The Indians' Lake County Class A team boasts several pitchers who seldom give up the long ball and have impressive strikeout-to-walk ratios.
FARM REPORT
AAA Columbus Clippers
Tonight: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at Clippers, 6:35, Game 1, best-of-five International League playoff series. Yankees RHP D.J. Mitchell (2-0, 3.57) vs. Clippers LHP David Huff (8-2, 4.36).
Notes: RHP Zach McAllister (9-12, 5.29) is scheduled to start for the Clippers in Thursday night's Game 2, going against Yankees RHP David Phelps (4-2, 3.07) at 6:35 p.m. in Columbus. McAllister, the New York Yankees' third pick in the 2006 draft, was 8-10 with a 5.09 ERA in 24 starts for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season, before being acquired by the Indians from the New York organization on Aug. 20 as the player-to-be-named-later in Cleveland's July 31 trade of Kerry Wood to New York. McAllister is 1-2 with a 6.88 ERA in three starts for the Clippers....Clippers OF Jose Constanza hit .378 (37-of-98) in his last 24 games to finish second in the International League with a .319 batting average....OF Ezequiel Carrera (.286) was 13-of-41 (.317) with two doubles, one triple, one home run, six stolen bases, five RBI and five runs in his last 10 regular season games....1B Wes Hodges (.270) hit three homers and a double in the last eight games, going 10-of-34 (.294) with seven RBI....RH reliever Vinnie Pestano (1-2, 14 saves, 1.55) has posted five saves in his last 10 games, pitching 10 scoreless innings and striking out 12, while allowing three hits and two walks....RH reliever Zach Putnam (0-1, 3.33) has allowed one run (unearned) in his last 10 games, fanning 15, walking three and giving up five hits in 14 1/3 innings....RH relieer Josh Judy (3-0, two saves, 2.68) has allowed one run (unearned) in his last eight games, fanning 12 in nine innings, while yielding five hits and two walks....The Yankees won the season series against the Clippers, 5-3....The Clippers finished the regular season 79-65, one-half game behind IL West Division champion Louisville. Columbus lost its final four games....The Yankees won the North Division championship with an 87-56 record.
Advanced A Kinston Indians
Tonight: Indians at Winston-Salem, 7:00, Game 1, best-of-five Carolina League playoff series. Indians LHP T.J. McFarland (11-5, 3.13) vs. Dash RHP Terry Doyle (8-8, 3.71).
Notes: Indians RH starting pitcher Joe Gardner and RH reliever Cory Burns were named to the Carolina League year-end all-star team, which includes just one starter and one reliever. It is the first time Kinston has swept the pitching spots on the year-end all-star team since RH starter Bartolo Colon and RH reliever Danny Graves won the honors in 1995....Gardner, Cleveland's third-round pick in the 2009 draft, Gardner (12-6, 2.65) led the league in wins and was third in ERA. He was also first in the league in holding hitters to the lowest batting average, .199. Including his time with Lake County to begin the season, Gardner led pitchers in the Indians minor league system with 13 wins and 142 strikeouts. He finished 13-6 overall with a 2.75 ERA, walking 62 and allowing just six home runs. Overall, Gardner held hitters to a .197 batting average.... Burns (1-2, 1.83) led the league with 30 saves. With Kinston, Burns struck out 56, walked 13 and held batters to a .210 average with two homers. Burns began the season with Lake County, and he finished a combined 1-2 with 42 saves (in 45 opportunities) with a 1.96 ERA. Burns struck out 81 and walked 14 in 55 innings, while allowing a .212 batting average and two homers....Catcher Chun Chen (.320) was 13-of-31 (.419) with five doubles, one homer, six RBI, six runs and eight walks in his last nine regular season games. Chen, in 172 at bats with Kinston, had 17 doubles, six homers, 30 RBI and 38 walks. Including his time this season with Lake County, Chen hit .315 with 38 doubles, three triples, 12 homers and 69 RBI in 390 at bats....RHP Austin Adams finished the regular season 6-1 with a 1.53 ERA in 13 games (12 starts) for Kinston. Including his stint with Lake County to begin the season, Adams was 8-5 with one save and a 2.49 ERA in 26 games (20 starts), striking out 112, walking 36 and holding batters to a .218 average in 112 innings....3B Jeremie Tice (.283) slugged three homers, two doubles and a triple in his last 10 games, going 11-of-39 (.282) with 11 RBI and eight runs....LF Bo Greenwell (.292) was 14-of-36 (.389) with two doubles, one triple, one homer, seven runs and five RBI in his last eight games....OF Donnie Webb (.267) was 12-of-30 (.400) with one double, one triple, one homer, 12 runs, six RBI and three stolen bases in his last 10 games....The Indians finished the regular season 36-34, going in the first half and then clinching a playoff spot by going 37-33 in the second half....The Dash, a Southern Division rival of the Indians, posted the Carolina League's best overall record, 81-58. Winston-Salem won its division in both the first and second halves of the season, going 43-27 and 38-31, respectively.
A Lake County Captains
Tonight: Captains at West Michigan, 7:00, Game 1, best-of-three Midwest League playoff series. Captains RHP Brett Brach (5-8, 3.46) vs. Whitecaps RHP Victor Larez (8-11, 4.27).
Notes: RHP Jason Knapp (1-0, 3.94) is scheduled to start for the Captains if a third game is necessary in the best-of-three series. Knapp was a 2008 second-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Phillies, who sent him to the Indians in the Cliff Lee trade last July. Knapp, coming back from offseason shoulder surgery yet still regarded as an elite prospect, began pitching in July for the Indians Arizona League rookie team. He has struck out 29 in 16 innings for the Captains in four games, after fanning 18 in 12 1/3 innings over five outings in the Arizona League. In the 28 1/3 combined innings, Knapp has given up just 17 hits -- including no homers. He has walked 12....LHP Giovanni Soto is 3-2 with a 3.77 ERA in six starts with the Captains since the Indians acquired him from West Michigan, a Detroit Tigers farm team, in exchange for Jhonny Peralta. In a combined 22 games -- all starts -- for the Captains and Whitecaps, Soto is 9-8 with a 2.93 ERA and two shutouts. He has struck out 107, walked 36 and held batters to a .237 average and seven homers in 113 2/3 innings....1B Adam Abraham (.264) hit .357 (65-of-182) with 16 doubles, 10 homers and 43 RBI in his last 46 regular season games....RH reliever Preston Guilmet (4-1, 11 saves, 2.25) struck out 79 and walked 10 in 52 innings, holding batters to a .188 average and two homers....RH reliever Jose Flores (1-1, six saves, 2.14) was 1-0 with two saves in his last seven games, pitching 9 2/3 scoreless innings. Flores fanned 51 and walked seven in 42 innings, holding batters to a .224 average and one homer....RH reliever Francisco Jimenez (8-1, one save, 3.59) was 2-0 with an 0,92 ERA in his last seven games, striking out 24 in 19 2/3 innings while yielding 14 hits and four walks....OF Delvi Cid (.253) led the Midwest League with 71 stolen bases (in 87 attempts)....The Captains won the season series, 11-10, against West Michigan....The Captains clinched a playoff berth by winning the Midwest League Eastern Division first-half championship with a 44-25 record. They went 33-37 in the second half to finish 77-62....The Whitecaps, also in the Eastern Division, were 26-43 in the first half, but went 36-34 in the second half to earn a postseason spot....Game 2 and, if necessary, Game 3 will be played at the Captains' Classic Park in Eastlake on Thursday and Friday nights at 6:30. LHP Vidal Nuno (6-8, 4.96) is scheduled to start Game 2 for the Captains.