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Rounding Third, Heading Home
The IL's 144-game season will be decided in the last seven games.

Jonathan Roybal
MinorLeagueNews.com

If the dreaded strike date of August 30 comes and goes without the familiar cry of “Play Ball” ringing throughout major league parks around the nation, at least six cities will still care about baseball.

Six International League teams will still be alive and in the middle of a pennant race, one that has had more excitement than any Major League Division- save the AL West.

These six teams are vying for only four spots in the International League’s 70th Annual Governors’ Cup Playoffs.

In fact, all three IL Divisions are still up for grabs with one week left in the season.

Scranton leads Buffalo with a five game advantage in the North Division, Durham is two games up on Richmond in the South, while the tightest race in all of baseball, the West Division is in a dead heat between the Toledo Mud Hens and the Louisville Bats, both with identical 76-61 records.

Although seven games still remain, it’s the next three that matter most for Louisville and Toledo.

The Mud Hens and the Bats start a critical three game series that will give one of the combatants a leg up on claiming the division crown.

For either team, winning the West will likely be the only route to the playoffs since Buffalo has a five-game advantage in the win column over both in the IL's wild-card chase.

Toledo comes in to the series as definitely the hotter of the two teams, winning five straight games, while Louisville has dropped five of their last six.

Luckily for the Bats, the three games will be played at Louisville Slugger Field, where the Hens' have a 0-5 record this season, as well as losses in 15 of the last 18 games there.

Two weeks ago Toledo traveled to Louisville with a 2.5 game lead in the IL West and lost three straight to the Bats, the start of a seven-game losing skid that has forced the Hens to play catch-up ever since.

"You have to give Louisville credit for that," said Hens outfielder Craig Monroe. "But after that losing streak our guys decided to just play hard, go out, relax and have fun. That's when guys started to swing the bats well."

Fields said he looks forward to his team's "second chance" against the Bats.

"That's the beauty of baseball," he said. "With 144 games you have time to gain ground. Our season has come down to this last week, and I hope we stand up and take the bull by the horns."

In the South Division, the Durham Bulls with a record of 74-63, hold a 1.5 game lead over the 72-64 Richmond Braves.

The Bulls have seven games left, all at home, while the Braves have eight games left, with five being on the road, including an all-important two game series at Richmond beginning Thursday night.

With the rest of both team’s remaining games coming against common opponents [Charlotte and Norfolk], a sweep for either team in the two game set could mean the crown.

Up in the North Division, both the Scranton-WB Red Barons and the Buffalo Bisons have virtually locked up the two remaining playoff spots.

The Red Barons [86-51] clinched a spot with a victory over Buffalo on Sunday, while their magic number to claim the division outright, stands at three.

Even if Buffalo [81-56] pulls off a miracle comeback to win the division, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is assured of a wild-card berth.

This marks the fourth consecutive year the Red Barons have qualified for the league playoffs, while setting a team record with 86 wins this season.

"This is something we've worked for since the first day of spring training," manager Marc Bombard said. "Our goal was to put ourselves in position to make the playoffs, and we accomplished that.

"These guys have done an outstanding job all season," Bombard added. "They deserve it."

Shortstop Nick Punto said it's too early to start celebrating.

"We want to win the division," Punto added. "That's our No. 1 goal. This game is about competition, and it's a good feeling to have a shot at a (division) title."

The Bisons’ magic number for securing the final playoff position is also three games. But with Scranton’s last seven games coming against the Pawtucket Red Sox, it’s looking like the Bisons will have to settle for the wild card.

The Bisons’ won’t have to wait too long to extract some revenge though.

In the IL’s predetermined format, the Wild Card Club will face the North Division Winner while the South Champion will face the West Division Champ in a best-of-five First Round Series.

In all likelihood this means Buffalo and Scranton will meet in one more series, the winner claiming all the bragging rights while advancing to play another day.

Governors’ Cup Playoffs will begin on September 4 the in the home ballparks of the West Division Champion and the Wild Card Club.

Following a pair of games hosted by the Wild Card and West Division Winning clubs, the series will shift to the opponents’ stadiums for the final three games as necessary.

The survivors of these two battles will advance to the best-of-five Governors’ Cup Championship Series to begin on September 10 in the city of either the Wild Card/North Series Winner.

After two games, the series will resume at the home of the West or South Division Champion on September 12 for the final three
games as necessary.