IL1 International League

Final Weekend of 2012 Regular Season Arrives

August 31, 2012 - International League (IL1) News Release


The end of the 2012 International League regular season is at hand, and the three division champions await a Wild Card team to join them in the playoffs. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees officially clinched the North Division flag last night by beating Lehigh Valley 5-0, and in the process put a serious damper on any hopes the IronPigs have of catching current Wild Card leader Pawtucket. The PawSox swept a doubleheader at Gwinnett Thursday to give themselves a 3.0-game cushion over Lehigh Valley with four left to play. Pawtucket's last four games of the regular season are against the Yankees, meaning the two teams could play as many as nine straight contests beginning tonight. All Scranton/WB home playoff games will take place at Rochester's Frontier Field. The other first round series will pit the winners of the West Division, the Indianapolis Indians, against the South Division champion Charlotte Knights. The Indians own the best record in Triple-A Baseball at 85-55, and like their first round foe will be making their first postseason appearance since 2006.

First Round Schedule (Best of Five):

September 5,6 Charlotte at Indianapolis, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at Wild Card Winner

September 7,8*,9

* Indianapolis at Charlotte, Wild Card Winner at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre

Governors' Cup Finals Schedule (Best of Five):

September 11,12 Charlotte/Indianapolis Division Series Winner at SWB/Wild Card Series Winner

September 13,14*,15

* SWB/Wild Card Series Winner at Charlotte/Indianapolis Division Series Winner

* If Necessary

After Big Thursday, Pawtucket Could Clinch Wild Card Tonight

Thursday couldn't have gone any better for the PawSox, who entered the day with a 1.5-game edge over Lehigh Valley and ended up ahead by 3.0 games. The IronPigs fell 5-0 in a "road" matchup against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, managing just three hits in their own ballpark. Meanwhile in Georgia, Pawtucket took both ends of a doubleheader with the Gwinnett Braves. Billy Buckner tossed a 1-0 shutout in Game 1, followed by another one-run victory as Pawtucket took Game 2 by the score of 3-2. Those results officially ended the playoff chances for three challengers - Columbus, Norfolk, and Rochester. That leaves only the IronPigs, and Pawtucket now has a magic number of just two over Lehigh Valley to clinch the Wild Card. A disadvantage for Pawtucket is that the PawSox must finish ahead of the IronPigs. Since the two teams tied in their head-to-head regular season series, the next tiebreaking factor would be intradivisional record. Pawtucket (42-34 vs. the North) is currently 1.0-game better than Lehigh Valley (41-35 vs. the North) in that respect, but with all remaining games for both teams within the division, the IronPigs would end up with the better record versus North foes if the teams finished tied in the overall standings.

League's Hottest Players Could Be Playoff Heroes

With the playoffs nearly upon us, some of the League's best players have been catching fire at just the right time. Could one of these players, among the IL's most productive in August, be the spark their team needs in September to bring home the Governors' Cup championship?

CHRIS DICKERSON BROCK HOLT ANDY LAROCHE CHARLIE LEESMAN JONATHAN PETTIBONE

Scranton/WB Indianapolis Pawtucket Charlotte Lehigh Valley

AUGUST: .361, 11 RBI, 9 SB IL-Best .440 Avg. Team-Best 5 HR, 14 RBI 4-1, 1.72 ERA 4-0, 1.41 ERA

A Closer Look at the Contending Clubs

Watch the 2012 Governors' Cup Playoffs Live on MiLB.TV

Can't make it to the park? MiLB.TV will once again be the next-best place to see the excitement of International League postseason play. Every game of the 2012 Governors' Cup playoffs will be broadcast live online.

Fans can purchase the MiLB.TV package for $14.99, which gives much more than access to live postseason action. Archived games from the entire Triple-A regular season are available 24 hours a day. Want to go back to see Bryce Harper with Syracuse or Starling Marte with Indianapolis? The MiLB.TV package even includes the 25th annual Triple-A All-Star Game from Buffalo.

The entire IL and PCL playoffs plus over 3,500 regular season games on-demand - available right now at MiLB.TV.

