IL1 International League

Governors' Cup Playoff Preview

Published on August 17, 2018 under International League (IL1) News Release


As the 2018 International League regular season heads down the home stretch, six clubs are within 2.0 games of a playoff berth. Only four will ultimately advance for a chance to win the coveted Governors' Cup tropy. The surest bet to reach the postseason appears to be the North-leading Lehigh Valley IronPigs, who have opened up a 10.0-game advantage over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The magic number for Lehigh Valley to clinch the North is down to eight following Thursday's walk-off win over Indianapolis. The IronPigs trailed 5-4 heading into the bottom of the 9th inning, but a two-run blast by Danny Ortiz turned the tables on the Indians.

The loss cost Indianapolis the outright lead in the West Division. As the Indians were falling in Allentown, Columbus deafted Syracuse 8-4 to move into a tie atop the division. All-Star Eric Haase homered twice for the Clippers. If the season ended today, both Indianapolis and Columbus would advance to the playoffs with one occupying the Wild Card slot, but that is far from a sure thing.

A key series between two other Wild Card contenders got underway Thursday as Norfolk bested Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 10 innings, 7-4. The Tides now sit just a single game behind the lead for the Wild Card race while the RailRiders have dropped to 2.0 games back. Norfolk hasn't given up dreams of a South Division flag just yet, as Thursday's win also pulled the Tides to within 3.0 games of the Durham Bulls.

Durham took two out of three games in a potential postseason preview series at Lehigh Valley earlier in the week. A Thursday loss at Pawtucket, however, allowed the 2nd place Tides to get a little closer. Seven of Durham's last ten games this season will come head-to-head against Norfolk, meaning the Tides are still within range to come back if they can get hot at the right time.

The first round of the 2018 Governors' Cup Playoffs has the potential to feature the same two matchups as it did in 2017. The League's playoff format annually pits the winner of the North Division against the Wild Card club (SWB vs. Lehigh Valley in 2017) and the West champ against the South champ (Indianapolis vs. Durham in 2017). The only previous time the Governors' Cup playoffs featured the same four teams in back-to-back seasons was 1981-82 (Columbus, Richmond, Rochester, and Tidewater).

In the first ten years since the Lehigh Valley franchise debuted, the IronPigs played their way into the postseason three times. They won the Wild Card berth in 2011, narrowly losing the division race to Pawtucket by 2.0 games, before defeating the PawSox in the first round. The IronPigs fell to Columbus in their only trip to the Governors' Cup finals, three games to one.

The next playoff berth didn't come until 2016, which was followed by a second consecutive Wild Card entry in 2017. Each of the past two seasons has come to an end at the hands of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in a first round matchup. The 2018 IronPigs hope to bring home the franchise's first division title and get back to the postseason for a third straight time.

Lehigh Valley's only trip to the finals came in 2011. That club was man- aged by Ryne Sandberg, uncle of current Durham skipper Jared Sandberg.

At all levels of Minor League Baseball this season, an experimental rule has been in place whereby all extra innings begin with a runner placed on second base. That rule will not be observed during the 2018 Governors' Cup Playoffs. Any extra innings played will begin without runners on base. Over the past three years just one IL playoff game has reached extra innings, coming in Game 1 of last year's first round series when Lehigh Valley defeated Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 12 innings, 6-5.

If two teams finish the regular season in a tie for first place within their division and both teams will advance to the Governors' Cup playoffs, the teams will be considered division co-champions and the following tiebreaker format will be used to determine which team enters the postseason as the division champion and which will enter as the wild card.

If only one team will advance to the Governors' Cup playoffs, the two teams shall play one game the next day after the regular season concludes to determine their final standing. The additional game will be considered an extension of the championship season. The following tiebreaker format will be used to determine where the game will be played.

Any tie in the standings for the wild card position will be broken using this criteria and not play-in games.

Should a tie in the standings exist between more than two teams with two teams to advance, the tie will be resolved by first applying the tiebreaker criteria to determine the division champion.

1) The team with the most wins in the head-to-head season series;

2) The team with the highest winning percentage during intradivisional play;

3) The team with the highest winning percentage against the other two division winners;

4) The team with the greatest differential of runs scored and runs allowed during the season;

5) Should the run differential also be tied, the President of the League will flip a coin to make the determination.

(Best of 5)

Sept. 5-6

South Division Winner at West Division Winner

North Division Winner at Wild Card

Sept. 7-9

(as necessary)

West Division Winner at South Division Winner

Wild Card at North Division Winner

FINALS

(Best of 5)

Sept. 11-12

West/South Winner at North/Wild Card Winner

Sept. 14-16 (as necessary)

North/Wild Card Winner at West/South Winner

Recent Governors' Cup Champions Making Major League Impact

2017 GOV. CUP CHAMPION Jake Bauers (Durham)

Jake Bauers was named Most Valuable Player of the 2017 Governors' Cup playoffs for Durham. This year he's been one of Major League Baseball's most impressive rookies, highlighted by a recent stretch of three straight games with a homer.

2016 GOV. CUP CHAMPION Jordan Montgomery (SWB) After anchoring the RailRiders pitching staff in the 2016 playoffs, Jordan Montgomery earned a spot in the Yankees rotation and went 9-7 with a 3.88 ERA in 2017. He was 2-0 this season before an injury necessitated Tommy John surgery.

