Yankees vs. Twins - May 31

The final day in May. Hard to believe. Chien-Ming Wang looks to put the Yankees above .500 to end the month as he faces off against Boof Bonser. And yes, his given name really is Boof.

Chien-Ming Wang is 2-0, 1.71 in 3 career starts against the Twins. Delmon Young has done well against The Wanger, going 5-12 with a pair of RBI, but the same can't be said for Craig Monroe (1-11) or Michael Cuddyer (0-5).

Boof Bonser is 0-2, 9.31 in 2 career starts that have totaled only 9.2 innings. He was acquired in the same deal from the Giants that brought along Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano for A.J. Pierzynski. The Yankees are 14-42 (.333) against the Boofster. Melky Cabrera (4-5) and Robinson Cano (3-4) have enjoyed the experience of facing Bonser, while Alex Rodriguez and Johnny Damon have both taken him deep.

Here are tonight's lineups courtesy of Yahoo Sports.

Yankees

J. Damon lf
D. Jeter ss
B. Abreu rf
A. Rodriguez 3b
H. Matsui dh
J. Giambi 1b
R. Cano 2b
J. Molina c
M. Cabrera cf

Twins

C. Gomez cf
A. Casilla 2b
J. Mauer c
J. Morneau 1b
M. Cuddyer rf
J. Kubel dh
D. Young lf
M. Lamb 3b
N. Punto ss

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Junior Hits #599

Ken Griffey Jr. moved one step closer this afternoon to becoming the 5th player, the 4th legitimately, to reach 600 home runs. Junior hit a 1st inning, 2-run shot off of the Braves' Jair Jurrjens.

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Minor League Recap - 5/31

Jason Stephens missed parts of the last 2 seasons with elbow surgery, but he's making a strong comeback this season for the Charleston RiverDogs. Last night he struck out 12 in 7 innings in the RiverDogs 5-0 win over the Hickory Crawdads. Stephens didn't walk a batter in improving to 2-2, 1.64. Austin Krum drove in 3 of the 5 River Dogs runs. Alan Friedman of mlb.com has more on Stephens' comeback.

The Tampa Yankees opened their 3-game series with the Ft. Myers Miracle on the wrong end of a 7-1 final score. Ivan Nova was lit up for 6 runs in 5 innings pitched. Jose Gil had 2 of the 6 Yankees hits and drove in their only run.

Al Aceves turned in another stellar start (7 IP 2 ER) for the Trenton Thunder, but the Thunder's bats were silent in a 2-1 loss to the New Britain Rock Cats. Despite some disciplinary problems once again involving Jose Tabata, he was in the starting lineup for the Thunder. Catcher Joe Muich drove in the lone Trenton run.

Scranton doubled up the Rochester Red Wings 6-3 as Jeff Marquez improved to 4-6. Marquez allowed 1 earned run in 6 innings before turning things over to the bullpen. J.B. Cox (8.1 IP, 7 games) has still not allowed a run at the Triple-A level and Scott Patterson notched his 3rd save. Eric Duncan had 3 hits, including a home run, and drove in 3.

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Yankees Lost, Then Found

If last night's Yankees-Twins game was an episode of LOST, Mike Mussina would have been Desmond Hume. His mind stuck in 2 places, the present, and a week ago in Baltimore. Just like that game in the crab cake capital, a 1st inning Yankees error lead to a big Twins inning. But this time Desmond Mussina realized that Jose Molina was his "constant" (if you don't watch LOST, then you really are lost right now) and made it out of the 1st inning this time, down 4-1.

Mussina bounced back and the Yankees offense smacked around rookie Glen Perkins en route to a 6-5 escape from the island win. Trailing 4-2 in the 4th, Melky Cabrera's 2-run single tied the game in the 4th and Alex Rodriguez's RBI single put the Yankees ahead for good in the 5th.

The 1st inning showed just how much the Yankees need a defensive minded 1st Baseman. Neither Jason Giambi or Shelley Duncan can provide adequate defense at the position, and just like Giambi, Duncan's inability to make an accurate throw cost the Yankees.

With runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 out, Justin Morneau hit a potential double play grounder to Duncan. But the big 1st Baseman's throw pulled Derek Jeter off the 2nd Base bag to load the bases. Consecutive singles by Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel, and Delmon Young put the Twins up 3-1 and they added a 4th run on Mike Lamb's ground out. Mussina finally retired Brendan Harris on a comebacker to end the inning.

