A playoff preview from Hickory, NC tonight as the BlueClaws open a four-game series with the Hickory Crawdads, their would-be playoff opponent if the post-season began today. Should be fun. It’s the first meeting of the year between the two division-rivals.

Game Notes
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LAK: RHP Trevor May (6-2, 2.67)
HIC: RHP Neil Ramirez (8-8, 4.56)

Barnes Burning Up…Jeremy Barnes went 5-6 in the double-header on Tuesday at Hagerstown raising his average to .299…Barnes has not been at .300 since May 31st…He is 28-67 (.418) in August with nine multi-hit games this month…He hit .346 in April, .268 in May, .176 in June, .247 in July…In his last four games, Barnes is 10-15 with four doubles and two triples…Barnes also has two three-double games this month, one off the franchise record of four (Jeremy Slayden, 2006)…He was an 11th round pick last year out of Notre Dame who played shortstop for Williamsport last year…This year, he has played second and third base with Lakewood.

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Let’s try this again…After getting rained out last night, the BlueClaws and Hagerstown Suns will play two today beginning at 5:05

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We’ll have both game updates down here…

Game One
LAK: RHP Brody Colvin (6-7, 3.19)
HAG: LHP Graham Hicks (1-5, 5.79)

Game Two
LAK: RHP Mike McGuire (1-1, 3.27)
HAG: RHP Paul Demny (6-7, 3.90)

Brody’s Back…Today is Brody Colvin’s first start since exiting a game Tuesday against Greensboro when he was hit in the leg with a come-backer. He has an extra day of rest since the BlueClaws used a six-man rotation this turn (with Julio Rodriguez making a Friday start), but Brody has been fine since leaving his last outing…He is 4-2, 1.53 over his last 17 starts.

Closing In…The BlueClaws are three wins away from clinching a winning record in their 10th consecutive half, dating to the first half of the 2006 season…Lakewood had just three winning halves in their first 10, but have been over .500 in every half since.
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Welcome back to Municipal Stadium here in Hagerstown as the BlueClaws look to bounce back from a 9-7 loss yesterday afternoon. This is game three of a four-game series after which the BlueClaws head to Hickory.

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UPDATE: Rained out…Two tomorrow beginning at 5:05.

Brody’s Back…Today is Brody Colvin’s first start since exiting a game Tuesday against Greensboro when he was hit in the leg with a come-backer. He has an extra day of rest since the BlueClaws used a six-man rotation this turn (with Julio Rodriguez making a Friday start), but Brody has been fine since leaving his last outing…He is 4-2, 1.53 over his last 17 starts.

Closing In…The BlueClaws are three wins away from clinching a winning record in their 10th consecutive half, dating to the first half of the 2006 season…Lakewood had just three winning halves in their first 10, but have been over .500 in every half since.

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Day game after a night game in which Lakewood knocked off Hagerstown 6-1 behind eight great innings from Jonathan Pettibone. The BlueClaws are still 3.5 games up on Hickory as they try to win both halves.

Game Notes
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LAK: RHP Colby Shreve (7-5, 3.67)
HAG: LHP Evan Bronson (3-2, 4.18)

Just Missed…Jonathan Pettibone was three outs short of a nine-inning complete game on Saturday at Hagerstown…The BlueClaws have not had a nine-inning complete game since July 20th, 2007 by Carlos Monasterios (now with the Dodgers), a span of 464 games…The BlueClaws have had a pitcher throw eight innings this year a total of eight times but have yet to have a pitcher start the ninth.

A Dabbs Here and a Dabbs There…Michael Dabbs, who joined the BlueClaws from Williamsport on July 21st, is hitting .312 with Lakewood and has hit safely in all but three games that he has played…He had an 11-game hitting streak from 7/31 – 8/17 and has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games.

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One night after Ryan Howard and 10,000+ fans, the BlueClaws have arrived in Hagerstown to open the final road trip of the regular season. Four here and then four more in Hickory, Lakewood’s likely first round playoff opponent.

Game Notes
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LAK: RHP Jonathan Pettibone (5-6, 3.75)
HAG: LHP Mitchell Clegg (9-1, 2.52)

Atop the Rankings…Howard drove in his 92nd run of his BlueClaw career on Friday, putting him atop the franchise leaderboard in that category…He broke a tie with Travis Mattair and Randy Ruiz, who each had 91…Howard drove in 87 in 2002 and four more during a 2007 rehab appearance at FirstEnergy Park…Sebastian Valle had 15 last year and has 72 this year…He is five away from tying the record…Leandro Castro, who had six last year, has 74 this year and 80 in his BlueClaws career, 12 off the record.

