Chattanooga Lookouts start with Matt Magill, Zach Lee

photo Matt Magill of the Chattanooga Lookouts
photo Lookouts pitcher Zach Lee

The Chattanooga Lookouts will put the Southern League's strikeout leader and the top prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization on the mound the next two nights as they open their divisional playoff series in Jackson.

Matt Magill will start tonight's 7:05 EDT game, with Zach Lee scheduled for Friday night's matchup. Magill went 11-8 with a 3.75 earned run average in the regular season, started each series down the stretch, and wound up with 168 strikeouts in 146 innings.

"Matt has been in this position for a big part of the second half, and he's done a good job of giving us momentum for the rest of the series," Lookouts manager Carlos Subero said Wednesday. "He's minimized the damage when he's had to and has gotten into a pretty good groove and dominated hitters one after another.

"We definitely feel pretty good about Matt going this first game."

Lee, a former LSU quarterback signee, was promoted from high Single-A on June 25 and struggled at first. Lee exited July with an 0-2 record and a 7.92 ERA, but he is now 4-3 with a 4.25 ERA.

"Zach had a good August and is having a good September," Subero said. "He never lost confidence in his execution and his pitches. His last six starts have been outstanding, and he pitched well against Jackson his last time here."

Chattanooga went just 6-9 against Jackson during the regular season but won last month's series at AT&T Field three games to two. The Generals posted the best overall record in the league at 79-61, followed by Montgomery (74-63) and Chattanooga (73-65).

"They're a very good team, and we always seem to play very competitively," Lookouts outfielder Nick Buss said. "They're usually great series, and that makes for fun baseball."

Said Subero: "They won the most games in the league this year, so that tells you they should be a good, solid team."

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