But Perkins, who entered the game with a 2.77 ERA struggled throughout. Bobb Abreu lead off the 3rd with a triple and came home on A-Rod's single to cut the lead in half. In the 4th, Duncan walked and Robinson Cano singled through the left side. Jose Molina's sacrifice successfully moved the runners up a base and they came home on Cabrera's single to center for a 4-4 game.

Abreu singled to lead off the 5th and scored all the way from 1st on A-Rod's double. It also knocked Perkins out of the game. Abreu tripled again in the 7th and came home two batters later on Hideki Matsui's single for a big insurance run. The red hot Matsui, the AL's leading hitter, was 3-4 to raise his average to .339.

That 6th run was huge, because as usual Kyle Farnsworth gave up a run in the 8th. This time it was Morneau's 10th home run of the season. But just as undependable as Farnsworth is, Mariano Rivera is that dependable. The Yankees closer made it 14-14 in save opportunities with a relatively easy 9th inning. He issued his 2nd walk of the season with 1 out, but struck out Carlos Gomez and Craig Monroe to end the game.

News and Notes

Jorge Posada continued his throwing program and there's an outside chance he could re-join the team as early as next week. More likely it will be the following week.

Though the Yankees don't need another left-handed hitter, they do need to bring Ben Broussard up from Scranton to be a defensive replacement at 1st Base.

May 30, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	1	0	1	2	1	0	1	0	0		6	16	1
Minnesota	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0		5	7	0

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jeter, SS	5	0	0	0	0	1	3	.272
Abreu, RF	4	4	3	0	1	0	0	.296
Rodriguez, 3B	4	0	3	2	0	0	1	.291
Matsui, LF	4	0	3	2	1	0	1	.339
Damon, LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.288
Giambi, DH	5	0	1	0	0	1	7	.243
Duncan, S, 1B	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	.161
a-Betemit, PH-1B	3	0	0	0	0	1	6	.265
Cano, 2B	4	1	1	0	0	0	2	.219
Molina, C	3	0	2	0	0	1	0	.219
Cabrera, CF	4	0	3	2	0	0	1	.266
Totals	37	6	16	6	3	4	21
a-Struck out for Duncan, S in the 5th.
BATTING 2B: Rodriguez 2 (11, Perkins, Guerrier). 3B: Abreu 2 (3, Perkins, Bass). TB: Abreu 7; Rodriguez 5; Matsui 3; Giambi; Cano; Molina 2; Cabrera 3. RBI: Matsui 2 (26), Rodriguez 2 (19), Cabrera 2 (23). 2-out RBI: Matsui. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Jeter; Cano; Betemit. S: Molina. GIDP: Matsui. Team LOB: 9. BASERUNNING SB: Abreu (4, 2nd base off Perkins/Mauer). CS: Cabrera (1, 2nd base by Perkins/Mauer). PO: Cabrera (1st base by Perkins). FIELDING E: Duncan, S (3, throw).

Minnesota	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Gomez, CF	5	0	0	0	0	2	2	.286
Casilla, 2B	4	1	2	0	0	0	1	.340
a-Monroe, PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.235
Mauer, C	3	1	0	0	1	0	2	.318
Morneau, 1B	4	2	2	1	0	0	1	.309
Cuddyer, RF	4	1	1	1	0	1	1	.228
Kubel, DH	4	0	1	1	0	2	0	.250
Young, LF	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	.257
Lamb, 3B	4	0	0	1	0	0	2	.245
Harris, SS	2	0	0	0	2	0	2	.253
Totals	35	5	7	5	3	6	12
a-Struck out for Casilla in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Casilla (3, Mussina). HR: Morneau (10, 8th inning off Farnsworth, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Casilla 3; Morneau 5; Cuddyer; Kubel; Young. RBI: Cuddyer (20), Kubel (27), Young (15), Lamb (23), Morneau (41). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Harris; Morneau; Mauer. Team LOB: 6. FIELDING Outfield assists: Cuddyer 2 (Giambi at 2nd base, Rodriguez at 2nd base). DP: 3 (Casilla-Harris-Morneau, Casilla-Morneau, Cuddyer-Harris). Pickoffs: Perkins (Cabrera at 1st base).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mussina (W, 8-4)	6.0	6	4	2	1	4	0	4.26
Veras (H, 1)	0.1	0	0	0	1	0	0	4.35
Ramirez (H, 1)	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Farnsworth (H, 5)	1.0	1	1	1	0	0	1	4.44
Rivera (S, 14)	1.0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0.38

Minnesota	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Perkins (L, 2-2)	4.0	10	5	5	2	0	0	3.90
Bass	2.0	3	1	1	0	2	0	5.67
Reyes	1.2	2	0	0	0	2	0	2.70
Guerrier	1.1	1	0	0	1	0	0	3.19

Perkins pitched to 2 batters in the 5th.
Bass pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.

