Sunday, September 1, 2013

Astros Minor League Playoff Picture - 9/1 Update

Today's Playoff Action
Greeneville will take on the Kingsport Mets for the first game in a best-of-three tonight starting at 5:00 CST at home. (Postponed from Saturday due to rain.)

Note on Regular Season Games
The DSL and GCL are both finished for the year. Greeneville starts the playoffs tonight. Oklahoma City, Corpus Christi, Lancaster and Quad Cities all play two more regular season games with their final game on Monday. Tri-City plays four more regular season games with their final game on Wednesday.

Oklahoma City - In Playoffs (Won Division)
Oklahoma City was the fourth Astros minor league affiliate to make the playoffs and will host the American Northern Division winner at home on Wednesday, September 4th and Thursday, September 5th to start a best of five series. Memphis is currently one game up in that division over the second place Omaha team. The RedHawks play two more against Memphis at home. Oklahoma City has lost the first two games of the four-game series against Memphis.

Corpus Christi - In Playoffs (Won first half; one game ahead in second half)
The Hooks are in the playoffs by virtue of winning the first half of the season. The schedule for the first four games has already been set with the first two against San Antonio at home on Wednesday, September 4th and Thursday, September 5th and the next two at San Antonio on that Friday and Saturday. With the Hooks win over the Missions on Saturday, they are one game up on the Missions in the second half and only need one more win to clinch the second half championship to go with their first half title. They play the final two games of the regular season against the Missions at home. The Hooks also lead the Missions by four and a half games for the season. I will be there tonight to see David Rollins take the mound as the Hooks try to secure the second half crown.

Lancaster - In Playoffs (Won first half and second half)
The JetHawks are also in the playoffs by virtue of winning the first half and have clinched the second half title as well. The schedule for the first four games has been set with Lancaster playing at home on Saturday, September 7th and Sunday, September 8th (and will be attended by yours truly) and on the road the following Monday and Tuesday. What is still to be determined is the JetHawks opponent. They will play the winner of a mini-series between the #2 and #3 seeds.

Quad Cities - In Playoffs
Quad Cities was the third Astros minor league affiliate to clinch a playoff spot. The first playoff game is scheduled for September 4th at Modern Woodmen Park against Cedar Rapids. The best of three series will then move to Cedar Rapids starting Thursday.

Tri-City
The ValleyCats are continuing to make this difficult. With last night's loss to Lowell, they fell to second place in the division with a five-game losing streak while Lowell has now won five in a row. Lowell's magic number to eliminate Tri-City is six with four games left to play. The 'Cats play their final game against Lowell tonight on the road, followed by three games at home against Brooklyn (the 'Cats are 1-2 against Brooklyn this season). Lowell plays its final three games against Aberdeen on the road (they are 2-1 against Aberdeen this season). Coincidentally Aberdeen and Brooklyn are also battling for a division title so both of those series will be tough. As a reminder, only the division winners in the three divisions and one wild card make the playoffs. Tri-City is currently in second place for the wild card berth, one and a half games back. Tri-City will not be eliminated with a loss to Lowell tonight, but it really is a must-win game. They need to halt the losing streak and get back in first place if they hope to extend their season to the playoffs.

Greeneville - In Playoffs
Greeneville was the fifth Astros affiliate to make the playoffs, and it is the first time Greeneville has been in the playoffs since 2004. They finished their season last night with a 38-30 record, second in their division. They will face the Division winning Kingsport Mets in a best of three series starting tonight at home. The final two (if necessary) games will be played on the road on Monday and Tuesday.

GCL Astros - Eliminated
The GCL club has been eliminated from playoff contention. They ended the season with a 27-33 record and are the only Astros affiliate that ended the 2013 season with a losing record.

DSL Astros - Eliminated
The DSL team was also eliminated from contention. They ended their season on Saturday with another win to cap off a four-game win streak and a 39-31 record for the season.A

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