Rumors, Rumors, Rumors

One of my favorite offseason websites is MLBTradeRumors.com, because it gives a lot of information in a concise manner (with links to take you to the full stories). Over the last 24 hours, they've had a lot of Diamondbacks talk. The easiest way is to just sort by team, so if you go to this link, you can read all about Mark Reynolds trade rumors, Adam LaRoche strikeout problems, and Brandon Webb throwing only 81 mph in instructs.

New Poll Question

There's a new poll question up on the right, asking who you will root for in the postseason. Since we don't know which two out of the Giants, Padres, and Braves will make it, I've included all three for voting purposes.

You all know I'm a Reds fan, so that's where my vote goes.

15 Years is a Long Time to Wait

I realize this is a Silver Hawks blog, and the Silver Hawks are affiliated with the Arizona Diamondbacks, but I have to take a minute to show some pride in my beloved Cincinnati Reds. The Reds clinched a playoff spot last night for the first time since 1995 when I was 13 years old. This is only the third time in my lifetime that the Reds have made the postseason (1990 and 1995 are the others).

Some pictures from last night (courtesy of whatever websites I stole them from)...


There are a whole bunch of former Midwest League stars in this picture (see list below).


Jay Bruce hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth to win the game and clinch the playoff spot for Cincinnati.

And if you really are going to force me to make this relate to the overall theme of this blog somehow, how about the list of former Midwest Leaguers that are currently on the Reds 40-man roster:

Homer Bailey - Dayton (2005)
Jay Bruce - Dayton (2006)
Jared Burton - Kane County (2003)
Francisco Cordero - West Michigan (1997)
Johnny Cueto - Dayton (2006)
Jim Edmonds - Quad Cities (1989)
Carlos Fisher - Dayton (2006)
Juan Francisco - Dayton (2007)
Ryan Hanigan - Dayton (2002-2003)
Chris Heisey - Dayton (2007)
Ramon Hernandez - West Michigan (1996)
Paul Janish - Dayton (2005-2006)
Nick Masset - Clinton (2003)
Corky Miller - Rockford (1999)
Logan Ondrusek - Dayton (2006)
Jordan Smith - Dayton (2007)
Drew Stubbs - Dayton (2007)
Chris Valaika - Dayton (2007)
Edinson Volquez - Clinton (2004)
Joey Votto - Dayton (2003-2004)
Travis Wood - Dayton (2006)

Top Prospects by League

Baseball America started their annual ranking of the top 20 prospects in each league last week. The best place to follow along is at this link.

The Midwest League will be published on Friday, so I will make sure I update you on that when it's available.

While you're waiting though, it's worth it to go and browse through some of the other leagues to familiarize yourself with some names you might see in the MWL in 2011.

Silver Hawks Record Book

One of my big projects thus far during the offseason has been creating a South Bend Silver Hawks (and White Sox) Record Book. This little project has required combing through 23 years of stats and finding the single season and career leaders in most offensive, pitching, and defensive categories.

If you've ever wondered who is the all-time leader in home runs or who struck out the most batters in one season for the South Bend franchise, it's now available.

You can check it out now at www.silverhawks.com under the Stats tab at the top of the page. Look for Silver Hawks Record Book in the drop down menu.

More on the Bees

While researching the Burlington/Oakland situation, I came across an article from a few weeks ago announcing that Bees manager Jim Gabella had been fired by the Royals.

Jim is easily one of the nicest managers in the league, and we certainly hopes that he finds work with another club.

Burlington Signs on with Oakland

With the Kane County Cougars (previously an Oakland A's affiliate) announcing that they signed with the Kansas City Royals last week, it should come as no surprise that the Burlington Bees (previously with the Royals) have now become an Oakland affiliate.

That announcement was made on Thursday by Burlington. As best as I can tell, everyone else in the league will stay the same for the 2011 season.

Kevin Towers Chosen as D'Backs GM

Not a real big surprise here, given that all the speculation had him as the leading candidate from day one.

Here's the story from the Diamondbacks home page.

Nick Piecoro also has some thoughts on his blog for the Arizona Republic.

Nick suggests that interim GM Jerry DiPoto is not likely to stick around, given that he was a finalist for the position.

What does all this mean from a Silver Hawks standpoint? Not much, unless Kevin Towers starts implementing "his guys" in positions throughout the system (farm directors, instructors, managers, coaches, etc.)