IBB: Matsui (by Guerrier).
HBP: Rodriguez (by Bass).
Pitches-strikes: Mussina 109-73, Veras 9-3, Ramirez 5-5,
Farnsworth 11-9, Rivera 15-10, Perkins 78-52, Bass 25-19,
Reyes 19-11, Guerrier 18-8.
Ground outs-fly outs: Mussina 4-10, Veras 1-0, Ramirez 0-2,
Farnsworth 3-0, Rivera 1-0, Perkins 6-4, Bass 2-1, Reyes 0-2, Guerrier 1-3.
Batters faced: Mussina 26, Veras 2, Ramirez 2, Farnsworth 4, Rivera 4,
Perkins 21, Bass 9, Reyes 6, Guerrier 6.
Inherited runners-scored: Ramirez 1-0, Bass 1-0, Reyes 2-1, Guerrier 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Jerry Meals. 1B: Bill Miller. 2B: Chris Tiller. 3B: Gary Darling.
Weather: 68 degrees, dome.
Wind: Indoors.
T: 3:04.
Att: 30,188.

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Yankees vs. Twins - May 30

The Yankees open a 4-game series tonight with the Minnesota Twins in the "Land of 10,000 Lakes". It's the first time the Yankees have faced the Twins, who have changed quite a bit since the last time the two teams met, this season.

Johan Santana is across the Hudson at Shea, Francisco Liriano is working his way back from Tommy John surgery in the minors, and the heart and soul of the team, Torii Hunter, is in Anaheim/LA. But the Twins are known for developing good players and that continues this year.

The Twins don't have scoring power, but their starting pitching and bullpen have helped them to a 28-25 record, 2 games behind the even more surprising Chicago White Sox in the AL Central. The starting rotation has one veteran, Livan Hernandez, and a bunch of kids.

El Duque's kid brother started out like a house afire, going 6-2, 3.88, but he's been pounded in his last 2 starts, both no decisions, against the Royals and Rangers.

Rookie right-hander Nick Blackburn tops the team in ERA, 3.39, while posting a 4-3 record. He's walked just 11 hitters in 71.2 innings.

Glen Perkins, tonight's starter, was worked in as a reliever for his first 23 big league appearances over the last 2 years, but he's back as a full-time starter now. Perkins was called up due to injuries and has been the goods thus far, going 2-1, 2.77 with 16 strikeouts and 4 walks in 26 innings.

Kevin Slowey returned from the DL last night to record his first complete game. He's only 2-4 despite a 3.38 ERA. Slowey is another Twins starter with a great K/BB ratio of 4:1.

Boof Bonser is the lone Twins starter to struggle, so it would seem he would be the likely casualty when Scott Baker comes back from the DL. Bonser has 2-6, 6.16

The Twins still have one of the best closers in the business in Joe Nathan, but they lost super set up man Pat Neshak for the season.

Offensively, the Twins still rely on their two big JM's, Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer, and Michael Cuddyer. Morneau is on pace for his usual type of season, .305-9-40, but although Mauer is hitting .324, he has just 21 RBI and has yet to hit a home run. Cuddyer is hitting just .228-1-19 and spent some time on the DL.

Carlos Gomez, acquired in the Santana trade, is the spark plug at the top of the lineup. He's hitting .293-4-22 with 31 runs scored, 9 doubles, 3 triples, and 17 steals in 22 attempts. Earlier this season he became the first Twins player since Kirby Puckett to hit for the cycle.

Delmon Young, acquired for Matt Garza, started out strongly, but has been treading water since, hitting just .258 with no home runs and 14 RBI.


Pitching Probables for the Series

Friday: Mike Mussina (7-4, 4.39) vs. Glen Perkins (2-1, 2.77)
Saturday: Chien-Ming Wang (6-2, 3.82) vs. Boof Bonser (2-6, 6.16)
Sunday: Darrell Rasner (3-1, 1.80) vs. Nick Blackburn (4-3, 3.39)
Monday: Andy Pettitte vs. Livan Hernandez (6-2, 4.60)


Mike Mussina is looking to get back on path after 2 straight rough outings, one of which he won. He's 20-6, 3.18 in 30 career starts against the Twins.

