First, news:  Fans of the Mariners young pitching can go on a three-day festival of young arms in a few days.  Sort of a pitching-prospect-palooza, except that adding "-palooza" to anything is pretty cliche nowadays.

Anyway ... here goes:

• Saturday: James Paxton (Talk40 #3) makes his MLB debut vs. Tampa Bay
• Sunday: Erasmo Ramirez, who's actually over a year younger than Pax, will make his 18th career start vs. Tampa Bay
• Monday: Taijuan Walker (Talk40 #2) makes his third start and Safeco Field debut vs. Houston

Now ... playoffs!

Midwest Leauge Playoffs -- Beloit 9, Clinton 6 [10 innings] -- Box

A furious battle for the advantage in the best-of-three series ended in favor of Beloit.

Tied 2-2 going into the 9th, the Snappers put up three in the top of the inning.  They chased Victor Sanchez (Talk40 #12), who had a complete game going, in the process.

Two of the three runs were charged to Sanchez and one to George Mieses (26intheMix), who coughed up a two-run homer.

But ... the LumberKings didn't roll over, and put together a game-tying rally in the bottom of the inning.  A double by Brock Hebert (26intheMix) set up the final two runs.

Alas ... Mieses promptly gave up two singles and a walk in the top of the 10th, and soon after Clinton was in a 9-5 hole.  A solo shot from Marcus Littlewood (Talk40 #37) in the bottom of the inning wasn't enough.

Northwest League Playoffs  -- Vancouver 11, Everett 4 -- Box

-- Everett eliminated --

The Aqua Sox couldn't extend their excellent regular season into the playoffs and exited quickly.

Of course, it didn't hurt having D.J. Peterson and his .532 SLG around for the first half of the season.

And something either went wrong with Lars Huijer as the season wound down ... or he hit a patch of rotten luck.  After a string of brilliant starts, Huijer finished the regular year with a lousy outing (1.2 IP, 7 ER) and also hit a sour note in Wednesday's game: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.

On the encouraging side, the offensive firepower was provided by Austin Wilson, who has finished fast.  He had two doubles and a single, after slugging .606 in 21 games in August.

Appalachian League Championship Series -- Pulaski 5, Greeneville 3 -- Box

While Everett joined most of the other affiliates on the sidelines, Pulaski got within a game of a league title.

Jose Flores, the Venezuelan righty who had a strong regular season (3.00 ERA, 9.2 K/9), got the win: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K.

Carlos Misell, who must have a story of some kind, struck out five in 2.2 IP of scoreless relief.   Misell is Venezuelan and 21 years old, and yet this is his first season with pro stats.  Most Latin American players start when they're teenagers.

Maybe he's a guy who played at a junior college in Florida.  Maybe he's a guy suspended for PEDs in 2011.  It's a mystery.

Regardless, he struck out 18 in 10.1 IP when you add his playoff appearance to his regular season games.

The offense only managed seven hits -- six of them singles -- but it made them count.

Looking Ahead

Pulaski has some margin of error with its 1-0 series lead, but Edwin Diaz (Talk40 #36) has been a pretty good bet not to need any.

Clinton, on the other hand, is in a must-win spot, and it will send Mr. Consistency (13 straight starts with no more than 3 ER and no more than 1 BB) to the mound: Dylan "Sharkie" Unsworth (26intheMix).