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Guess who’s in town tonight? Ryan Howard arrived at FirstEnergy Park around 2:30 this afternoon, took a little batting practice (pictured) and is batting third tonight for Lakewood. As I type (6:26), we’re about 30 minutes away from his jersey retirement ceremony.

Game Notes
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LAK: RHP Julio Rodriguez (3-0, 1.86)
GBO: LHP Chad James (3-9, 5.32)

Welcome Back Ryan Howard…Ryan Howard, who played with the BlueClaws in 2002 and rehabbed with Lakewood in 2007, will rehab here tonight…He has been on the disabled list since August 3rd (retroactive to August 2nd) with a left ankle sprain…Howard hit .280 with 19 HRs and 87 RBIs with Lakewood in 2002, the team’s second year.

One More RBI…Howard has 91 RBIs as a BlueClaw, tying him for the franchise record with two others (Travis Mattair, 07-08 and Randy Ruiz, 04)…He is two home runs short of Juan Richardson’s team record of 22, set in the team’s inaugural season of 2001…Howard had one home run and four RBIs during a two-day rehab appearance in 2007 (May 23rd and 24th).

Retired Numbers…The BlueClaws will retire the #29 Howard wore while playing for the team in 2002…He is the first former BlueClaws player to have his number retired…There are two other numbers that will never be worn by a BlueClaws player (42, retired by Major League Baseball in honor of Jackie Robinson and 50, retired by the South Atlantic League in honor of former league president John Henry Moss, who was president of the league for 50 years).

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Welcome back to FirstEnergy Park here in Lakewood where tonight the BlueClaws and Greensboro Grasshoppers meet in game three of a four game series. The clubs have split the first two.

Game Notes
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LAK: RHP Josh Zeid (6-4, 2.74)
GBO: RHP Robert Morey (0-2, 2.36)

Dig the Long Ball…Sebastian Valle had hit one home run through May 27th, but since then has hit 15 home runs, most in the league in that period. Valle has hit seven home runs since July 26th and five in August…Valle hit six home runs with Williamsport last year after starting the season with Lakewood…He turned 20 on July 24th.

On the Improve…Lakewood’s pitchers have improved the team ERA each month this year…April 4.26, May 3.09, June 2.76, July 2.70, August 2.30.

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Welcome back to FirstEnergy Park where tonight the BlueClaws and Greensboro Grasshoppers meet in the second of a four-game series. First pitch at 7:05 (as I type at 4:11, we’re going to take the tarp off the field at 4:30).

Game Notes
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LAK: RHP Trevor May (5-2. 2.44)
GBO: RHP Erick Carrillo (5-5, 4.44)

May Day…May, 20, makes his 9th start with Lakewood after opening the year with Clearwater, where he went 5-5, 5.01…He was sent to Lakewood on July 4th when LHP Matt Way was promoted to Clearwater…May threw seven shutout against Delmarva on Friday, the second time he threw seven shutout against Delmarva in a span of 17 days…May has allowed a total of four earned runs over his last five starts (covering 32 innings pitched)…In those 32 innings, May has allowed 18 hits, 10 walks, and has struck out 45…He is 4-1 in that stretch…May does lead the minors in walks, with 79 in 118 innings between Lakewood and Clearwater

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Welcome back to FirstEnergy Park where tonight the BlueClaws will look to start a four-game series against Greensboro with a win. Brody Colvin takes the mound for the BlueClaws.

Game Notes
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LAK: RHP Brody Colvin (6-7, 3.17)
GBO: LHP Edgar Olmos (3-6, 4.01)

Throw-Back-The-Clock Night…Tonight’s pitching match-up of Brody Colvin and Edgar Olmos was the match-up on April 16th, Lakewood’s home opener…Greensboro won the game 3-2, with Colvin allowing three runs in five innings to take the loss…Olmos gave up two runs in five innings to earn the win.

Hoppers Last Stand…Greensboro enters this four-game series tied for third place with West Virginia, six games behind first place Lakewood and 2.5 games behind second place Hickory…If the BlueClaws win the second half, having already won the first, their playoff opponent would be the team with the next best record, likely Hickory (10.5 games ahead of 3rd place overall)…Greensboro is 5-9 over their last 14 games and has lost five of their last seven.

The Killer B’s…Stephen Batts has eight multi-hit games in his last 11 games, an 12-game hitting streak, and is 29-74 over his last 17 games…Jeremy Barnes has hit safely in his last nine games and is 15-32 over the stretch.

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The BlueClaws have allowed a whopping six runs in the first four games of this series and try to take four of five with a win tonight over Delmarva here at FirstEnergy Park.