Twins vs. Mussina

Casilla 1-1
Clark 1-3
Cuddyer 2-13 1 RBI
Harris 1-4 1 RBI
Kubel 1-7 1 HR 2 RBI
Lamb 6-16 1 HR 3 RBI
Mauer 0-6
Monroe 2-8
Morneau 4-11 1 RBI
Punto 0-2
Young 2-11

Glen Perkins will be facing the Yankees for the first time.

UPDATE 5:57 PM EDT

Tonight's lineups

Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui LF
Giambi DH
Duncan 1B
Cano 2B
Molina C
Cabrera CF

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Around the Horn - 5/30

Joe Torre was back in the city so nice they named it twice. But it wasn't at Yankee Stadium and the Yankees weren't playing. Torre took his Dodger blue to Shea and got pummeled by David Wright and the Mets, 8-4. Wright belted a couple of home runs off of Brad Penny to help the Mets win their 3rd. Jose Reyes has reached base safely in 29 straight games.

The Giants completed a very unexpected 3-game sweep of the Diamondbacks with a 4-3 win. The Giants tied the game in the 8th on Fred Lewis' bases loaded walk and went ahead for good in the top of the 9th on Randy Winn's home run. Barry Zito came up with arguably his best start of the season (6 IP 3 ER 6 H 3 BB 5 K) while Randy Johnson allowed 2 runs and struck out 9 in 7 innings.

The Pirates pounded the Reds 7-2 behind a big night from starter Phil Dumatrait. The lefty allowed 1 unearned run, 2 hits, and struck out 9 in 7 innings.

Kyle Lohse out pitched Roy Oswalt in the Cardinals 3-2 win over the Astros. Albert Pujols belted his 13th home run for the Cards while Carlos Lee and Lance Berkman went deep for Houston. Berkman's home run tied him with Chase Utley for the major's lead with 17.

Jody Gerut's 3-run home run in the bottom of the 8th gave the Padres a 5-2 win over the Nationals. Padres pitcher Chris Young, who was hit in the head by a liner off the bat of Albert Pujols last week, will need surgery on his septum and there is concern about a small skull fracture he suffered.

The Cubs 4th straight win sent the Rockies to their 4th straight loss. Derek Lee homered for the 2nd straight night to help the Cubs to an 8-4 victory.

The Braves pounded the Brewers 8-1. Mark Texeira homered and drove in 4 and Jose Campillo won his 2nd big league game. He also drove in 2 runs. Rafael Soriano returned to the Braves bullpen after 45 days on the DL.

Jesse Litsch has been flying under the radar for much of the season, but certainly not in Toronto. The Blue Jays starter improved to 7-1, 3.18 in the Jays 12-0 trouncing of the A's. Rod Barajas, who will be getting the bulk of playing time with Greg Zaun on the DL, capitalized on his chances with a 3-hit, 3 RBI day.

John Danks improved to 4-4 in the White Sox 5-1 win over the Rays. Joe Crede and Paul Konerko homered in a battle between division leaders.

Kevin Slowey pitched a complete game as the Twins sent the Royals down to their 11th straight loss, 5-1. Carlos Gomez was 4-5 with 2 RBI.

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Minor League Recap - 5/30

Abe Almonte's return from a 3 week stint on the DL was a successful one tonight for the Charleston River Dogs. The centerfielder hit his 5th home run of the season in the 6th inning to snap a 1-1 tie and beat the Hickory Crawdads 2-1. Justin Snyder added his 3rd home run while Noel Castillo went 6 innings for his 5th victory and Jonathan Ortiz picked up his 15th save.

The RiverDogs closer has been quite phenomenal this season - 24.1 IP 20 H 5 ER 4 27 K. Ortiz has successfully built off last season, spent primarily at Staten Island, when he recorded 53 strikeouts in just 32.2 innings pitched.

The Tampa Yankees blew a 4-1 lead, but Tim Battle's 9th inning infield single drove in Josue Calzado with the go ahead run, and the Yankees held on 5-4 over the Lakeland Flying Tigers.

Trenton salvaged the finale of their 4-game series with New Hampshire by scoring 4 runs in the 8th inning for a 7-4 win. Kevin Russo tripled in the tying run and scored what proved to be the game winner on Reegie Corona's single. Cody Ehlers, who drove in 3 runs for the game, capped the inning with a 2-run double. Colin Curtis had a 3-hit, 2 RBI night that included his 4th home run.

