Miami Marlins Minors: Clinton LumberKings Advance to Midwest League Final

The Clinton LumberKings will meet the South Bend Cubs in the best-of-five Midwest League Championship series.

The South Bend Cubs defeated the Bowling Green Hot Rods, two-games-to-zero in the opening round and the Great Lakes Loons by the same margin to get to the MWL Finals. The Clinton LumberKings topped the Kane County Cougars in two and used the whole three-game series to defeat the Cedar Rapids Kernels.

In last night’s series clincher for Clinton, starting pitcher Alberto Guerrero (9-6, 3.13) struck out eight over 4 2/3 innings, and was followed by 4 1/3 shutout frames from Elkin Alcala, Peyton Culbertson, and Manuel Rodriguez. The LumberKings scored the eventual game-winner in the first inning, when they brought the first three runs home of consecutive singles from Will Banfield, Evan Edwards, and J.D. Osborne. Kameron Misner later scored on a wild pitch, and Bubba Hollins added a seventh-inning two-run triple.

Starting for the Clinton LumberKings in the first game of the best of five against the Cubs is Remey Reed (4-3, 3.28). Reed closed the regular season by being named the MWL Pitcher of the Week for his performance on August 29th, when he struck out seven and didn’t allow a baserunner over a six-inning start in an eventual 9-5 victory against the Burlington Bees.

Likely Clinton LumberKings Starting Lineup

The Clinton LumberKings will likely rely on the same lineup that has carried them this far. Look for shortstop Christopher Torres, second baseman Jose Devers, and left fielder Peyton Burdick to bat one-through-three. Four-through-six will likely be center fielder Misner, catcher Banfield, and first baseman Edwards. Designated hitter Osborne, third bagger Hollins, and right fielder Davis Bradshaw should round out the lineup.

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Games two and three will likely feature starting pitchers Jake Walters (7-4, 2.35) and Josh Roberson (4-4, 2.25), followed in games four and five by Tanner Andrews (8-5, 3.52) and Guerrero.

As always, thanks for reading. Follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and subscribe to our daily newsletter to keep up with the Clinton LumberKings. We also cover the Miami Marlins, for those of you who are interested, along with their full stable of minor league affiliates. To wit, that’s the twin rookie-level clubs in the Dominican Summer League and the Gulf Coast League, the Batavia Muckdogs in the short-season-A New York-Penn League, the Kings, the high-A Jupiter Hammerheads in the Florida State League, the double-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in the Southern League, and the Wichita triple-A club, who hasn’t yet been given a “permanent” name.