Governors' Cup First Round Playoff Preview

Governors' Cup Playoffs Begin Tonight; Four Teams Vying for Title The International League postseason begins this evening at 7:05 p.m. eastern as four teams take aim at the coveted Governors' Cup trophy. Six wins are what it takes to navigate the two best-of-five rounds and capture the Cup. The champion will then advance to represent the IL at the Gildan Triple-A National Championship Game live on NBCSN, Tuesday, September 16. 

The two IL managers who made their Triple-A debut this season will square off in the first round series that commences tonight at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket. Kevin Boles led the PawSox to the franchise's fourth straight postseason appearance in his first year at the helm, winning the Wild Card by 1.5 games. Pawtucket will host the North Division Champion Syracuse Chiefs, who were guided to their first trip to the playoffs since 1998 by IL Manager of the Year Billy Gardner, Jr. 

At the same time 730 miles to the west, the IL's other first round series gets underway at Huntington Park in downtown Columbus. The West Division winning Clippers welcome the defending Governors' Cup champion Durham Bulls, who have taken the South Division title for the seventh time in eight seasons. The winners of the two series will meet in the Governors' Cup finals starting September 9 in either Pawtucket or Syracuse.

Governors' Cup Trophy to be Awarded for 82nd Time When Frank "Shag" Shaughnessy introduced 
his playoff system to the IL in 1933, the Governors' Cup was born. Sponsored by the Governors of New York, New Jersey, and Maryland, as well as the Lieutenant Governors of the Canadian Provinces of Quebec and Ontario, the trophy known as the Governors' Cup has been awarded to the League's postseason champion in each of the 81 years since. The original Governors' Cup now resides at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, while a new trophy has been in circulation since 1988. The 2014 playoffs will mark the first opportunity for Columbus to equal Rochester's all-time record of ten 
Governors' Cups, while Syracuse hopes to catch Columbus in a tie for 2nd place with nine championships.

Columbus Clippers IL WEST CHAMPIONS
They were 8.5 games out of 1st place on May 30, but the Clippers ultimately cruised to the West Division title by 6.0 games. The 2010 and 2011 Governors' Cup champions return under the guidance of Chris Tremie in his second year at the helm. One year before he arrived in Columbus, Tremie 
piloted Double-A Akron to the 2012 Eastern League Championship. Columbus was 2nd in the League this season in runs scored and 3rd in home runs. The team was 7th in batting average but led the circuit in walks. Columbus lost just ten times over the last 30 days of the regular season and locked up the West with a 3-1 victory at Toledo last Tuesday. The Clippers lost all four games at Huntington Park when they hosted Durham in May. 

Durham Bulls IL SOUTH CHAMPIONS
It's not the Governors' Cup playoffs without the Bulls, who are back for their 13th postseason appearance in 17 seasons since joining the IL. Skipper Charlie Montoyo won the Cup in 2009 and 2013. Last year his Bulls stormed into the playoffs with the League's best record and highest scoring offense, but the 2014 version of the Bulls hasn't been nearly as dominant. Though they were the first team to clinch a playoff berth, the Bulls finished with a League-worst .248 team batting average and were 13th with 573 runs scored. Durham was 12 games over .500 playing within the South this season but was 
6 games under .500 against teams from the North and West divisions. The Bulls' lineup includes six players who saw action in over 100 games in 2014. 

Pawtucket Red Sox WILD CARD WINNERS
The last team to clinch its postseason berth was the Pawtucket Red Sox, who were able to secure the Wild Card with a 10-4 victory over Rochester on the penultimate day of the regular season. The PawSox have been in the most recent two Governors' Cup finals, sweeping Charlotte in 2012 and falling 3-1 to Durham a year ago. Pawtucket hosted Syracuse for two games Friday and Saturday, splitting the series and finishing the season series even 8-8 with the Chiefs. The PawSox lost fewer games when scoring first this season than any other IL club, posting a record of 48-13 (.787) in such contests. Pawtucket is the only one of the four franchises in this year's playoffs with a losing record 
all-time in Governors' Cup postseason play (41-56, .423 in 16 appearances). 

Syracuse Chiefs IL NORTH CHAMPIONS
The best regular season record in the International League in 2014 belonged to the Syracuse Chiefs, the only team to surpass the 80-win plateau. Syracuse last won the Governors' Cup in 1976, marking the longest drought of any current franchise. The team's last division title was in 1989, before four members of the current squad were born. The Chiefs' last series victory in the playoffs came in the first round of the 1994 postseason (over Pawtucket), with their most recent appearance in 1998 being a three-game sweep at the hands of Buffalo. The 2014 Chiefs allowed the second-fewest runs of any 
team in the circuit, and despite a highly competitive race in the North, kept their hold on 1st place for the final 89 days of the season.