The Thunder had built a 3-0 lead behind the second straight strong outing by George Kontos, but the Fisher Cats rallied against him and Zach Kroenke to take a 4-3 lead. Mike Gardner picked up the win.

Jose Tabata was apparently pulled during the game for failing to back up Austin Jackson on a ball hit between them. Mike Ashmore has more on another Tabata disciplinary action.

Justin Masterson out pitched Dan McCutchen in the Pawtucket Red Sox 5-2 win over the Scranton Yankees. McCutchen, making his second Triple-A start, was charged with 3 earned runs in 4.2 innings, with all 3 runs coming on a pair of home runs.

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Where are They Now? Part III

Time for another installment of "Where are they Now?" (it's not easy to come up with posts on an off day).

Roberto Kelly was one of the few bright spots on the Yankees during his time in NY from 1987-1992. He's most famous, of course, for being the key player dealt to the Cincinnati Reds for Paul O'Neill. Kelly came back to the Yankees in 2000 to close out his major league career. He's currently the 1st Base coach for the San Francisco Giants.

Mike Stanley was one of the most popular Yankees during his stay from 1992-1995. Fans were outraged when they let Stanley leave as a free agent, opting to sign little known Joe Girardi instead. Stanley made a brief return to the Yankees in 1997, just missing out on World Series titles in both tenures. Today he is the coach of the Lake Highland High School baseball team in Maitland, Florida.

Carlos May was better known as a member of the Chicago White Sox, but played for the Yankees for parts of 2 seasons (1976-1977). He's also infamous in Yankee circles, because of an army accident he had in the late 1960's, in which he lost part of his thumb. You know how Michael Kay repeats things every time certain players come up? Well back then it was Frank Messer, who mentioned May's thumb every time the Yankees played the White Sox. So you can just imagine what happened when May joined the Yankees. May currently handles community relations for the White Sox.

Roy Smalley Jr. replaced Bucky Dent at shortstop from 1982-1984. The Yankees erroneously traded set up man Ron Davis for him, and threw in Greg Gagne, who became a stellar SS for the Twins. Smalley's father played in the bigs and his uncle is former big league manager Gene Mauch.

Smalley currently works as an analyst on Twins games for FSN and is a stock broker for RBC Dain Rauscher.

Jack Aker was a solid reliever in 11 big league seasons. He played with the Yankees from 1969-1972 and had the best numbers of his career during his time in New York. He was honored by President Clinton in 1997 for his work with Native American children in Arizona and New Mexico. He's currently in the 18th year of running the Jack Aker Baseball, which would puts together camps, clinics, and private instruction.

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The Daily Yankeeland - 5/29

In addition to Ian Kennedy having a strained Lat, it turns out he's also got bursitis of the Scapula. It's similar to the injury he suffered last September.

Phil Hughes won't begin throwing for at least another week. Mark Feinsand of the NY Daily News reported that an MRI showed that Hughes' fractured rib had not completely healed.

Jorge Posada was supposed to start throwing to bases today, but according to Peter Abraham of the Journal News its been pushed back until Saturday.

A little late, but the Canadian Press ran a piece 2 days ago on the number of Yankees fans that converge on Camden Yards when the team is in Baltimore.

The blog, "Blogging Stocks" compares the Yankees and Mets big investments to investing in the stock market.

Ken Davidoff of Newsday looks at the Yankees growing ticket prices.

Yankees fans have a chance to vote for the team's greatest games to be included as part of a special DVD set that's a tribute to Yankee Stadium. Only problem is it won't include most games that were neither televised or saved over the years. And since voting is usually what have you done for me lately, the set will probably include plenty of the same stuff currently shown on YES.

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Around the Horn - 5/29

Can things get much worse in Kansas City? The Royals looked like they would snap their 9 game losing streak. They lead the Twins 8-3 in the 9th. Before you could say George Brett, the Twins tied the game, the capper being a Craig Monroe 3-run homer, and then won it in the 10th on Justin Morneau's home run. Trey Hillman must have known he might have to endure a 10-game losing streak, no?

The White Sox blew one lead, but came back from two deficits to beat the Indians 6-5 and take 2 of 3 in their series. Carlos Quentin drove in 3 runs and has flown under the radar with an AL 2nd best 47 RBI on the season.

The Tigers salvaged the finale of their 3-game series with the Angels, 6-2. Marcus Thames belted a pair of 2-run HRs. Joe Saunders lost for just the 2nd time in 10 decisions.

