McKinney, Cave among top prospect performers Tuesday

Trevor Clifton was one of the hottest pitchers in the Minor Leagues as the regular season concluded and not much has changed in the postseason.

The Cubs’ No. 8 prospect fired six scoreless frames as Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach blanked Lynchburg, 7-0, on Tuesday night, taking a 2-1 series lead in the Carolina League Finals.

Clifton, who posted a 2.72 ERA in 23 starts this season, didn’t allow an earned run in four of his final five regular season starts.

“I threw a lot of fastballs early in the season to this team, and I mixed it up today, kept them off balance with the changeup and curveball, pitched backwards today and felt good about it. The results were good,” Clifton told MiLB.com. “[Before] my last two starts, I began to watch video on the hitters and I focused on what they struggled with and executed my plans.”

In the playoffs, the 21-year-old right-hander has made a pair of starts and given up one earned run in 12 innings.

The Pelicans provided Clifton with a one-run lead in the top of the first and that was all he needed. Clifton allowed three hits and didn’t issue a walk. He also struck out five and threw 48 of his 78 pitches for strikes.

The rest of the best performances from top prospects Tuesday:

• No. 64 overall prospect Tyler O’Neill (Mariners’ No. 2) was named Southern League MVP after hitting .293 with …

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