Didn't See This One Coming

The Kane County Cougars have ended their affilliation with the Oakland A's and have linked up with the Kansas City Royals for 2011 and beyond.

You can read the article here.

You might be wondering why I say I didn't see this one coming in the headline. Well, usually when an affiliation ends, one party is not happy with the other.

But the Oakland A's have always given the Cougars good players, enough so that they make the playoffs basically every year and have won quite a few championships. And on the flip side, the Cougars draw a good crowd, have a nice ballpark, and provide the players with what they need, so why would Oakland not be happy? Seems odd to me.

Anyhow, this now means that the Burlington Bees are without an affiliate because they were previously with the Royals. I've not seen an announcement yet as to whether they will go with the A's, or if someone else might be available.

One obvious advantage of Kane County going with Kansas City...they both are "KC" teams so it could be a merchandise bonus.

Lake County -- 2010 Midwest League Champions

I tell you what, the Midwest League playoffs had a little bit of everything. Every series went the maximum number of games, and every game had drama and intrigue. The only thing missing was the Silver Hawks.

Here's the recap links for game five on Monday night:

Lake County 3, Clinton 1 -- Lake County wins series 3-2

Game story can be found here.

Box score is at this link.

MWL Finals - Game Four Summary

Here's tonight summary:

Clinton 3, Lake County 2 - Series tied 2-2

The LumberKings scored twice in the top of the eighth on RBI singles from Mickey Wiswall and Blake Ochoa. The win means that a deciding game five will take place tomorrow at Lake County.

Oddly, every series of the MWL playoffs has gone to the maximum number of games.

No blog updates on Monday because of all day meetings. I'll be back on Tuesday with a recap of game five and any other information that is relevant.

MWL Finals - Game Three Summary

Game three was Saturday night. Sorry for the late update.

Lake County 7, Clinton 3 -- Captains lead series 2-1

Summary: The Captains basically dominated from the beginning, taking an early 4-0 lead and never looking back. Brett Brach struck out 9 in 6.2 innings for the win. Tyler Holt had two hits, a homer, three runs scored, and two RBIs.

Game four is tonight (Sunday) at 6:30 PM Eastern. I have an all day meeting tomorrow, so I'll try to update the blog tonight before I call it a day.

AFL and Instructs Rosters

I'm a few days late in actually posting this, but I wanted to provide the players that will appear in the Arizona Fall League and the Instructional League. The AFL is a bit more prestigious with the more advanced players, while the instructs league is for younger prospects.

AFL Players (each MLB team provides 7-8 guys to this league)
Josh Collmenter - P
Marc Krauss - OF
A.J. Pollock - OF
Konrad Schmidt - C
Bryan Shaw - P
Daniel Stange - P
Bryan Woodall - P

Instructional League (only former Silver Hawks included. The rest of the roster is made up of Missoula and Yakima players)
Bradin Hagens - P
Kevin Munson - P
Jarrod Parker - P
Tyler Skaggs - P
Jae-Yun Kim - C (played a handful of games with South Bend)
Bobby Borchering - INF
Matt Davidson - INF
Matt Helm - INF
David Nick - INF
Chris Owings - INF
Keon Broxton - OF

MWL Finals Game Two

Whoa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you count them up, that's 18 exclamation points. One for every inning played in game two of the Midwest League finals last night. Let's get to the recap....

Clinton 8, Lake County 7 (18 innings) - Best-of-5 series is tied at one each

Clinton led 4-0 heading to the seventh. Lake County scored two in the top of the 7th to make it 4-2. Clinton scored two in the bottom of the inning to make it 6-2. Lake County then scored two runs in both the eighth and ninth to force extras. Delvi Cid hit a two run homer in the top of the ninth to force the tie.

Neither team scored in the 10th or 11th. Roberto Perez homered in the top of the 12th to make it a 7-6 Captains lead (their first lead of the game). Clinton answered in the bottom of the 12th on a RBI single by Carlos Ramirez. One run scored, but Greg Folgia threw out a runner at the plate to end the inning and keep the game going.

The 12th through the 17th innings were all scoreless. Finally, in the bottom of the 18th with two outs, the LumberKings worked back-to-back walks from Giovanni Soto. Mario Martinez then reached on a fielder error by third baseman Adam Abraham, allowing the winning run to score from second.

