Shoemaker, Jacksonville clinch South crown

It took a streak the likes of something Andy Barkett had never seen.

"I just said, in 20 years in baseball, I've never seen a team get on a run like this and do what they did," Barkett, the manager of the Jacksonville Suns, said he told his players Monday. "And that's the truth."

Barkett watched with pride as outfielder Brady Shoemaker and first baseman Viosergy Rosa homered to help the Suns edge the Mobile BayBears, 6-5, and clinch the Southern League's South Division crown on Monday afternoon. The Suns (45-25 in the second, 81-59 overall), thanks to 10 straight wins, will advance to the playoffs and again take on Mobile, which won the division in the first half.

"It's very gratifying, we defied the odds," said Barkett. "They've all accepted their roles, and I couldn't be prouder of the effort and professionalism of all my players and staff."

Jacksonville, Miami's Double-A affiliate, needed each of the 10 straight wins to edge Mississippi, winners of 10 of 12, for the playoff spot. Chattanooga and Huntsville will meet up in the North Division semifinals.

@SunsBaseball defeats Mobile 6-5. Suns clinch playoff spot and will play Mobile again in 5-game series. #TeamSideline pic.twitter.com/prp55GRC3U

- Chad Cushnir (@CushCam) September 1, 2014

"It's a great feeling any time you're popping the champagne at the end of the season, whether it's the division or the league championship, it's an amazing sensation and euphoric feeling, and that's why we all play this game -- to have the feeling of being a champion and a winner. It makes it even more gratifying to win 10 straight games. The odds of that happening are difficult -- I don't think we've swept a team all year. I don't think we've beat Mobile in a series in the four years I've been here, so who would have thought?" said Barkett.

Jacksonville's improbable run came down to the final game of the regular season, and the Suns went with starter Trevor Williams, the Marlins' No. 7 prospect. Williams struck out six and held the BayBears to a pair of runs on eight hits and a walk over 4 2/3 innings before handing things off to the bullpen. Frankie Reed (2-0) picked up the win despite allowing a run in the sixth before Collin Cargill, Reid Redman and Matt Ramsey combined on 2 2/3 scoreless frames. Nick Wittgren, Miami's No. 20 prospect, got his 20th save despite a scary ninth in which he allowed a run but stranded two after he retired Dustin Martin on a grounder to second.

"We won 10 games in a row to go to playoffs!" Williams said on Twitter. "We did it!"

This is what winning a pennant looks like: @SunsBaseball @wjxt4 pic.twitter.com/oJYsDp5V29

- Sam Kouvaris (@samsportsline) September 1, 2014

Jacksonville erased an early 1-0 deficit when J.T. Realmuto, Miami's top catching prospect, hit an RBI triple and scored on a single by Shoemaker in the bottom of the first. Shoemaker added his three-run shot in the fifth and Rosa had a two-out drive in the seventh off RJ Hively.

"Any time you're playing a big game, you're gonna need big hits and good pitching, and we got a big three-run homer, great pitching out of our bullpen, and Rosa's homer was huge -- we really needed it and he delivered a big run for us," Barkett said. "It ended up being the difference in the game."

@SunsBaseball celebrating the win with champagne showers! @actionsports360 pic.twitter.com/KjnnsDXxrc

- Drew Copley (@DrewAS360) September 1, 2014

"I've never seen a team win 10 straight games to clinch a division," Barkett said. "I've heard of it, but I've never physically seen it.

The Suns will now reset and prepare for another battle with Mobile, an Arizona affiliate that leads the Southern League with a team ERA of 3.30 and ranked third overall at 79-58.

"It's a new series, we're going to their ballpark, and you hope the momentum carries into that," he added."You know, in professional baseball, you never know -- any time you're playing a team full of professionals who can perform, momentum is only as good as your next day's starting pitcher, as Jim Leyland once said. We'll see how it goes. Momentum is great and these guys have a lot of it right now. We have to go out and play well."

Hear reaction from Suns players and staff as they spoke with @Roger_Hoover during the champagne celebration! https://t.co/rwYN2NpHb5

- Jacksonville Suns (@SunsBaseball) September 1, 2014