Feb 21, 2013; Surprise, AZ, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher
Chris Dwyer(36) poses for a picture during photo day at the Royals Spring Training Facility. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
This season, the Omaha Storm Chasers proved anybody can be a champion. Even if you’re a loser.
The Kansas City Royals’ Triple-A affiliate snuck into the Pacific Coast League playoffs with a 70-74 record, becoming the first team in league history to advance to the postseason with a losing record. Omaha went on to win the PCL title, and last night defeated the Durham Bulls (TB) 2-1 in the Triple-A Championship Game.
The Triple-A Championship is a unique event that pits the PCL champ against the International League’s Governor’s Cup Champion in a single game at a neutral site. This year, the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs hosted the game, drawing an announced attendance of 9,600.
Chris Dwyer was perfect through 6 ⅔ innings, finishing with seven shutout frames of one-hit ball while racking up eight strikeouts. The performance is particularly impressive considering the fact that Dwyer had only prepared to pitch four or five innings.
Dwyer was drafted by the Royals in the fourth round back in 2009. The lefty had a 3.55 ERA and averaged 6.3 K/9 during the regular season. Irving Falu was the hero at the plate for Omaha, going 3-for-5 and driving in the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth.
Jake Odorizzi was overpowering early on for the Bulls, striking out eight batters over his four innings. Durham’s only run came on a Leslie Anderson pinch-hit home run.
> Frank Schwindel hit a three-run homer and Jake Junis turned in five strong innings to lead the Idaho Falls Chukars (KC) to a 6-0 win over Helena (MIL). The victory secured the Pioneer League Championship for the Chukars. Junis (8), Kyle Bartsch (6) and Glenn Sparkman (2) combined to strike out 16 batters in the shutout.
> Last night’s action marked the conclusion to the MiLB postseason. Around the Minors will take a brief hiatus until the Arizona Fall League kicks off on Oct. 8. In the meantime, we’re running a recap of each player ranked on our Preseason Top-115 Prospect List and will be working on our 2014 rankings.