The game took 5 hours and 37 minutes to complete. Yikes.

The two teams will have a much needed off day today, and the series resumes tomorrow in Lake County.

MWL Finals - Game One

I'm sorry for not posting sooner, but we had some meetings this morning to discuss the season and where we are headed for next year. Here is the summary from game one last night:

Lake County 9, Clinton 6 -- Captains have 1-0 lead in best-of-five series

A big win for Lake County on the road last night, overcoming a 6-3 deficit with 2 runs in the seventh and four in the eighth to rally for the victory. Casey Frawley, Jason Smit, and Greg Folgia all had two RBIs to lead the offense. Clinton's second baseman Kevin Mailloux committed two errors which led to four unearned runs. James Jones had a homer and three RBIs for Clinton. Preston Guilmet pitched two scoreless innings at the end of the game to earn his fourth save of the postseason.

Game two is tonight @ Clinton. It's basically a must win for the LumberKings unless they plan on sweeping three straight games at Lake County.

2011 Schedule Released

For those of you that can't wait until next year's season, you can now get an early look at the Silver Hawks schedule for 2011.

It is currently posted as the lead story on www.silverhawks.com with a link to a PDF of the schedule.

Game times and promotions are still to be determined, but at least you can start planning your trips to see the Silver Hawks at the Cove and on the road!

The MWL Finals are Set

Last night's recap:

Lake County 6, Great Lakes 1 -- Captains win series 2-1

Summary: The Lake County Captains completed an improbable comeback, winning two games on the road at Dow Diamond to eliminate the Great Lakes Loons. Casey Frawley homered and Argenis Martinez had two RBIs to lead the Captains offense. The Loons stranded 11 runners on base, being eliminated in the Eastern Division Finals for the second year in a row.

The Finals begin tonight with the Clinton LumberKings hosting the Lake County Captains in game one of the best-of-five series. Games 1 & 2 are at Clinton, with the final 3 at Lake County. Vote for what you think the result will be on the right side of the page!

Monday's Playoff Results

This has been a fascinating postseason in the Midwest League thus far. Let's get to last night's results:

Lake County 7, Great Lakes 6 - Series tied 1-1
The Captains chased Allen Webster after just 2.2 inning, jumping out to a 6-0 lead. They then held off the Loons rally, and Lake County forced a deciding game three with a 7-6 victory. Two lefties will go in game three tonight with Greg Wilborn facing off against Vidal Nuno at Dow Diamond in Michigan.

Clinton 4, Kane County 1 - LumberKings win series 2-1
The LumberKings advance to the Midwest League Finals for the first time in 17 years with a 4-1 defeat of Kane County. Mickey Wiswall had a two run homer to lead the Clinton offense and Tom Wilhelmsen pitched 7.0 scoreless innings for the L-Kings.

From the Bend to the Bigs

Another former Silver Hawks player made his MLB debut last night. This time, it was catcher Konrad Schmidt making an appearance for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Schmidt was a 2008 Silver Hawks catcher, batting .259 with two homers and 18 RBIs for South Bend. He had worked his way through double-A and triple-A this year, earning a late call-up.

He had a pinch hitting appearance last night against the Reds and drew a walk.

Sunday's Playoff Results

Hope everyone enjoyed their first weekend without Silver Hawks baseball. I know it's a weekend too early, but it's just what we have to deal with this year. Here are last night's results around the Midwest League Playoffs:

Great Lakes 10, Lake County 8 -- Loons lead series 1-0

Summary: The final score made the game appear closer than it really was, as Great Lakes at one point led 8-2 and took a 10-5 lead into the bottom of the ninth before holding on for the win. Brian Cavazos-Galvez had four hits (including a home run and triple) and five RBIs to lead the Loons offense. Jonathan Burnette had two homers for the Captains to bring them back into the game, but it wasn't enough. The series shifts to Dow Diamond in Midland, Michigan on Monday night.

Clinton 6, Kane County 2 -- Series is tied 1-1

Summary: The LumberKings protected their home field and avoided elimination with a strong showing on Sunday evening. Mario Martinez went 4-for-4 with two RBIs to lead Clinton at the plate and force a deciding game three on Monday night. The LumberKings will host tonight with the winner moving on to the Midwest League Finals.

