TROY, NY- The Tri-City ValleyCats and Houston Astros announced today that the two have extended their Player Development Contract (PDC). The two-year extension continues the affiliation between the Astros and ValleyCats through the 2014 season.

"We are pleased to continue our long and close relationship with the Houston Astros organization," said ValleyCats President and Owner Bill Gladstone. "We share their vision of player development and winning, and they provide the ValleyCats a strong partner for our continued success."

"We have an outstanding partnership with the ValleyCats. The ownership group is tremendous, the facility is first-class and the fan support is great," Astros General Manager Jeff Luhnow said. "Tri-City provides a very good environment for our players to play in, so we're extremely pleased to extend the partnership." Luhnow had attended the ValleyCats final two home games of the regular season.

The ValleyCats have been the Astros Short-Season Class A affiliate since 2002, and this season the club set a franchise record with 51 regular-season wins. For the ninth consecutive season, the ValleyCats set a new attendance record, drawing 159,966 total fans to Joseph L. Bruno Stadium, and a franchise-record 17 sellouts.

The 'Cats begin postseason play on Friday, as they face the Auburn Doubledays at 7:05 p.m. in Auburn for Game 1 of a three-game series. Game 2 will be held at "The Joe" on Saturday, September 8 at 7:00 p.m. and Game 3, if necessary, will be played Sunday, September 9 at 5:00 p.m.

To purchase playoff tickets, log-on to www.tcvalleycats.com, call 518-629-CATS, or visit the Joseph L. Bruno Stadium Box Office.