To the surprise of few, if any, the Albuquerque Isotopes and Los Angeles Dodgers have extended their affiliation for another two-year period, this one going through the 2014 season.

“We’re thrilled to extend our incredibly successful partnership with the Dodgers,” Isotopes general manager John Traub said in a statement on Thursday. “The City of Albuquerque and the Dodgers have been linked for generations and just as Los Angeles is considered one of the premiere franchises in Major League Baseball, the same is true for the Isotopes in Minor League Baseball.”

In their four-year partnership,  Albuquerque has a 302-273 in four seasons with the Dodgers, including two playoff berths.  The Isotopes said that since 2009, 67 players have suited up for the Isotopes and the Dodgers, with 19 leaving Albuquerque to make their Major League debut in Los Angeles.

The Isotopes franchise, born in 2003, spent its first six seasons as the Triple-A affiliate of the Florida Marlins. In 2009, the Isotopes returned to their affiliation with the Dodgers, who had been in Las Vegas from 2001 to 2008.

The Dodgers also had stationed their Double-A team in Albuquerque from 1965-71 and their Triple-A squad here from 1972-2000, before the franchise was sold in moved to Portland, Ore.

The Isotopes are in the Pacific Coast League playoffs, with Game 2 of their American Conference best-of-5 series against Omaha to be played on Thursday night. The host Storm Chasers take a 1-0 lead into Thursday’s game after winning 8-4 in Wednesday’s opener.

Game 3 is Friday at Isotopes Park. Games 4 and 5 will be played on Saturday and Sunday at Isotopes Park, if they are necessary.

This season, the Isotopes not only won their division with a team-record 80 wins, but enjoyed a number of unprecedented honors, including a franchise-record four players named to the post-season All-PCL Team, and John Ely being named PCL Pitcher of the Year, the first Albuquerque hurler to win the award since it was created in 2001.  Skipper Lorenzo Bundy became the second Isotope to win PCL Manager of the Year this year as well.

Many of the key players, Ely included, during the Isotopes’ 80-64 season, however, are now with the Dodgers as they try to catch either San Francisco in the National League West or Atlanta/St. Louis in the wild-card chase as the big league season is under four weeks to go.

“We’re very excited to extend our relationship with Ken Young, John Traub and the Isotopes,” said De Jon Watson, Dodgers assistant general manager of player development, in a statement released by the Isotopes. “These two franchises have a storied history together and we’re happy to continue our relationship with the city of Albuquerque with its top-notch facilities and passionate fan base.”