Saturday's Playoff Results

The first night of the division finals was Saturday evening, let's see how it turned out:

Great Lakes @ Lake County, PPD Rain
Summary: The rain that poured on South Bend all morning and early afternoon made it's way to Lake County last night, keeping the two teams from getting started. They will have game one today.

Kane County 4, Clinton 0
Summary: Daniel Straily struck out 11 in 7.0 shutout innings, leading the Cougars to a series opening win at home. Michael Choice (three run shot) and Rashun Dixon (solo homer) went back-to-back in the first inning, giving Kane County the only runs they needed. They'll continue the series in Clinton on Sunday.

Playoff Recap - Round One, Game Three

The first round wrapped up last night, here's what happened (with a quick summary today because it's my first weekend off of work since early April):

Great Lakes 6, Fort Wayne 4
Quick Summary: The TinCaps couldn't hold on to the 3-2 lead on the road, and the Loons rallied to eliminate the defending champions. Rafael Ynoa had a homer and two RBIs to lead the Loons.

Lake County 3, West Michigan 2
Chris Kersten had two RBIs and Jason Smit had a solo homer as the Captains escaped the Whitecaps in Lake County. Preston Guilmet worked 2.2 innings for the save -- his second of the series.

Up Next: Great Lakes will be at Lake County in game one of the series tonight. Josh Wall battled Giovanni Soto in the pitching matchup.

Clinton 6, Cedar Rapids 2
The LumberKings lost game one at home, but then won two on the road to knock off the Kernels. Tyler Kehrer was an emergency starter for Cedar Rapids, but didn't get out of the first inning giving up three runs on two hits and three walks. No official word yet on what happened to their scheduled starter Stephen Locke.

Kane County 15, Quad Cities 7
The Cougars did the same as Clinton -- lose game one at home then win two on the road. They routed the River Bandits last night, with eight different players picking up a RBI.

Up Next: The Cougars host the LumberKings in game one of the Western Division finals tonight. Dan Straily on the mound for Kane County against Clinton's Taylor Stanton.

Playoff Recap - Round One, Game Two

Well, well, well, isn't this interesting? All the losers from game one came back and won game two. All four matchups are going to a deciding third game tonight. Below are last night's results...

Great Lakes 10, Fort Wayne 5
Main Storyline: The Loons scored eight runs in the eighth inning to rally from what was once a 3-0 deficit to post a 10-5 victory and keep their season alive.

Secondary Storyline: Both teams have won at home. The Loons host tonight.

Up Next: Game three is at Great Lakes tonight at 7:05 PM. RHP Jerry Sullivan goes for Fort Wayne against RHP Matt Magill for the Loons.

West Michigan 8, Lake County 0
Main Storyline: The Whitecaps avoided elimination by pounding out eight runs on 19 hits in a shutout of the Captains.

Secondary Storyline: Trevor Feeney (WP, 1-0) went 8.1 innings without allowing a run in the winning effort for the Whitecaps.

Up Next: Game three is at Lake County tonight at 6:30 PM. Neither team has won at home in this series. Jared Wesson goes for the Whitecaps against Jason Knapp for the Captains.

Kane County 5, Quad Cities 4
Main Storyline: Kane County had homers from Conner Crumbliss and Rashun Dixon as part of a five-run second inning, and then held on late to stave off elimination.

Secondary Storyline: The Cougars tried to blow the big lead, but stranded the tying run on base in the ninth. Kane County used three different pitchers in the ninth inning to stay alive.

Up Next: Game three is at Quad Cities tonight at 8:00 PM Eastern Time. Chris Mederos goes for the Cougars against Daniel Bibona for the River Bandits.

Clinton 8, Cedar Rapids 2
Main Storyline: Clinton methodically dismantled the Kernels by scoring runs in five of their nine at-bats to force a decisive game three.

Secondary Storyline: Like two other teams in the league, the Kernels failed to wrap up a series on their home field, and now must go against a tough pitcher in game three.

Up Next: Game three is at Cedar Rapids tonight at 7:35 PM Eastern Time. The pitching matchup will feature Erasmo Ramirez for Clinton and Stephen Locke for Cedar Rapids.

Baseball America Chat

This time of year, one of my main sources for blog posts is Baseball America's website. Every so often they do a "Prospects Chat", and while I certainly won't copy and paste the whole thing here, you can read about all the prospects this week at this link.

