House That Hank Built
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Three Possible Championships in the Balance for Atlanta Braves’ Farm Teams

By Alan Carpenter

Apr 11, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; A detailed view of St. Louis Cardinals world series trophies before the game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 11, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; A detailed view of St. Louis Cardinals world series trophies before the game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /
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Let’s be glad that Gary Sanchez is a Yankee… at least for this week. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Let’s be glad that Gary Sanchez is a Yankee… at least for this week. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports /

Gwinnett vs. Scranton Wilkes-Barre

BEST OF 5 SERIES:

  • TUE:   At Scranton, 6:35pm
  • WED:  At Scranton, 6:35pm
  • THR:   At Gwinnett, 7:05pm
  • FRI:     At Gwinnett, 7:05pm
  • SAT:    At Gwinnett, 7:05pm

This is a daunting task, for on paper it’s a total mismatch.

During the regular season, the Railriders tore up the International League with a record of 91-52.  This was easily the best of any other team in the IL.  It was also and six games better than playoff-vanquished foe Lehigh Valley, who was the second-best in the entire league and had the unfortunate situation of being in the same division as Scranton.

Scranton finished the year winning 7 straight, then extended that to 10 games by stomping Lehigh Valley 3-0 in their first-round series by a combined score of 20-3.

But if you played games on paper, Gwinnett wouldn’t even be here.  They were 13 games under .500 for the year, but managed to oust a Columbus Clippers (Indians) team that was 16.5 games better.

Head-to-head, Scranton smoked Gwinnett 6 games to 1, but they haven’t seen one another since mid-July.

Despite that current 10-game win streak, there are a bunch of key players missing from the Railriders’ roster thanks to previous call-ups – these just since mid-August:

Their rotation could go with the same starters from last week:  Jordan Montgomery (7 IP, 3 hits, 3 walks, no runs), Phil Coke (7 IP, 3 hits, no walks, no runs), and Brady Lail (4 IP, 5 hits, 1 run, 1 walk).

CF Mason Williams was on a hitting tear:  .583 in the first round; 3B Donovan Solano was also hot, hitting .429.  Top prospect Clint Frazier was not:  .091, but most of their lineup was hitting .300 or better.

Gwinnett will have to find enough pitching to silence these bats and then also find a way to hit Montgomery (0.97 for the year) and Coke (2.96).  The rest of the Scranton team’s pitching is now in the majors, so the chance for an upset is definitely there.

Next: Retired? Or just resting?

Three teams.  Three chances.  Three finals.  Go get ’em, boys!

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