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IL1 International League

Yankees and Bulls to Battle for International League Championship

September 8, 2008 - International League (IL1) News Release


The 2008 Governors' Cup Finals get underway tomorrow night in eastern Pennsylvania in a best-of-five matchup for the International League Championship. The finalists each won their first round series 3 games to 1, setting up a Finals series that has been a long time coming. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees won the IL North Championship this season with an IL-best 88-56 record. They will meet the Durham Bulls, winners of the IL South Division by a comfortable 9.0-game margin. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Durham have never met in the playoffs, an astonishing fact when considering that one of these teams has played in seven of the last ten Governors' Cup Finals. Five times in the last ten years the IL playoffs have included both clubs, but they have never met in the postseason until now. The Yankees took seven out of eight against Durham this year, but the teams have not been together on the field since early May. (See more on the regular season series below).

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has never won a Governors' Cup title. They previously reached the Finals in 1992, 2000, and 2001, coming up short each time. Durham, a member of the IL since 1998, is playing in the franchise's sixth Governors' Cup Finals and looking for its third championship. The Bulls lost in the Finals in 1998 and 1999 before winning back-to-back crowns in 2002 and 2003. Durham lost 3 games to 2 in last year's championship series against Richmond.

The entire 2008 Governors' Cup Finals can be viewed for free online at MILB.TV. The winner of the series will represent the International League in the Bricktown Showdown on Tuesday, September 16 versus the Pacific Coast League Champion live on ESPN2.

Reviewing the Regular Season Series

The Yankees and Bulls last met over four months ago. The regular season series was dominated by Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, who took seven of eight games from Durham including a four-game sweep at PNC Field in which the Yankees outscored the Bulls 34-17. Here's a recap of the eight-game series:

Date Location Winner Winning Pitcher Losing Pitcher Save

April 11 Durham, NC Scranton/WB 7-3 Darrell Rasner Chris Mason

April 12 Durham, NC Scranton/WB 16-6 Jeff Marquez Mike Prochaska

April 13 Durham, NC Durham 2-0 Calvin Medlock Kei Igawa Grant Balfour

April 14 Durham, NC Scranton/WB 9-1 Scott Strickland Mitch Talbot

May 2 G1 Moosic, PA Scranton/WB 6-1 Steven White Ben Hendrickson

May 2 G2 Moosic, PA Scranton/WB 4-3 Scott Patterson Calvin Medlock

May 3 Moosic, PA Scranton/WB 15-8 Jeff Marquez Mike Prochaska

May 4 Moosic, PA Scranton/WB 9-5 Kei Igawa Chris Mason

A closer look at the stats reveals more about the series. The Bulls held the lead for just seven innings during the eight games against the Yankees.

SWB DUR

TEAM AVG .341 .228

TEAM ERA 3.76 7.41

RUNS 66 29

2008 International League Governors' Cup Playoff Preview

September 8, 2008

Page Two

Scranton/WB Defeats Rival Pawtucket to Advance to Finals

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees proved their division championship was no fluke, defeating the Pawtucket Red Sox 3 games to 1 in the first round of the playoffs. The Yankees and PawSox battled all season for the division title, with the Yankees ultimately prevailing by 2.5 games. Dave Miley's club made sure the postseason series went their way also, knocking out the Red Sox in four games. In yesterday's clincher, Shelley Duncan blasted a two-run walk-off homer in the 10th inning to break a scoreless tie and send Scranton/WB to the Finals for the first time since 2001. The Yankees got a marvelous pitching effort from 22-year-old Phil Hughes, who dueled all evening with Pawtucket's 35-year-old former Cy Young Award winning hurler, Bartolo Colon. Hughes struck out 11 and allowed just four hits in 8.0 innings. The win was indicative of how the Yankees won the entire series - great pitching and timely hitting. The Yankees staff posted an incredible 1.75 ERA for the four games, holding the IL's highest-scoring team to just seven earned runs for the series. The offense parlayed a meager .221 average into 16 runs, enough to double up the PawSox over four games.

Playoff Stars for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre

3B Eric Duncan Hit .417 (5-12) with two doubles, 1 HR, and 3 RBI.

C Chris Stewart Hit .308 (4-13) with a double, 1 HR, and 3 RBI.

RP Scott Strickland 1 win and 1 save with a 0.00 ERA, 7 SO in 4.1 IP.

SP Kei Igawa Allowed one earned run in 7.0 IP in Game 3 victory.