However, from this week, here's the questions that stood out as they related to the Silver Hawks (or former Silver Hawks) and what Jim Callis of BA had to say about them:

Mark (Reseda, Ca.): Where do you put Skaggs on your list. After his trade he had a 1.69 era , a 5-1 k/BB , his fastball sat at 93-95 and his change was killer. If you take the 2009 class of high school pitchers he is in the top 5 in every stat.

Jim Callis: Skaggs wasn't in the same class as those 2009 elite high school pitchers I mentioned, but he performed as well as any of them this year. He belongs in that discussion now.

Victor (San Diego): Jarrod Parker's consistently throwing 93 and touching 97, also adding a 2-seamer to his arsenal. Is he still a top 50 prospect for you?

Jim Callis: Yes. He had fabulous stuff before he got hurt, so I wasn't too worried about the Tommy John surgery.

Playoff Results - Round One, Game One

Well, the first night of Midwest League playoff baseball is in the books, and there were some very interesting games last night. Let's take a look (each score link will take you to the box score of the game)....

Fort Wayne 1, Great Lakes 0
Main Storyline: Everett Williams provided the lone run of the game with a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning. It was one of just three hits for the TinCaps.

Secondary Storyline: Matt Lollis (WP, 1-0) and three other Fort Wayne pitchers combined to shut out the potent Loons offense.

Up Next: Game two is at Great Lakes tonight at 7:05 PM. A couple of lefties go head-to-head with Jose De Paula battling Greg Wilborn.

Lake County 4, West Michigan 2
Main Storyline: Tyler Holt capped a three-run Captains rally in the top of the seventh with a two-run single to lift the Captains from a 2-1 deficit to a 4-2 lead.

Secondary Storyline: The Captains won game one on the road, and return home with two chances to win one game on their home field to advance to the Eastern Division Finals.

Up Next: Game two is at Lake County tonight at 6:30 PM. LHP Vidal Nuno starts for the Captains against RHP Trevor Feeney for West Michigan.

Quad Cities 4, Kane County 0
Main Storyline: Shelby Miller (WP, 1-0) struck out 13 hitters in 7.0 innings, allowing just two hits to lead the River Bandits to the series opening victory.

Secondary Storyline: The River Bandits didn't show signs of missing injured Matt Adams' bat in picking up four runs on 11 hits at Kane County.

Up Next: Game two is at Quad Cities tonight at 8:00 PM Eastern Time. Jonathan Joseph starts for the Cougars against River Bandit starter Michael Blazek.

Cedar Rapids 3, Clinton 2
Main Storyline: With two outs and the bases empty, the Kernels had two singles and then three straight walks in the top of the 7th to force in two runs and break the 1-1 tie. They held on to win 3-2.

Secondary Storyline: Like two other teams in the league, the Kernels won on the road and have two chances to win the series at home.

Up Next: Game two is at Cedar Rapids tonight at 7:35 PM Eastern Time. LHP Buddy Boshers starts for the Kernels against Clinton's RHP Yoervis Medina.

Playoff Predictions

First of all, check out the playoff preview piece written by Curt Rallo for MinorLeagueBaseball.com.

My predictions for the first round are as follows:

Great Lakes vs. Fort Wayne: I'll take the Loons in three games, simply because I think Great Lakes has better pitching.

Lake County vs. West Michigan: Give me the Captains in three games, based solely on home field advantage.

Cedar Rapids vs. Clinton: The LumberKings just promoted their best player (Nick Franklin) to double-A. I'll take the Kernels in two.

Quad Cities vs. Kane County: The River Bandits lost triple crown threat Matt Adams to a broken elbow in late August. The Cougars won the second half. I'll take Kane County in the three game "upset".

We'll re-evaluate after the first series. I'll have brief recaps for you on all the games tomorrow morning.

Welcome to the Offseason

The offseason always comes with mixed feelings for me. For one, I hate that the baseball season is over and it will be almost 7 months until I broadcast another game. On the other hand, the baseball season completely drains me physically, and when it ends I'm ready to have my nights and weekends off again.

Unfortunately, I've never had a chance to broadcast a championship team, but obviously, that would be the ideal situation. You get an extra two weeks to call games, and then you go out with a win and can fully enjoy the offseason without the feeling that there is unfinished business.

