Sheffield among top prospect performers Friday

Thanks to a career-best performance by Brett Martin, the Class A Advanced High Desert Mavericks are one win away from becoming California League champions.

The Rangers’ No. 9 prospect set a career high with 15 strikeouts as he fired seven no-hit frames to pace High Desert in a 1-0 shutout of Visalia on Friday in Game 2 of the best-of-five California League finals.

Martin, 21, struck out the side in the first inning and fanned at least two hitters in six of his seven innings of work. The 6-foot-4 lefty threw 67 of his 91 pitches for strikes in the outing, with a seventh-inning walk representing the only blemish in an otherwise sterling performance.

However, the Mavericks’ attempt at a combined no-hitter came apart in the eighth inning when reliever Cameron Gamm surrendered a one-out single to Austin Byler.

After pitching to a 4.41 ERA with 70 strikeouts in 69 1/3 innings (17 starts) across three levels during the regular season, Martin owns a 2.19 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings in two postseason starts for High Desert.

The Mavericks will attempt to lock up a California League title at home on Saturday, with first pitch against Visalia slated for 6:35 p.m. PT.

The rest of the best performances from top prospects Friday

• No. 16 overall prospect Clint Frazier (Yankees’ No. 1) went 2-for-3 with an RBI to help Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre defeat Gwinnett, 3-0, and win its first Governors’ Cup since 2008. It was the first multi-hit performance of the postseason for the 22-year-old outfielder, who was a …

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