The Rays topped the Rangers 5-3 in an afternoon contest. The game ended weirdly when closer Troy Percival collapsed on the mound with a hamstring injury as he was striking out Brandon Boggs for the 2nd out of the inning. Dan Wheeler got the final out for his first save of the season.

RH night in Oakland. Roy Halladay facing off against Rich Harden and both lived up to their reputations. Armando Rios' RBI double snapped a 1-1 tie in the 9th to give Halladay the victory. Harden allowed 1 run over 7 in getting a no decision.

Yuniesky Betancourt's home run was the lone run in the Mariners 1-0 victory over the Red Sox. Erik Bedard outdueled Tim Wakefield, who threw a complete game. The Red Sox have lost 5 of their last 6.

The Mets got a much needed win against the NL East leading Marlins. Endy Chavez hit a pinch-hit home run off of closer Kevin Gregg to tie it in the 9th, and down a run in the 12th, Fernando Tatis doubled in 2 to give the Mets a 7-6 win.

Adam Wainwright dominated the Astros, allowing just 3 hits over 8 innings in the Cardinals 6-1 win. Yadier Molina and Caesar Izturis drove in 2 runs each.

The Phillies completed a 3-game sweep of the Rockies with a 6-1 win. Chase Utley and Geoff Jenkins each homered and drove in 3 runs. Utley's 17 dingers leads the majors.

Jeff Suppan and Jo Jo Reyes hooked up in a great pitcher's duel in Milwaukee. Richie Weekes' 8th innings triple drove in the game lone run to give Suppan the victory. The two teams combined for just 7 hits.

The Reds pounded the Pirates 9-1 behind 4 RBI from David Ross. Jay Bruce was 1-3 with 2 more walks and his 2nd stolen base.

The Cubs rallied against the Far East to beat the Dodgers 2-1 in 10 innings. Geovanny Soto's sac fly against Japan's Takashi Saito tied the game in the 9th and Alfonso Soriano's single off of Korea's Chan-Ho Park won it in extras.

The Giants beat up on the division leading Diamondbacks for the 2nd straight night. Ray Durham homered and drove in 4 as the Giants won 11-3.

Jesus Flores hit a grand slam and Lastings Milledge added a solo shot in the Nationals 6-4 win over the Padres. Odalis Perez picked up the win after getting a root canal earlier in the day.

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Minor League Recap - 5/29

Kei Igawa gave up 2 runs over 7.2 innings in Scranton's 9-4 win over the Pawtucket Red Sox last night. Igawa didn't walk a batter and struck out 4. Alberto Gonzalez made a triumphant return to the Yankees lineup with 3 hits and 4 RBI. Cody Ransom also belted a 3-run home run to help Scranton beat the PawSox for the 2nd straight night. The finale of the 4-game series is tonight with prospects Dan McCutchen and Justin Masterson squaring off.

Trenton lost their 3rd straight to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 5-4, in 11 innings. Eric Hacker allowed 1 earned run in 4 innings, striking out 7, before leaving after 80 pitches. Don't know if he's on a pitch count or not, but we've asked beat writer Mike Ashmore if he knows. Ramiro Pena lead the Thunder offense with 2 RBI.

The Tampa Yankees were below normal, well they were 2-hit over 7 innings by Duane Below of the Lakeland Flying Tigers in a 4-0 loss. Mike Dunn pitched a decent 5 innings, but Kevin Whelan allowed 2 runs in his 2 innings of relief. Mitch Hilligoss and Jose Gil had the lone Yankees hits.

The Charleston RiverDogs had the night off, but start a 3-game series at home tonight with the Hickory Crawdads.


Eric Hacker photo courtesy of Mike Ashmore.

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Pettitte Puts on the Brakes

Andy Pettitte beat the Baltimore Orioles for the 24th time in 30 career decision and the Yankees ended a two game losing streak with a 4-2 win over the O's. Jason Giambi hit another bomb and Johnny Damon continued a torrid trip to the harbor.

Pettitte was shaky early, but got stronger as the game went on, retiring the first two batters in the 7th before departing for Joba Chamberlain. Chamberlain threw 2 innings before turning things over to Mariano Rivera who picked up his 13th save in as many tries.

The Yankees had taken an early lead when Hideki Matsui, the AL's leading hitter, doubled and scored on Giambi's RBI single off Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie. But Pettitte surrendered a 2-run home run to Melvin Mora, the Orioles 8th home run in the 3-game series, for a 2-1 O's lead.