2015 GOV. CUP CHAMPION Jesus Aguilar (Columbus) 2018 National League All-Star Jesus Aguilar has smashed 29 long balls for the playoff-contending Milwaukee Brewers. In 2015 he played in all ten postseason games and hit .278 to help lead Columbus to its most recent Governors' Cup.

2014 GOV. CUP CHAMPION Jackie Bradley, Jr. (Pawtucket) Jackie Bradley, Jr., spent enough time in Boston in 2013 to earn a World Series ring. He got a Governors' Cup ring the next season as he led Pawtucket into the IL playoffs. Bradley was an American League All-Star in 2016.

NORTH DIVISION REPORT:

The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies) are likely to become the first team to punch a ticket to the 2018 Governors' Cup playoffs. First-year manager Gary Jones didn't get Pawtucket to the postseason during his only previous stint as an IL skipper (1999-2001), though his resume does include a pair of Pacif- ic Coast League championships with Edmonton (1996-97). Meanwhile things aren't looking too great for the three-time defending North champions, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (New York Yankees), who have falled a full ten games behind the leaders. SWB gets just four more cracks at Lehigh Valley, coming in an away series Aug. 24-27. The RailRiders are also guided by a first-year skipper, Bobby Mitchell, who in 2017 took the Yankees' Double-A affiliate in Trenton to the Eastern League Championship Series.

WEST DIVISION REPORT:

The Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Indians) have gotten hot at the right time of year, surging up the standings to finally catch the Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh Pirates) for a share of the West lead. The Clippers have won five of their last six games, while the Indians have now dropped six of their last seven. Following a four-game set against the League's winningest club, Lehigh Valley, the Indians will welcome the Clippers to town for a critical three-game series beginning Tuesday. It's the last time the top West contenders will get together during the regular season. The Clippers and Indians have played 22 times already this year, splitting the games evenly with eleven wins apiece. The Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit Tigers) have lost seven of their last nine and have fallen 4.5 games off the pace.

SOUTH DIVISION REPORT:

The defending Governors' Cup champions don't have their return ticket to the postseason in hand yet. The Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay Rays) are 7-7 in the month of August, good enough to stay on top in the South but not strong enough to put away the 2nd place Norfolk Tides (Baltimore Orioles). With eight games still to play against each other head-to-head, the Tides will have an opportunity to get back to the playoffs for the first time since winning the South in 2015. Norfolk has ended with a losing record each of the past two seasons, but the IL's longest-tenured manager Ron Johnson has his team winning at a .529 clip so far in 2018. After this weekend, the Bulls and Tides play only within the division the rest of the way.

WILD CARD REPORT:

The Wild Card race is living up to its name in the final weeks of the regular season. Through August 17, the lead in the Wild Card belongs to whichever club is the odd team out in the West Division race between Columbus and Indianapolis. Norfolk and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre are very much in the hunt as well, with those two teams currently facing each other in a four-game series at PNC Field, home of the RailRiders. Per the League's tiebreaking procedures, any tie for the Wild Card will be broken using the formula found on Page 2, not play-in games.

WILD CARD LEADERS

W-L PCT. GB Gm. Rem.

Columbus/Indy 66-57 .537 -- 17

Norfolk 64-57 .529 1.0 19

Scranton/WB 63-58 .521 2.0 17

Toledo 61-61 .500 4.5 17

Gwinnett 59-61 .492 5.5 20

Pawtucket 58-63 .479 7.0 18 All-Star Brandon Barnes has driven in a team-high nine runs this month for the Clippers.

SERIES TO WATCH THIS WEEK:

Aug. 21-23: Columbus at Indianapolis

The final three games of the regular season between the two teams currently tied for the West Division lead takes place at Victory Field in Indianapolis beginning on Monday. The Clippers captured their most recent Governors' Cup championship at Victory Field in 2015, defeating the Indians in a thrilling five-game finals series.

Aug. 21-23: Charlotte at Norfolk

The Tides begin their final homestand of the regular season. It's their last opportunity at home to gain ground in the South and Wild Card races, but the Tides won't be the home team in every game. The four-game set with Charlotte includes a transferred game originally scheduled for August 2 (Game 2 on August 22). Durham follows the Knights into Norfolk.

Aug. 21-23: Lehigh Valley at Syracuse

If things keep going their way, the IronPigs may get the opportunity to clinch their playoff spot during their three-game visit to Syracuse that starts Monday. Including this series, Lehigh Valley will play ten of its final fourteen regular season games away from home. At 34-26, Lehigh Valley owns the League's best road record in 2018.

Clippers Aiming to Become First Host to Play for Triple-A Title

TRIPLE-A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME HOST TEAMS THAT MADE THE PLAYOFFS

2008 - OKLAHOMA REDHAWKS Eliminated in PCL Finals (Game 4)

2010 - OKLAHOMA CITY REDHAWKS Eliminated in 1st Round

2015 - EL PASO CHIHUAHUAS Eliminated in 1st Round

2017 - SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE RAIILRIDERS Eliminated in IL Finals (Game 4)

Additional Notes

* Oklahoma City played host to the event for five years but the franchise hasn't claimed a PCL title since 1965.

* Durham won the IL South each year from 2007 to 2014, with the exception of 2012 when hosting the championship.

* El Paso and Scranton/WB met for the title in 2016, the season between which the two franchises hosted the Game.

* Memphis hosted in 2016, then won the PCL in 2017.

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International League Stories from August 17, 2018


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