Jose Macias pitched an amazing outing last night in Peoria. He surrendered two runs, (just one earned run), on nine hits in the longest outing of the season. He did surrender more than his share of hits but if you’ve seen Macias pitch at any point during his first or current outing in Burlington, you understand that’s his game. He needs to be effective with changing speeds and let hitters put the ball in play. Last night he did just that and helped the Burlington Bees snap a three-game losing streak.

Tonight should put forward an interesting pitching match-up as two of the better young pitchers in the Midwest League square off. RHP Blake Hassebrock gets the start for the Bees. He pitched five scoreless innings in his last outing against Wisconsin on July 31. He has also allowed just two earned runs in his last 10 innings pitched.

LHP Austin Kirk is rapidly emerging as one of the better pitching prospects in the MWL and gets the start for the Chiefs tonight. He pitched six scoreless innings against Clinton on July 31. He is 5-7 with a 3.36 ERA in 2011.