OF Justin Christian Four hits, including a double, and homer, 3 R and 1 SB.

E. Duncan Igawa

Durham Returns to Finals By Way of 3-1 Series Victory Over Louisville

With one notable exception, the Bulls pitching staff was outstanding versus Louisville in the first round, propelling Durham to the Governors' Cup Finals for a second straight season. The one Durham loss was a big one, as Game 2 saw the Bats pound out 14 runs in the first three innings on their way to a 19-3 thumping. In the other three games, however, the Bats managed just three runs on 14 hits, held at bay by stroing pitching performances by David Price, Wade Davis, and Jeff Niemann, who took a no-hitter into the 8th inning during his Game 3 victory. At the plate the Bulls hit well, posting a .286 average for the series and blasting seven home runs, the most of any playoff club. Yesterday the Bulls got long balls from Matt Spring and Jonny Gomes as they cruised past the Bats 9-1 to clinch a trip to the Finals. Charlie Montoyo's club returns ten players from the 2007 Governors' Cup Finals in which the Bulls lost to Richmond in five games, while several more of his players were part of the Double-A Montgomery team that won back-to-back Southern League Championships in 2006 and 2007. A win this year would make Durham the first club to win three Governors' Cups in this decade.

Playoff Stars for Durham

OF Jon Weber Hit .625 (10-16) with four doubles and a homer.

SP Wade Davis Allowed four hits and one run in 6.0 IP during Game 4 win.

OF Jonny Gomes Only player with two home runs in the 2008 postseason.

SP David Price 2007 first overall draft pick won Game 1 (5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R).

2B Elliot Johnson Hit .364 (4-11) with a double and a homer.

Weber Gomes

2008 International League Governors' Cup Playoff Preview

September 8, 2008

Page Three

Governors' Cup Playoff Notes

The Durham Bulls are in the Governors' Cup Finals for the sixth time in the last 11 years. The Bulls are looking to win the Cup for the third time, following back-to-back championships in 2002 and 2003. The 2002 Durham club is one of just five teams in League history to win the Governors' Cup without losing a single postseason game. The 2003 Bulls swept Pawtucket in the Finals after the Red Sox posted the League's best regular season record, the last time the best regular season club lost in the Finals. When Durham lost in last year's Finals to Richmond, it broke a string of five straight Governors' Cups for American League affiliates.

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre franchise has never won a Governors' Cup, despite this being their eighth playoff appearance and fourth trip to the Finals since 1992. Each of the team's three previous Finals losses came by one game, including the 2001 championship which was called in Louisville's favor after one game due to the September 11 terrorist attacks. Dave Miley is attempting to become just the second skipper to win the Governors' Cup in the same season he managed the IL team at the Triple-A All-Star Game (Larry Parrish of Toledo, 2006).

A Yankees victory would mark just the second time in the last ten years that a North Division team won the Governors' Cup (Buffalo, 2004). The South Division, on the other hand, owns three of the last six IL titles. This is the first time in four years that the Wild Card entry has not been part of the Governors' Cup Finals.

Miscellaneous statistics of note from the 2008 regular season:

SWB DUR

HOME RECORD 46-26 33-39

ROAD RECORD 42-30 41-31

SCORE FIRST RECORD 60-22 63-25

1-RUN GAME RECORD 26-13 17-22

2-RUN GAME RECORD 11-12 9-10

EXTRA INNING RECORD 10-3 3-4

LEAD AFTER 7 INNINGS 72-2 66-3

TIED AFTER 7 INNINGS 11-6 3-8

TRAILING AFTER 7 INNINGS 5-48 5-58

LEAD AFTER 8 INNINGS 67-1 62-1

TIED AFTER 8 INNINGS 11-4 5-6

TRAILING AFTER 8 INNINGS 2-46 2-56

IL Champion Will Meet Sacramento or Oklahoma in Bricktown Showdown

The Pacific Coast League Championship will be decided in a best-of-five finals that gets underway tomorrow night in Sacramento between the Oklahoma RedHawks (Texas Rangers) and Sacramento River Cats (Oakland A's). Sacramento dispatched of Salt Lake 3 games to 1 in the first round, while Oklahoma needed the full five games to defeat Iowa. The winner of the PCL Finals will face the Governors' Cup Champion in the Express Employment Professionals Bricktown Showdown live on ESPN2 at 8:00 p.m. eastern on Tuesday, September 16. Oklahoma's AT&T Bricktown Ballpark will play host to Triple-A Baseball's championship game for the third consecutive year. Sacramento won the 2007 Bricktown Showdown, defeating Richmond 7-1. The PCL Champion will serve as the "home" team by virtue of the League's victory in the Triple-A All-Star Game.

