The Salt Lake Buzz needed 143 games this season to clinch a PCL Northern Division playoff berth, which they did Sunday night. As a reward, they got to play a meaningless game Monday against the Phoenix Firebirds at Scottsdale Stadium.
Even though it didn't matter, the red-hot Buzz continued their winning ways. Salt Lake downed Phoenix, 10-5, to finish the regular season on a six-game winning streak - their longest of the year.Salt Lake's playoff hopes looked bleak just a couple of weeks ago. Then the Buzz won 10 of their final 12 games to pass the Calgary Cannons as the Northern Division team with the second-best overall record this season. While the Buzz were hot, the Cannons folded, losing nine of their final 11.
The Buzz's 78-66 record (43-29 in the second half) was enough to give them a wild-card berth to play Edmonton, the winner of both halves of the PCL's split season.
Since the Trappers won both halves, however, they will host the entire best-of-five playoff series beginning Wednesday at Telus Field at 7 p.m.
The PCL Southern Division playoffs will feature the Firebirds against the Las Vegas Stars. Should Salt Lake get past Edmonton, it would host the third game - and the fourth and fifth, if necessary - of the best-of-5 PCL Championship Series.
Salt Lake's Brent Brede scored three runs in Monday night's victory and also had an RBI double.
The Buzz took a 4-0 lead in the third inning before the Firebirds knotted the game in the fifth with four runs of their own. Salt Lake scored three runs in the fifth to take the lead back for good.
Tom Quinlan hit a two-run double in the eighth to give the Buzz a pair of insurance runs.
The Buzz have reached the PCL playoffs each of the three years that the team has been in Salt Lake City. Last year, Salt Lake lost a heart-breaking five-game divisional playoff to Colorado Springs, as the Sky Sox clinched the series with a last-inning Game 5 win.