Edwards, Cubs make clean sweep

Class A Advanced Daytona had already no-hit Dunedin twice this season before Wednesday's Game 2 playoff contest. The Cubs didn't quite finish off the latest bid, but swept into the Florida State League Championship Series all the same.

Starter C.J. Edwards went five innings without allowing a hit and reliever Ryan Searle took the bid another 3 1/3 innings, going without allowing a hit until there was one out in the ninth. The combined effort gave Daytona a 4-0 victory for a 2-0 semifinal series win.

Edwards struck out eight while walking only one. Searle earned the save in allowing two hits and a walk with five strikeouts over four innings. Jon Berti's one-out single in the ninth ended the no-hitter.

Edwards said his team wasn't overly concerned about the no-no, knowing that simply a win would put them through to the next round.

"My fastball [was working well], that was something I went into the game and wanted to establish early," he said. "[The performance] was very nice, but I can't say too much about it. I just went out there, and as long as I gave my team a chance to win, that's all I was really trying to do.

"We were more just worried about winning the game. Instead of us throwing a no-hitter, we just wanted to win, that's pretty much all we talked about."

The Cubs' No. 11 prospect continued the form he established in the six starts he made with Daytona after he was dealt to the Cubs from the Rangers in the Matt Garza trade. In those six outings, he posted a 1.96 ERA with 33 strikeouts and seven walks in 23 innings.

"Once I got traded and came over, my goal was to just keep going up and doing what I was doing with Texas and bring that over here to the Cubs. I feel pretty good about it," he said.

After a 6-1 win over Dunedin on Tuesday, the win made it a clean series sweep. Starting Friday, the Cubs will meet the Charlotte Stone Crabs, who dispatched Fort Myers in two games, in the Finals.

Edwards said the team's attitude gave him confidence in their chances going forward.

"This team -- you know baseball can be about individual goals, but with this team we all just kind of help each other. We're all just trying to help each other get to the next level," he said. "Nobody's ever putting anyone down."

Fourth-ranked Cubs prospect Kris Bryant led the offensive effort in the clincher, going 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. The second overall pick in this year's Draft, Bryant joined Daytona for just 16 games after breezing through the Rookie-level Arizona League Cubs and Class A Short-Season Boise.

In those 16 contests he made his mark, though, hitting .333/.387/.719 with five homers and 14 RBIs. He went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs in the first game of the series.

"He's been hitting it great ever since he came over. Hasn't skipped a bit yet and still going strong at the plate," Edwards said of the slugger.

Wes Darvill and Elliot Soto each added a double and an RBI for the Cubs.