Giambi hit his 2nd home run of the series on to Eutaw seats beyond the right field seats to tie the game 2-2 in the 4th. State Trooper Giambi is 14-34 (.412) with 4 HR and 7 RBI over his last 10 games. The streak has raised his average from .181 to .244.

Melky Cabrera, trying to bust out of a month long slump, had his second double of the game in the 5th and moved to 3rd on Johnny Damon's single. Derek Jeter's sacrifice fly to left brought home Cabrera to give the Yankees the lead for good. Damon, who went 8-14 in the series to raise his average 23 points, added an insurance run in the 9th with an infield RBI single.

Pettitte (5-5) worked out of a two on, none out jam in the 1st and ran into trouble again in the 5th. But the tricky left-hander, who has picked off many runners, this time nailed Brian Roberts, who had doubled, at 2nd Base for the 2nd out of the inning. It would prove to be huge out, because Pettite than walked Mora and gave up a double to Nick Markakis. But Pettite came back to retire Kevin Millar on an inning ending fly out.

Chamberlain ran into trouble with the same batters when he entered the game with 2 outs in the 7th. Mora singled to right and Markakis walked, prompting a quick trip to the mound by pitching coach Dave Eiland. Whatever he said apparently worked as Chamberlain blew a 96-mph fastball by Millar for strike three. Chamberlain tossed an easy 8th inning and then went to the bullpen to complete his throwing.

Rivera breezed through the 9th though the Orioles were able to bring the tying run to the plate when pinch-hitter Luke Scott's grounder went through Alex Rodriguez's legs. Thankfully for A-Rod, Mo was on the mound and not LaTroy Hawkins. The greatest closer of all time retired Roberts and Mora on consecutive infield pop ups and the Yankees 2-game losing streak was over.

News and Notes

When Derek Jeter was picked off of 2nd Base in Tuesday night's game it was even rarer than you thought. He hadn't been picked off since September, 1998. Jeter played in his 1,882nd game last night, moving past Roy White for 6th place on the all-time team list.

Hideki Matsui was 2-4 and is 14-27 over the last 7 games, 5 of which have been multi-hit games.

Of the 42 home runs hit on to Eutaw St., 3 of the last 5 have been by Jason Giambi.

May 28, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	1		4	9	1
Baltimore	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0		2	9	0

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	5	0	3	1	0	0	1	.288
Jeter, SS	4	0	0	1	0	1	5	.280
Abreu, RF	4	0	0	0	0	1	3	.286
Rodriguez, 3B	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	.276
Matsui, DH	4	2	2	0	0	0	0	.330
Giambi, 1B	3	1	2	2	1	0	0	.244
Cano, 2B	4	0	0	0	0	1	3	.219
Moeller, C	3	0	0	0	1	0	1	.250
Cabrera, CF	4	1	2	0	0	2	3	.254
Totals	35	4	9	4	2	5	17
BATTING 2B: Matsui 2 (11, Guthrie, Walker), Cabrera 2 (7, Guthrie, Guthrie). HR: Giambi (11, 4th inning off Guthrie, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Damon 3; Matsui 4; Giambi 5; Cabrera 4. RBI: Giambi 2 (27), Jeter (25), Damon (24). 2-out RBI: Giambi; Damon. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Abreu; Rodriguez; Jeter 2. SF: Jeter. Team LOB: 7. FIELDING E: Rodriguez (5, fielding). Pickoffs: Pettitte (Roberts at 2nd base).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Pettitte (W, 5-5)	6.2	8	2	2	1	3	1	4.11
Chamberlain (H, 12)	1.1	1	0	0	1	3	0	2.28
Rivera (S, 13)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.39

Baltimore	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Roberts, 2B	5	1	3	0	0	0	1	.271
Mora, 3B	4	1	3	2	1	0	1	.258
Markakis, RF	3	0	1	0	1	0	2	.251
Millar, 1B	4	0	0	0	0	3	6	.241
Huff, DH	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	.244
Hernandez, R, C	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.222
Payton, LF	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.238
Jones, CF	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.253
Cintron, SS	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	.412
a-Scott, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.247
Totals	36	2	9	2	2	7	14
a-Reached on error for Cintron in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Roberts (13, Pettitte), Markakis (7, Pettitte). HR: Mora (7, 3rd inning off Pettitte, 1 on, 0 out). TB: Roberts 4; Mora 6; Markakis 2; Payton; Jones. RBI: Mora 2 (29). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Huff 2; Millar 3; Mora. Team LOB: 9. BASERUNNING SB: Markakis (7, 2nd base off Pettitte/Moeller). CS: Roberts (5, 3rd base by Pettitte/Moeller). PO: Roberts (2nd base by Pettitte).

