Farmers Only: The Louisville Bats are going to the playoffs!

First things first.  Congratulations go out to the Louisville Bats who clinched the IL West on the final day of the season, winning their game paired with a Columbus loss.  They'll start a 5-game series with the Durham Bulls on Wednesday night, with the first two games in Louisville and the rest in Durham as needed.  Let's see how they got there.

• Louisville went 2-2 over the long weekend.  They beat Indy 16-6 on Friday night, with Michael Griffin having a huge night by going 4-for-5 with 2 homers.  Danny Dorn and Todd Frazier also had 3 hits and drove in 4 runs each.  Tom Cochran, who was the best pitcher on the Reds' AA team this year, got the start, and he went 4 innings and gave up 3 runs while striking out 5.  They weren't so lucky on Saturday, losing 4-1.  Dave Sappelt was 3-for-4 and Kris Negron was 2-for-4.  Matt Klinker started and gave up 4 runs in 5 1/3 innings.  On Sunday, they lost 5-3 in a game where Jeremy Horst gave up 2 runs in 4 innings.  Going into Monday's game, the Bats were down 1/2 game to the Clippers, and needed to win their game and needed help from the Clippers.  Luckily, that's what they got, and they also beat Indy 6-3 to clinch the division.  Dave Sappelt and Todd Frazier each had two hits and a homer, and the newly promoted Sean Henry had 2 hits as well.  Ben Jukich started the game and gave up 3 runs in 6 2/3 innings, and Micah Owings and Jared Burton nailed down the victory.  Up next: The Bats get an off day before taking on Durham at 7:05 on Wednesday.  If they keep the rotation the way it is, they'll have Cochran, Klinker, Horst, and Jukich going for the first 4 days of the series, but an announcement hasn't been made yet.

How did the other affiliates close their seasons out?  Find out after the jump...

• Carolina lost their series against Tennessee.  They won the first game 5-4 in 10 innings before dropping the next three.  Scott Carroll gave up 3 runs in 6 innings with 7 strikeouts, and much to my surprise, Brad Boxberger pitched a scoreless 2 innings, part of his run to close out the year with 6 scoreless relief innings in a row.  After a rough go of it in AA, it's nice to see him make some progress toward the end of the year.  Felix Perez was 3-for-5 with a homer, and Miguel Rojas and Jake Kahaulelio had 2 hits each.  They lost Saturday night 10-5 in a rough bullpen game.  Jordan Hotchkiss actually pitched well, giving up 2 runs in 6 innings, but Lee Tabor and Gilbert De La Vara combined for 7 runs in the last 2 innings to aid an epic Smokies comeback.  Jake Kahaulelio was 3-for-5 with a homer.  On Sunday, they lost 3-2.  James Avery had a good start, giving up 2 runs in 6 innings with 6 strikeouts.  They closed out their season with another 3-2 loss.  Shane Carlson was 2-for-4 with a homer.  The Mudcats finish their season at 28-40 in the second half, good for last place in their division, and were 58-79 overall.
• Lynchburg also went 2-2 over the weekend.  They lost 6-4 on Friday night.  Neftali Soto was 3-for-4 with a homer and Henry Rodriguez had 3 hits as well.  Josh Ravin gave up 6 runs in his start.  On Saturday, the Hillcats won 4-3 behind a good start by Justin Walker.  Walker went 6 innings of 2-run ball, with 4 strikeouts.  Neftali Soto went 3-for-4 with 2 home runs, to raise his total to 21 for the year.  On Sunday, they lost 8-3.  Pedro Villarreal started and was not so good.  The Hillcats closed their season with a 7-1 win over Myrtle Beach, on a great start by Curtis Partch.  Partch went 5 shutout innings with 3 strikeouts and no walks.  Cameron Satterwhite went 2-for-4 with a RBI and Josh Fellhauer drove two runs in.  The Hillcats end their season at 32-36 in the second half, 3rd in their division, but 61-77 overall, which was last.
  
• Dayton went 2-2 over the weekend.  They lost 7-1 on Friday, despite a decent start by Clayton Shunick.  Shunick gave up 2 runs on 5 hits in 6 innings, but the Dayton offense could only muster up 3 hits for themselves.  The Dragons bounced back to win 7-5 on Saturday.  Frank Pfister had 3 hits, and Alex Oliveras and Mark Fleury had two hits and a homer each.  Tim Crabbe had 7 strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings, and only gave up 2 runs.  They won on Sunday, too, 6-4.  Ronald Torreyes was 3-for-4 and Mark Fleury hit his 11th homer of the year.  Daniel Corcino gave up 1 ER in 5 innings with 5 strikeouts.  They closed out the season with a 5-3 loss.  Edinson Volquez made the start, and pitched 6+ innings.  He gave up 3 runs (2 ER) on 6 hits, with 10 strikeouts and 3 walks.  Justin Braun got the loss in relief, and Tzu-Kai Chiu pitched 2 hitless to close it out.  The Dragons ended up 23-46 in the second half and 53-85 overall, both good for last in their division.  
• Billings had a rough weekend, and their season isn't over.  They lost 13-2 on Friday, where just about everyone got shelled.  Donald Lutz and Jefry Sierra had 2 hits each, and the pitching was bad enough to not be mentioned.  They lost 10-5 on Saturday, even though Daniel Tuttle had a good start.  Tuttle went 4 shutout innings, before Kevin Arico faced 6 batters and allowed all 6 to score.  Chris Berset was 2-for-4 with a homer and 2 RBI.  They lost again on Sunday, this time 3-1.  Tanner Robles got another loss, his 3rd of the year, as he gave up 2 runs in 6 innings pitched.  They bounced back on Monday with a 4-1 win.  Jonathan Correa was stunning as usual, going 6 innings and giving up 1 run with 11 strikeouts.  Billy Hamilton was 3-for-4 with a homer.  Up next: The Mustangs take on Missoula at 9:05, with Kyle Lotzkar taking the hill.