Keller to start Game 1 of ELDS
TRENTON » Brian Keller has earned the ball for Game 1 of the Eastern League Division Series.
Thunder manager Jay Bell confirmed it on Friday.
Keller will start the opener of the best-of-five series against New Hampshire when the team’s meet on Wednesday.
“He deserves it,” Bell said. “He’s had a really nice year. We’ve been thinking about the rotation for about a month now . ... We’ve manipulated it so we can Brian in there for Game 1. We’ve got our guy and that won’t change.”
A 39th-round pick in 2016 out of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the 24-year-old right-hander is 10-9 with a 3.74 ERA, 114 strikeouts and 1.26 WHIP in 125 innings.
The location of that Game 1 start is still to be decided. The Thunder (7561) entered play Friday night one game behind the Fisher Cats (75-59). New Hampshire has played two fewer games that won’t be made up, so if the teams finish tied Trenton wins the tiebreaker thanks to a 9-8 head-to-head advantage this season.
The Thunder clinched their third straight playoff berth on Sunday.
“We have an all day celebration,” outfielder Trey Amburgey said. “I was saying to some guys, I’ve been in the playoffs all four years of pro ball and that was the best celebration I’ve been part of. I think we’re just ready to get going, ready for that adrenaline rush to take over.”
Altoona and Akron have clinched the two playoff spots in the West Division.
Bell said left-handed reliever James Reeves (back) should be ready for the series. Reeves suffered a strain in his Aug. 21 appearance against Hartford, but he’s scheduled to throw a side on Sunday and if all goes well be available for Game 1.
An EL All-Star, Reeves has a 2.80 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 54.2 innings out of the bullpen.
The news wasn’t so good for another EL All-Star as third baseman Mandy Alvarez has been ruled out for the season with a quadriceps injury. Alvarez batted .262/.314/.440 with 11 homers and 54 RBIs in 99 games.
“There’s not enough time left in the season to get him back,” Bell said. “The guys have done a nice job to replace him, but it’s tough to lose his bat. It would have been nice to have him in the lineup, but nonetheless we have the guys who are going to compete.” Cincinnati at St. Louis Arizona at L.A. Dodgers Colorado at San Diego N.Y. Mets at San Francisco
Saturday’s games
N.Y. Mets (Matz 5-11) at San Francisco (Holland 7-8), 4:05 p.m.
Chicago Cubs (Hendricks 10-10) at Philadelphia (Eflin 9-5), 7:05 p.m. Milwaukee (Anderson 9-7) at Washington (Strasburg 7-7), 7:05 p.m. Pittsburgh (Archer 4-7) at Atlanta (Gausman 9-9), 7:10 p.m.
Toronto (Estrada 7-10) at Miami (Chen 5-9), 7:10 p.m.
Cincinnati (Castillo 7-11) at St. Louis (Poncedeleon 0-0), 7:15 p.m. Colorado (Gray 10-7) at San Diego (Erlin 3-4), 8:40 p.m.
Arizona (Corbin 10-5) at L.A. Dodgers (Kershaw 6-5), 9:10 p.m.