Seattle Mariners Minor League Affiliate Makes Championship For Second Straight Year

Originally posted on Seattle Mariners on SI
By Teren Kowatsch | Last updated Sep 13, 2024 5:30 PM ET

The Seattle Mariners are still trying to keep their season going past September. They are 4.5 games out of first place in the American League West and 4.5 games out of the third AL Wild Card spot entering Friday after a 5-4 loss against the Texas Rangers on Thursday.

As the organization's major league club is still fighting for their playoff future, one of their minor league affiliates will be trying to win their second-straight championship.

Seattle's Low-A club the Modesto Nuts punched their ticket to a second-straight California League Championship Series with a 6-2 win against the San Francisco Giants' Low-A affiliate San Jose Giants on Thursday.

Modesto first baseman (2018 Mariners international signing out of Nicaragua) Milkar Perez went 2-for-5 with three RBIs for the Nuts in the win. Center fielder Tai Peete went 2-for-5 with a triple and third baseman Luis Suisbel also went 2-for-5.

Peete also made the final catch out in center to ice the game and clinch the CLCS berth.

For the second straight season, the @ModestoNuts are headed to the Cal League Championship Series!

Tai Peete kicked things off with an RBI triple for the @Mariners' Single-A affiliate before hauling in the 27th out pic.twitter.com/bNJR5CHdni
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) September 13, 2024

Modesto's starting pitcher Pedro Da Costa Lemos (2019 international signing out of Brazil) went four innings and allowed five hits (one home run) and one earned run while striking out five.

The Nuts are playing for their second-straight California League title (third straight for those that count first-half championships). They swept the Los Angeles Dodgers' Low-A affiliate the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in 2023.

Modesto will play the San Diego Padres' Low-A affiliate Lake Elsinore Storm at 1:15 p.m. PT on Sunday at Lake Elsinore, Calif.. Game 2 of the series with be played at 7:05 p.m. PT on Tuesday and the if-necessary game will be played at a to-be-determined time on Wednesday. The last two games will be played in Modesto.

The Nuts earlier this season released the news that the club, Seattle and the city of Modesto, Calif., couldn't come to terms on a lease extension past this season. But the sides eventually agreed to a short-team extension to the agreement that would keep Modesto at John Thurman Field at least through 2025.

This article first appeared on Seattle Mariners on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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