LEADING OFF--The Travs conclude the first half hosting Wichita with the opportunity to clinch a playoff spot with a win.

LAST TIME OUT--An eight run third inning by the visitors spoiled the night at Dickey-Stephens Park as Wichita defeated Arkansas, 8-3 on Saturday night...with the loss, the Travs magic number to clinch the first half division title remained at one...the first 10 batters of the third inning reached for Wind Surge and the scoring in the inning was finished by a three-run double...the Wichita bullpen was nearly flawless as they did not let the Travs mount a comeback with 4.1 scoreless innings.

IT COMES DOWN TO THIS--Arkansas leads the first half division race by a half game over Springfield coming into the final day...a Traveler win or a Cardinal loss today gives the title to Arkansas...if the Travs lose and Cardinals win then Springfield takes it...the Cardinals won last night at Corpus Christi, 5-0 to reamin alive...Springfield plays tonight at Corpus Christi starting at 5:05...in the south division, Frisco won the first half division title...the first half division champs lock up the league’s first two playoff berths.

PITCH TO WIN--Over the past 28 games, the Travs have posted a 15- 13 record and it is directly traceable to the pitching staff...they have held opponents to four runs or less in 20 of those games including all 15 victories... eight times in that stretch they have surrendered five or more runs and have not won any of those games.

FORD DRIVING OFFENSE--21-year old Harry Ford is is hitting .367 (11-30) over his past eight games...had a three hit game Wednesday night... finds himself among the Texas League’s hitting leaders in several categories...he ranks 8th in OBP (.384), tied for 5th in games (63), tied for 1st in walks (42), tied for 8th in hits (62) and 3rd in stolen bases (19).

YOUNG FELLA--20-year old Cole Young had a two hit, two RBI game last night...his 26 game on base streak was snapped on Sunday afternoon but he rebounded with two hits including a two-run home run on Tuesday...leads the team with 19 multi-hit games...began the year as the youngest position player in the Texas League.

TRANSACTION TRACKER--The Mariners have made recent moves affecting the Travs...Thursday, OF Lolo Sanchez joined the club after signing a minor league free agent deal with Seattle and RHP Jarod Bayless was placed on the Development List...on Tuesday, RHP Logan Gragg returned to the squad from Tacoma and OF Jared Oliva was placed on the Injured List.

PROSPECTING--The Travelers active roster boasts eight of the Mariners top 30 prospects from the mlb.com rankings...topping the list are INF Cole Young, top ranked in the system and #26 overall in baseball and C Harry Ford, second in the system and #27 overall...also among Seattle’s top 30 are INF Ben Williamson (15), RHP Logan Evans (19), RHP Jimmy Joyce (21), OF Alberto Rodriguez (22), RHP Troy Taylor (26) and LHP Reid VanScoter (29).

DUST IN THE WIND--The Wichita Wind Surge (Minnesota Twins) are in fifth place in the North Division...managed by Ramon Borrego for the fourth consecutive season...MLB Pipeline ranked Minnesota as having the 15th best farm system in baseball before the season...the Wind Surge feature nine of the Twins top 30 prospects as ranked by mlb.com...players on Wichita’s roster ranked among Minnesota’s top prospects include RHP Marco Raya (6), INF/OF Luke Keaschall (9), INF Tanner Schobel (10), RHP Cory Lewis (12), RHP Andrew Morris (17), RHP Zebby Matthews (19), C Andrew Cossetti (22), C Noah Cardenas (24) and INF Ben Ross (26).