Baltimore IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Guthrie (L, 2-6) 7.0 6 3 3 0 4 1 3.64 Johnson 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.23 Walker 0.2 2 1 1 2 1 0 4.60 Bradford 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.65

WP: Guthrie. IBB: Moeller (by Walker). Pitches-strikes: Pettitte 96-59, Chamberlain 28-16, Rivera 18-11, Guthrie 104-68, Johnson 15-10, Walker 27-14, Bradford 1-1. Ground outs-fly outs: Pettitte 8-8, Chamberlain 1-0, Rivera 0-2, Guthrie 9-8, Johnson 2-1, Walker 1-0, Bradford 1-0. Batters faced: Pettitte 28, Chamberlain 6, Rivera 4, Guthrie 27, Johnson 4, Walker 6, Bradford 1. Inherited runners-scored: Bradford 3-0. Umpires: HP: Ted Barrett. 1B: Dana DeMuth. 2B: Lance Barksdale. 3B: Doug Eddings. Weather: 74 degrees, clear. Wind: 3 mph, In from CF. T: 2:53. Att: 24,791.

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Bob Sheppard Feeling Good

What a way to start out the web day. Peter Abraham pointed his readers this morning to an interview in Busted Halo with the one and only Bob Sheppard. The "Voice of God" is feeling much better these days and is hoping to return to Yankee Stadium for the All-Star game on July 15.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it.

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Yankees vs. Orioles - May 28

Andy Pettitte will try to stop the Yankees 2-game losing streak when he faces the Baltimore Orioles tonight at Camden Yards. Pettitte's stopped many a losing streak, even a 1-game skid, and the Yankees need him to do it again tonight. Pettitte's had trouble in the middle innings of late, but the Yankees probably don't need more than 6 innings from him tonight. That's because Joe Girardi plans to use Joba Chamberlain on a 50-55 pitch outing (cover your years while Michael Kay keeps count). Tonight could very well be Joba's last relief appearance for the time being since his pitch count will need to increase further and there's now an opening in the rotation with Ian Kennedy sidelined with a strained Lat.

Jeremy Guthrie gets the call for the O's tonight as the Yankees face a right-handed starter for the first time in the series. Guthrie 1-0, 4.74 in 4 career appearances, 3 of them starts, against the Yankees.

Yankees vs. Guthrie

Abreu 2-8 1 HR 1 RBI
Betemit 1-1 1 HR 2 RBI
Cabrera 3-7 2 RBI
Cano 1-8 1 RBI
Damon 3-9 1 HR 2 RBI
Jeter 3-9
Matsui 2-8
Molina 1-2
Posada 2-8 1 RBI
A-Rod 2-8

Pettitte pitched 7 scoreless innings in the Yankees 7-1 win over the O's on April 20. He's dominated the O's in his career, going 23-6, 3.77 in 35 appearances (33 starts).

Orioles vs. Pettitte

Cintron 3-8 2 RBI
R. Hernandez 7-21 1 HR 6 RBI
L. Hernandez 1-4
Huff 4-23
Jones 1-3
Markakis 6-18 1 HR 3 RBI
Millar 8-28 1 RBI
Mora 7-27 4 RBI
Payton 6-30 1 HR 2 RBI
Quiroz 0-2
Roberts 9-43 1 HR 2 RBI
Scott 0-3


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Congrats to former Yankee Andy Phillips, who was recalled today by the Cincinnati Reds. He'll be Jay Bruce's backup at 1st Base.

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Roger Clemens has added "intentional infliction of emotional distress" to his defamation suit against Brian McNamee. Just let it go already, would ya.

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My boy Drew Jr. over at Scott Proctor's Arm has come up with a Michael Kay drinking game based on the things fivehead says during the game. The only problem is you could die from alcohol poisoning before the 3rd inning.

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And in case you missed it yesterday, nice piece by the Daily News' Mark Feinsand on Darrell Ranser.

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Peter Abraham has reported that Chris Britton is back, yet again, to replace Ian Kennedy. And here's are tonight's Yankees lineup

Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Giambi 1B
Cano 2B
Moeller C
Cabrera CF

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