2008 Governors' Cup Finals

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees vs. Durham Bulls

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre won season series 7-1

# Game One: Tuesday, September 9 @ PNC Field - 7:05 p.m.

# Game Two: Wednesday, September 10 @ PNC Field - 7:05 p.m.

# Game Three: Thursday, September 11 @ Durham Bulls Athletic Park - 7:05 p.m.

# Game Four: Friday, September 12 @ Durham Bulls Athletic Park - 7:05 p.m. *

# Game Five: Saturday, September 13 @ Durham Bulls Athletic Park - 5:05 p.m. *

* denotes if necessary / # denotes game can be seen free on MiLB.TV (www.MiLB.com)

Playoff History - Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Durham have never met in the Governors' Cup Playoffs.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (88-56, 3-1) Durham Bulls (74-70, 3-1)

Manager: Dave Miley (2nd season SWB/3rd Yankees) Manager: Charlie Montoyo (2nd season)

Affiliate: New York Yankees Affiliate: Tampa Bay Rays

Qualified: North Division Champion (+2.5) Qualified: South Division Champion (+9.0)

Last Time in Playoffs: 2007 Last Time in Playoffs: 2007

Gov. Cup Playoff Record: 8 yrs., 20-24 (.455) Gov. Cup Playoff Record: 8 yrs. / 33-16 (.674)

Last Governors' Cup: N/A Last Governors' Cup: 2003

Team Batting Avg.: .263 / Team ERA: 3.67 Team Batting Avg.: .264 / Team ERA: 4.24

Probable Starting Pitchers Probable Starting Pitchers

G1: LH Chase Wright (2-1, 2.41) G1: LH David Price (1-1, 4.50)

G2: RH Ian Kennedy (5-3, 2.35) G2: RH Mitch Talbot (13-9, 3.86)

G3: LH Kei Igawa (14-6, 3.45) G3: RH Jeff Niemann (9-5, 3.59)

G4: RH Phil Hughes (1-0, 5.90) G4: RH Wade Davis (4-2, 2.72)

G5: RH Victor Zambrano (0-1, 18.00) G5: To Be Determined

Yankees 2008 Leaders: Bulls 2008 Leaders:

Batting Avg.: B. Gardner (.296), J. Miranda (.287) Batting Avg.: D. Johnson (.307), C. Richard (.293)

Home Runs: C. Ransom (22), B. Broussard (13) Home Runs: C. Richard (26), D. Johnson (25)

Runs Batted In: C. Ransom (71), E. Duncan (60) Runs Batted In: C. Richard (88), D. Johnson (83)

Stolen Bases: B. Gardner (37), J. Christian (22) Stolen Bases: F. Perez (43), J. Ruggiano (20)

Victories: K. Igawa (14), J. Marquez & J. Karstens (6) Victories: M. Talbot (13), B. Hendrickson (10)

Strikeouts: K. Igawa (117), I Kennedy & S. Strickland (72) Strikeouts: M. Talbot (141), J. Niemann (128)

ERA: K. Igawa (3.45) ERA: J. Niemann (3.59), M. Talbot (3.86)

Saves: S. Strickland (12), J. Veras (9) Saves: S. Dohmann (20), D. Thayer (9)

Players to Watch: Players to Watch:

LHP Kei Igawa T-2nd in IL with 14 wins, 4th with DH Dan Johnson Among League's top seven

3.45 ERA in 26 outings. in average, homers, & RBI.

OF Shelley Duncan 2007 IL All-Star had 12 homers 1B Chris Richard Tied for 3rd in the IL in both

in 58 games this year. homers and RBI.

OF Justin Christian Hit .306 with 22 stolen bases RHP Jeff Niemann 7th in IL in ERA; undefeated

in 74 Triple-A games. in seven starts since Aug. 1.

RHP Phil Hughes Top Yankees pitching prospect OF Jon Weber 10 hits in 16 at-bats (.625)

battling back from rib injury. during first round.

RHP Scott Strickland 12 saves since becoming closer RHP Scott Dohmann Bulls' closer allowed just two

in late June. runs in last six weeks of season.

Check out the International League Statistics



International League Stories from September 8, 2008


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