By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Phillies have a pretty deep minor league system, but only two of their affiliates made the postseason. The Gulf Coast League Phillies have already entered the playoffs, and lost, while Triple-A Lehigh Valley punched their ticket to the postseason Monday afternoon with a 4-3 victory over Scranton Wilkes/Barre. With J.P. Crawford headed to the Phillies, the Ironpigs' playoff run will lean heavily on the shoulders of guys like Scott Kingery, Andrew Pullin, Tom Eshelman, Carlos Tocci and Dylan Cozens.
It's impressive that the Ironpigs managed to stay competitive, considering the amount of players they've lost to promotions, including Nick Williams, Rhys Hoskins, Ben Lively, Jorge Alfaro, Jake Thompson, Mark Leiter Jr. and now J.P. Crawford just to name a few. Still, Lehigh Valley finished the year with an 80-62 record and earned themselves a spot in the International League playoffs by clinching the wild card spot on Labor Day.
Related: Phillies to call up J.P. Crawford, will join team Tuesday
The Ironpigs wasted no time, tallying three runs in the first inning. Scott Kingery led things off with a walk and then stole second base. J.P. Crawford followed with a two-run home run to right center, giving Lehigh Valley an early 2-0 advantage. After a Brock Stassi strikeout, Christan Marrero and Angelo Mora singled. Dylan Cozens plated Marrero with a single of his own to extend the lead to three. Marrero drove in another run in the second with an RBI groundout. Scranton tacked on a run in each of the last three innings, but were not able to complete the comeback.
Lehigh Valley starter, and former Marlins All-Star, Henderson Alvarez cruised through seven innings, allowing just one run on five hits. Cesar Ramos and Pedro Beato each allowed a run in the eight and ninth innings, but Beato found his way out of a bases loaded jam, closing the door for his 33rd save of the season.
The Ironpigs will begin a best-of-five series on Wednesday against Scranton Wilkes/Barre, the Yankees' Triple-A club. Lehigh Valley will host games one and two at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown.