Anyhow, as the previous post states, I'll be blogging throughout the offseason, but not nearly as often. Think 1-2 posts per weekday as opposed to 3-4.

I'll be back later today with some predictions for the Midwest League playoffs which get underway tonight.

Offseason Blogging

To answer your questions:

Yes, I still blog during the offseason.

No, I don't have 3-4 posts a day like I sometimes do during the season.

I'm enjoying a day off of work today, and I'll get back to the blog on Wednesday.

Thanks for a great season!

Today's Lineup - September 6th

Final game of the 2010 season.

Keon Broxton - CF
Chris Jarrett - LF
David Nick - DH
Bobby Borchering - 3B
Ramon Castillo - 1B
Ender Inciarte - RF
David Narodowski - 2B
Victor Estevez - SS
Tyson Van Winkle - C

Mike Belfiore - SP

Today's pregame interview is with manager Mark Haley. And in case you miss it at the end of today's broadcast, allow me to say thank you to all the loyal blog readers and listeners. Your support means the world to me, and I wouldn't have a job without you all tuning in. Thank you so much.

Game time is at 2:00 PM. Pregame coverage at 1:40 PM.

Playoff Picture - 1 Game Left

I changed the title of this post from playoff race to playoff picture, because there is no longer a race. Every spot has been claimed.

Eastern Division
Fort Wayne has clinched the second half championship spot.
West Michigan is the second half wild card.

Lake County is the first half champ and will play West Michigan in round one.
Great Lakes is the first half wild card and will play Fort Wayne in the first round.

Western Division
Kane County clinched the second half championship.
Clinton wrapped up the second half wild card.

Cedar Rapids is the first half champ and will play Clinton first.
Quad Cities is the first half wild card and will play Kane County in the first round.

Today's Lineup - September 5th

Game two at Dayton to wrap up the season.

Keon Broxton - CF
Chris Jarrett - LF
David Nick - 2B
Bobby Borchering - 3B
Ramon Castillo - DH
Ender Inciarte - RF
David Narodowski - SS
Andrew Fie - 1B
Tyson Van Winkle - C

Scottie Allen - SP

No pregame interview. We'll update the standings and scoreboards instead.

Game time is at 4:00 PM. Pregame coverage at 3:40 PM.

From the Notes - September 5th

South Bend Silver Hawks (28-39 Second Half, 58-77 Overall)
@ Dayton Dragons (22-45 Second Half, 52-84 Overall)

Fifth Third Field, Dayton, Ohio – 4:00 PM Eastern Time

Season Series: 6-4 Silver Hawks
@ Coveleski Stadium: 4-2 Silver Hawks
@ Fifth Third Field: 2-2 Tie

Silver Hawks Team Hitting: .246 – 15th
Silver Hawks Team Pitching: 4.36 ERA – 14th
Dragons Team Hitting: .252 – 13th
Dragons Team Pitching: 4.30 ERA – 13th

LAST GAME: The Silver Hawks came back from two deficits, but couldn’t come back a third time in a 7-5 loss to the Dayton Dragons on Saturday evening. Alex Oliveras had a solo homer and Josh Garton added a two run double in the bottom of the seventh against Bradin Hagens (LP, 3-6) to break open what was a 4-4 tie. Mark Fleury also had a two run home run for Dayton. David Narodowski had two hits and two RBIs for the Silver Hawks, who fell to 21 games under .500 on the road. Josh Smith (WP, 1-1) pitched 1.1 scoreless innings of relief for the win. Blaine Howell (SV, 5) recorded the save.

TEAM NOTES:
• South Bend has been eliminated from postseason contention. This is the first time under Mark Haley and the first time since 2002 that the Silver Hawks will not be in the playoffs.
• The Silver Hawks finished with a 35-33 home record. They are only 23-44 on the road this season.
• South Bend went just 2-for-14 with RISP last night.
• Three of the five runs scored by South Bend last night were unearned after four Dragons errors.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES:
• Keon Broxton continues to lead all of baseball with 19 triples. He has tied the MWL record for most triples in a season (established in 1954 by John Wyre of the Clinton Pirates).
• Scottie Allen has not allowed a run in his last 14.2 innings pitched.
• Kevin Munson lowered his ERA to 1.10 with 1.1 scoreless innings yesterday.

