bgorman@heraldsun.com; 419-6668
DURHAM -- The Durham Bulls are back in the Governors' Cup Finals for the third consecutive year, hosting the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees today at 7:05 p.m. at Durham Bulls Athletic Park for Game 1 of the best-of-five series.
The Bulls fell to the Yankees 3-1 in the 2008 Finals and were beaten by Richmond in 2007.
Durham's top pitcher, Jeremy Hellickson (6-1, 2.51 ERA), will be on the mound for tonight's opener. The righty was the Bulls' starter in the first game of their series against the Louisville Bats, but he failed to pick up the win despite 12 strikeouts. The Bulls eventually won their playoff opener en route to a back-and-forth series that ended with Durham winning Game 5 on Sunday to advance.
Durham leads the overall series with Scranton/WB this summer 5-3, and two of those wins were thanks to Hellickson. The Bulls also hope to stay productive at the plate, as they've had at least eight hits in their past three games.
Romulo Sanchez (5-5, 4.04 ERA) will be the Yankees' starter tonight.
The Bulls also host the Yankees on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. before the series heads to Pennsylvania on Thursday.
Tickets are available through DurhamBulls.com or 956-BULL.