With the Finish Line in Sight, Playoff Clubs Prepare to Open Postseason Wednesday

As the 2012 regular season draws to a close, just one of the League's playoff races remains unsettled. The first team to lock in their postseason berth was the Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh Pirates), led by manager Dean Treanor. The Tribe will finish with the best record the franchise has ever had in the International League. Indianapolis posted the IL's best record in May and again in June to pull away in the West Division. Their first round opponent will be the winners of the South Division, the Charlotte Knights (Chicago White Sox). Charlotte clinched their race last Friday just one day after the Indians punched their ticket. Since then though, the Knights have won just one game, dropping two games with potential finals opponent Pawtucket and then losing three out of four against Syracuse. Charlotte is the only one of the five remaining contenders with a losing record over their past ten games, but Joel Skinner's club also knows its next meaningful game isn't until Wednesday at Victory Field in Indianapolis. One of the League's most remarkable stories this season has been the winning baseball being played by the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (New York Yankees). Forced to play away from their home park all season while it is being completely renovated, IL Manager of the Year Dave Miley has kept his team focused on the field. In a competitive North Division, the Yankees surged ahead in August. This month, SWB has won 21 games, four more than any other International League club. Though their spot in the postseason is secure, the Yankees have a unique opportunity this weekend to play spoiler against the team they'd otherwise play in the first round. The Pawtucket Red Sox (Boston Red Sox) host the Yankees for four this weekend, while being chased by the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies) for the Wild Card.

IL Champion Headed to Gildan Triple-A National Championship Game

The IL postseason contenders are also keeping an eye on the Pacific Coast League playoff picture as the regular season wraps up. The club that wins the Governors' Cup will advance to the 2012 Gildan Triple-A Baseball National Championship Game in Durham on Tuesday, September 18. Who will face the IL's best to determine the champion of Triple-A Baseball live on NBC Sports Network? As of August 31, just one race is still in question in the PCL:

American North Pacific South

Omaha Sacramento

(Kansas City Royals) (Oakland A's)

Pacific North American South

Reno Albuquerque 77-63 -- Okl. City 75-64 1.5 ALB Magic # = 3

(Arizona Diamondbacks)

Batting Average Home Runs Earned Run Average Shutouts Pitched

Pawtucket .266 Pawtucket 147 Indianapolis 3.16 Indianapolis 15

Scranton/WB .261 Scranton/WB 124 Charlotte 3.20 Charlotte 13

Indianapolis .258 Charlotte 103 Pawtucket 3.45 Lehigh Valley 11

Lehigh Valley .256 Indianapolis 90 Lehigh Valley 3.77 Scranton/WB 11

Charlotte .255 Lehigh Valley 81 Scranton/WB 3.88 Pawtucket 9

1-Run Games Extra Inning Games Scoring First Last Ten Games

Lehigh Valley 27-17 Lehigh Valley 10-3 Indianapolis 59-21 Scranton/WB 8-2

Scranton/WB 23-16 Scranton/WB 11-4 Charlotte 57-21 Indianapolis 8-2

Charlotte 27-22 Indianapolis 7-8 Pawtucket 52-20 Pawtucket 7-3

Pawtucket 21-21 Charlotte 6-7 Scranton/WB 57-22 Lehigh Valley 5-5

Indianapolis 20-22 Pawtucket 5-6 Lehigh Valley 44-25 Charlotte 4-6

WHO'S IN

Scranton/WB Yankees 82-58 (.586)

North Division Champions

Indianapolis Indians 85-55 (.607)

West Division Champions

Charlotte Knights 80-60 (.571)

West Division Champions

WHO'S STILL ALIVE

Wild Card Race

W-L Pct. GB

Pawtucket 77-63 .550 --

Lehigh Valley 74-66 .529 3.0

ALL OTHER TEAMS ELIMINATED

FINAL WEEKEND

Scranton/WB at Pawtucket

Friday Through Monday

Syracuse at Lehigh Valley

Friday

Buffalo at Lehigh Valley

Saturday Through Monday

Check out the International League Statistics



International League Stories from August 31, 2012


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