Upcoming Probable Pitchers (All game times are Eastern)

Sunday (4:00 PM) RHP Scottie Allen (4-4, 4.56 ERA)
@ Dayton RHP Daniel Corcino (1-1, 4.78 ERA)

Monday (2:00 PM) LHP Mike Belfiore (3-10, 3.93 ERA)
@ Dayton RHP Edinson Volquez (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Tonight's Lineup - September 4th

Game one at Dayton to wrap up the season.

Keon Broxton - CF
Chris Jarrett - LF
David Nick - 2B
Bobby Borchering - 3B
Ender Inciarte - RF
David Narodowski - DH
Victor Estevez - SS
Andrew Fie - 1B
Tyson Van Winkle - C

Adam Worthington - SP

No pregame interview. We'll update the standings and scoreboards instead.

Game time is at 7:00 PM. Pregame coverage at 6:40 PM.

Playoff Race - 3 to Play

Here is what you need you to know over the final weekend of the regular season.

Eastern Division
Fort Wayne has clinched the second half championship spot.
West Michigan leads Lansing by 2 games for the wild card. The Whitecaps have a magic number of two to clinch the final spot.

The Whitecaps are at Fort Wayne for the final three.
The Lugnuts are at Lake County for the final three.

Lake County is the first half champ and will play either West Michigan or Lansing.
Great Lakes is the first half wild card and will play Fort Wayne in the first round.

Western Division
Kane County leads Clinton by a half game for the second half championship.
Clinton leads by 1.5 over Beloit for the second half wild card.

Kane County hosts Wisconsin.
Clinton is at Burlington.
Beloit hosts Cedar Rapids.

Cedar Rapids is the first half champ and will play the second half wild card.
Quad Cities is the first half wild card and will play the second half champ.

Between Games

Just a quick note -- between games of the doubleheader tonight, we'll have to go back to ESPN Radio programming for a while instead of doing an elongated segment between games. With no interns anymore and a large crowd expected, I am on my own to get the Fort Wayne lineup for game two and get it typed up and delivered to multiple people. So basically, the game will end, we'll do a quick wrap up with the game totals, we'll send you back to ESPN Radio programming for about 10 minutes or so, and then we'll come back with the normal between game stuff.

Thanks for understanding.

Tonight's Lineups - Doubleheader

Game One
Keon Broxton - DH
Chris Jarrett - CF
David Nick - 2B
Bobby Borchering - 3B
Ender Inciarte - RF
Victor Estevez - SS
David Narodowski - LF
Andrew Fie - 1B
Tyson Van Winkle - C


Tyler Skaggs - SP


Game Two Probable Lineup
Keon Broxton - CF
Chris Jarrett - LF
David Nick - 2B
Bobby Borchering - DH
Ender Inciarte - RF
Errol Hollinger - C
David Narodowski - 3B
Victor Estevez - SS
Andrew Fie - 1B


Andrew Wolcott - SP

Our pregame interview tonight will be with manager Mark Haley.

Pregame coverage at 4:40 PM. First pitch at 5:00 PM.

From the Notes - September 3rd

South Bend Silver Hawks (27-37 Second Half, 57-75 Overall)
vs. Fort Wayne TinCaps (39-26 Second Half, 26-38 Overall)

Coveleski Stadium, South Bend, Indiana – 5:00 PM Eastern Time

Season Series: 10-6 TinCaps
@ Coveleski Stadium: 5-2 TinCaps
@ Parkview Field: 5-4 TinCaps

Silver Hawks Team Hitting: .246 – 15th
Silver Hawks Team Pitching: 4.35 ERA – 14th
TinCaps Team Hitting: .259 – 7th
TinCaps Team Pitching: 3.99 ERA – 7th

LAST GAME (Wednesday): The Silver Hawks woke up the bats on Wednesday night, scoring 12 runs on 16 hits in a 12-5 rout of the Fort Wayne TinCaps. Chris Jarrett, Bobby Borchering, and David Narodowski all had three hits, while Jarrett, Borchering, Ender Inciarte, and Victor Estevez all drove in two runs, tying the most runs scored in a single game by the Hawks this year. Mike Belfiore (WP, 3-10) benefitted from all the runs, but was also solid in allowing four runs over 7.0 innings with no walks and seven K’s. Matt Jackson (LP, 4-2) took the loss, giving up seven runs in 3.0 innings. Jonathan Galvez and Edinson Rincon had solo homers for Fort Wayne.

