of three earned runs. Who was it? Find out after the jump....
The Columbus Clippers aren't conceding anything when it comes to the playoffs. The Clippers remained alive in the IL wild-card race with a 4-2 victory Wednesday over the Bats at Louisville Slugger Field, using a pair of unlikely sources to spur the offense and a pitcher-by-committee approach to winning effect.
The days are getting shorter, the nights longer, the air crisper and cooler. You wouldn’t be wrong if you mistook it for football season. But before the men of autumn claim center stage for themselves, the boys of summer have a few finishing touches to put on their respective 2012 campaigns.
The Lake County Captains took the first of a three-game series against the Bowling Green Hot Rods with a 7-2 win on Wednesday, due to another long ball from Alex Lavisky and another solid relief effort from Nick Pasquale. Right-handed All-Star Cody Anderson (4-7, 3.30) took the bump for the Captains to counter Bowling Green lefty Ryan Carpenter (11-7, 4.13).
The 2013 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!