Game Notes
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LAK: RHP Jonathan Pettibone (5-5, 3.77)
DEL: RHP Bobby Bundy (2-5, 4.28)

In Third…At 72-46, the BlueClaws have the third best record among the 120 full season minor league teams…Great Lakes (A- Dodgers, 78-40) and Durham (AAA Rays, 74-47) are the only two other teams with a better record than Lakewood.

The Last Six…The BlueClaws have outscored their opponents 49-15 over the last six games, going 5-1…In that stretch, they are batting .308 as a team (69-224)…Stephen Batts is 11-26, Leandro Castro is 9-28 with 9 RBIs, Jeremy Barnes is 10-21 with 8 RBIs…This comes since the bullpen gave up four in the ninth to lose 5-4 to West Virginia last Sunday.

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Welcome back to FirstEnergy Park as the BlueClaws look to take a third straight game from Delmarva after a 6-2 win last night. The BlueClaws have outscored their opponents 44-13 over the last five games.

Game Notes
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LAK: RHP Colby Shreve (6-5, 3.77)
DEL: RHP Pat Kantakevich (0-5, 3.88)

The Last Five…The BlueClaws have outscored their opponents 44-13 over the last five games, going 4-1…In that stretch, they are batting .318 as a team (61-192)…Stephen Batts is 10-22, Leandro Castro is 9-24 with
9 RBIs, Jeremy Barnes is 9-18 with 8 RBIs.

The Killer B’s…Stephen Batts has eight multi-hit games in his last nine games, a 10-game hitting streak, and is 27-66 over his last 15 games…Jeremy Barnes has hit safely in his last eight games and is 14-29 over the stretch.

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Welcome back to FirstEnergy Park after the BlueClaws picked up a 10-0 win over Delmarva last night (and improved to 7-1 on Friday the 13th, how fascinating). Game three of five (and nine on the homestand) here tonight.

Game Notes
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LAK: RHP Josh Zeid (5-4, 2.83)
DEL: LHP Nick Haughian (5-2, 4.09)

On Zeid…Zeid, 23, makes his 38th appearance and 10th start for Lakewood…The BlueClaws bullpen gave up three in the 8th on 8/3 and four in the 9th on 8/8, costing him wins in each…Zeid is winless in nine starts though he has a 2.38 ERA as a starter.

Winner Winner…Since the BlueClaws will only play 139 games this year (an August 5th game at Greenville ended in a 2-2 tie), by winning their 70th game of the season on Friday night against Delmarva, the BlueClaws have secured the 5th winning season in team history (2006-2010)…They did not have a winning record in any of their first five seasons. The BlueClaws are also seven wins from securing a winning half, which would be the 10th consecutive after just three in their first 10.

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Welcome back to FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood, where tonight the BlueClaws take on the Delmarva Shorebirds in the second of a five-game series and nine-game homestand for Lakewood.

Game Notes
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LAK: RHP Trevor May (4-2, 2.85)
DEL: RHP Kenny Moreland (7-5, 3.16)

A Strange Game…The BlueClaws had 27 runs on 31 hits over the final two games in West Virginia, both wins, before scoring just one run on nine hits (1-11 runners in scoring position) on Thursday night…In the game, Stephen Batts extended his hitting streak to eight and Jiwan James extended his on-base streak to 17.

Home Sweet Home?…The BlueClaws are now just 6-8 over their last 14 games at FirstEnergy Park and are 31-23 at home compared to a league best 38-23 on the road…Home/road splits: Jiwan James .268/.293…Leandro Castro .236/.288…Alan Schoenberger .242/.294.

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Welcome back to FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood, where tonight the BlueClaws open a five-game series with the Delmarva Shorebirds at FirstEnergy Park.

Game Notes
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LAK: RHP Brody Colvin (6-7, 3.31)
DEL: RHP Brent Allar (2-2, 5.44)

Welcome Back…This nine-game homestand is Lakewood’s longest of the season…They will play Delmarva (11-7 against this year) for five and then Greensboro (12-8) for four, the final meetings of the year between the clubs…The BlueClaws 31-22 at home, with 12 of the wins coming in “walk-off” fashion.

Barnes’ Big Days…Jeremy Barnes is 11-21 over his last five games and has raised his average from .268-.285 over the stretch…Barnes became the first BlueClaw this year with three doubles in a game on Monday (franchise record is four by Jeremy Slayden in 2006) and hit his third home run of the year…Barnes, a Notre Dame product, played exclusively second base in the first half but has played third base 14 times in the second half.

The Bat-Man…Stephen Batts has six multi-hit games in his last seven games and is 21-54 over his last 13 games, raising his average from .247 to .280…He homered on Monday at West Virginia, his fourth of the year and first since July 4th…Batts, who did not play third base in the first half, has played there 12 times in the second half, his first experience at the position since he was a freshman at East Carolina.

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