Best-of-three

Schedule (all games at 7:05 p.m.)

Game 1: Today at Parkview Field

Game 2: Thursday at Dow Diamond, Midland, Mich.

Game

3 (if necessary): Friday at Dow Diamond, Midland, Mich.

Season series

Tied 6-6

Pitching rotations (Fort Wayne starters listed first)

Game 1: RH Matt Lollis (5-2, 1.66 ERA) vs. RH Allen Webster (12-9, 2.88)

Game 2: LH Jose De Paula (8-5, 3.27) vs. LH Greg Wilborn (4-2, 3.26)

Game 3: RH Jerry Sullivan (7-4, 4.03) vs. RH Matt Magill (7-4, 3.28)

Possible starting lineups

Fort Wayne

Danny Payne, CF .246 average, 7 HR, 56 RBI

Jeudy Valdez, 2B .259, 10, 76

Jason Hagerty, C .302, 14, 74

Nate Freiman, 1B .294, 14, 84

Jedd Gyorko, 3B .284, 2, 23

Edinson Rincon, DH .250, 13, 69

Daniel Meeley, RF .304, 0, 23

Jonathan Galvez, SS .259, 10, 49

Everett Williams, LF .244, 5, 59

Great Lakes

Nick Buss CF .285, 1, 23

Christian Lara SS .290, 10, 49

Brian Cavazos-Galvez LF .318, 16, 77

Blake Smith RF .281, 19, 76

J.T. Wise C .309, 12, 62

Angelo Songco DH .274, 15, 71

Jaime Ortiz 1B .270, 8, 41

Rafael Ynoa 2B .286, 9, 51

Brian Ruggiano 3B .255, 6, 48

Bullpen

Fort Wayne closer: Miles Mikolas, 6-3, 2.20, 13 saves

Great Lakes closer: Luis Vasquez, 3-2, 2.68, 20 saves

Skinny

The teams played in Eastern Division Championship of last year’s playoffs, with Fort Wayne winning the series 2-1. The memorable matchup ended with Robert Lara’s home run in the bottom of the 10th in Game 3. Lara and most of the participants in that series are gone. Great Lakes qualified for the playoffs after finishing in second place in the first half of the season. The Loons placed first in the second half and had an overall record of 90-49. The TinCaps finished in second place in the second half, going 41-29, to qualify. Fort Wayne’s overall record is 77-63. The teams had two series in the second half, with Great Lakes taking two of three both times.

Prediction

Both teams can hit (Great Lakes is second in the league with a .272 batting average; the TinCaps’ .260 average ranks sixth) and pitch (Great Lakes’ 3.44 ERA is tops in the league; Fort Wayne is seventh with a 4.03 ERA). The difference is defense. Great Lakes had a league-low 122 errors. The TinCaps had 192. Only Dayton (193) had more. The TinCaps made 11 errors in the most recent series with Great Lakes, losing two of the three games. These are two teams going in opposite directions. Great Lakes enters the playoffs winning six of seven games. The TinCaps have lost nine of 14. Great Lakes wins the series 2-1.

lpope@jg.net