A Belated Minor League Monday 9/12

I've been experiencing some technical difficulties, so I'm afraid this week's Minor League Monday has become Minor League Wednesday.

While the Yankees spent the last week marching towards the playoffs, their minor league affiliates were mostly exiting the playoffs. To start, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees were knocked out in the first round of the International League playoffs, winning only one game of their five game series with the Richmond Braves. Part of this can be blamed on the fact that the team recently lost its best hitter, Shelly Duncan, and three of its best pitchers, and three of its best pitchers, Ian Kennedy, Chris Britton and Brian Bruney. That's life in the minor leagues, I suppose. They did keep it close, losing by one run in two of their losses and by two in the third.

Also knocked out of the first round were the Staten Island Yankees, losing the first two games of their three game set with the Brooklyn Cyclones. In the first game, the defending champions fell victim to shoddy defense when first baseman Taylor Holiday who bounced a throw to the plate, allowing the winning runs to score. In the second game, they were simply outmatched by the Cyclones' pitching, as starter Dylan Owen combined with three relievers for a 15 strikeout performance, allowing only one run.

The lone spot of good news came out of Trenton, as the Thunder beat the Portland Sea Dogs three games to one to get themselves into the Eastern League Championship Series. The Thunder won the same way they've been winning all year, with dominant pitching. The pitching staff allowed only three runs in their three wins, capped by a shutout in the final game by starter Jeff Marquez and relievers Eric Wordekemper and Justin Pope.

The Thunder have also been helped out by the late season promotion of hot hitting center fielder Austin Jackson, who I wrote about last week. Jackson knocked in three runs, including the game winner, in the opening game of the championship series against the Akron Aeros last night. I'll be sure to recap the entire series on Monday.