TEAM NOTES:
• South Bend has been eliminated from postseason contention. This is the first time under Mark Haley and the first time since 2002 that the Silver Hawks will not be in the playoffs.
• The 12 runs Wednesday tied the most in a single game by the Hawks. The 16 hits were a nine-inning high for the team as well.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES:
• Keon Broxton continues to lead all of baseball with 19 triples. He has tied the MWL record for most triples in a season (established in 1954 by John Wyre of the Clinton Pirates).
• Scottie Allen has not allowed a run in his last 14.2 innings pitched.
• Chris Jarrett is on a five game hitting streak and is nine out of last 19 at the plate with three triples in that stretch.

Upcoming Probable Pitchers (All game times are Eastern)

Friday GM 1 (5:00 PM) RHP Andrew Wolcott (2-4, 5.56 ERA)
vs. Fort Wayne RHP Matt Lollis (5-1, 1.62 ERA)

Friday GM 2 (DH) LHP Tyler Skaggs (8-5, 3.47 ERA)
vs. Fort Wayne RHP Stiven Osuna (3-3, 3.21 ERA)

Saturday (7:00 PM) RHP Adam Worthington (5-6, 5.19 ERA)
@ Dayton RHP Tim Crabbe (3-7, 4.34 ERA)

Sunday (4:00 PM) RHP Scottie Allen (4-4, 4.56 ERA)
@ Dayton RHP Daniel Corcino (1-1, 4.78 ERA)

Playoff Race - 4 or 5 Remain

Most teams only have four games left, but the Silver Hawks, TinCaps, Snappers, and LumberKings all will play two tonight.

Here is what you need you to know over the final weekend of the regular season.

Eastern Division
Fort Wayne has clinched the second half championship spot.
West Michigan leads Lansing by 3 games for the wild card. The Whitecaps and Lugnuts go head-to-head tonight. If West Michigan wins, they would clinch the wild card.

Lake County is the first half champ and will play the second half wild card.
Great Lakes is the first half wild card and will play Fort Wayne in the first round.

Western Division
Clinton and Kane County are currently tied for the second half championship, but remember, Clinton has to finish a game that was suspended last night.
Clinton/Kane County leads by 1.5 over Beloit and 3.5 over Peoria.

Cedar Rapids is the first half champ and will play the second half wild card.
Quad Cities is the first half wild card and will play the second half champ.

Postponed Tonight (Thursday)

Thursday's game has been postponed due to rain and unplayable field conditions at the Cove.

A doubleheader will take place tomorrow beginning at 5:00 PM. Gates open at 4;30.

You can read the full story and about all the promotions going on tomorrow at www.silverhawks.com.

Tonight's Lineup - September 1st

6 games left.

Keon Broxton - CF
Chris Jarrett - LF
David Nick - DH
Bobby Borchering - 3B
Ender Inciarte - RF
Victor Estevez - SS
David Narodowski - 2B
Andrew Fie - 1B
Tyson Van Winkle - C

Mike Belfiore - SP

An update on other Diamondbacks affiliates will replace our pregame interview tonight.

Pregame coverage at 6:40 PM. First pitch at 7:00 PM.

Playoff Race - 6 Remain

Silver Hawks eliminated, but we'll keep up with the rest of the league still.

Eastern Division
Fort Wayne has clinched a playoff spot and leads West Michigan by 5 games for the second half championship.
West Michigan leads Lansing by 5 games for the wild card.

Lake County is the first half champ and will play the second half wild card.
Great Lakes is the first half wild card and will play the second half champ.

Western Division
Clinton leads by a game and a half over Kane County for the second half championship.
Kane County leads by 1.0 over Beloit, 2.5 over Peoria, and 3.5 over Wisconsin.

Cedar Rapids is the first half champ and will play the second half wild card.
Quad Cities is the first half wild card and will play the second half champ.

Today's Roster Move - September 1st

Good afternoon. We start our day of posting with a roster move for South Bend.

Reliever Brian Budrow has been promoted to high-A Visalia in an effort to help the Rawhide in the playoffs. A well-deserved promotion for one of the best relievers this season.

No new players will be added at this point in the season.

The full press release can be read on www.silverhawks.com in the "Headlines" section.