Minor League Playoffs Under Way

It doesn't appear that the Yankees and Red Sox will be meeting in this year's post-season, not at the major league level anyway. But their Triple-A and Double-A are going at in the first round of the International and Eastern League playoffs.

The Scranton Yankees took a 1-0 advantage in the "Best of Five" series, with a 7-1 win against Pawtucket Red Sox knuckleballer, Charlie Zink. Chase Wright started for the Yankees, but was pulled after 4.2 innings that included five walks. Stephen Jackson picked up the win by recording four outs. He and three relievers combined to shut out the Pawsox over the final 4.1 innings.

Justin Christian broke a scoreless tie with a 2-run home run off of Zink in the fourth. Catcher Chris Stewart would take Zink deep in the sixth inning with a solo shot, and Ben Broussard added a solo shot against Marcus McBeth ("out damn spot?") in the ninth.

It was a big night for Christian, who in addition to his home run, added a double and a walk, and stole a base. Eric Duncan also had a big night with three hits and a run scored, and Melky Cabrera drove in a run as well.

Game 2 is Thursday with Ian Kennedy facing Devern Hansack.


The Trenton Thunder opened their Eastern League playoffs with a 2-1 win over the Portland SeaDogs. Eric Hacker, who opened the season at Single-A Tampa, picked up the win after allowing one run in 5.2 innings pitched. He scattered five hits and struck out six.

A SeaDogs error allowed the Thunder to take a quick 1-0 lead in the first, but Portland tied the game up in the second inning on a Josh Reddick RBI single. An Edwar Gonzalez RBI single put Trenton up for good in the fourth.

Hacker ran into trouble in the sixth and was pulled with two men aboard. But Mike Dunn, who except for Monday's appearance, had not pitched above the Single-A level, struck out Reddick to preserve the lead. After retiring the first two men in the seventh, Dunn gave way to Jhonny Nunez, who retired all seven men he faced, four by strikeout, to pick up the save.


In regular season action, the Staten Island Yankees edged the Aberdeen IronBirds, 9-8. The Baby Bombers lead the Brooklyn Cylones by three games in the New York-Penn League's MacNamara division with three games to play.

Hector Noesi, who won a pair of games for the GCL Yankees, picked up his first win of the short season schedule. David Adams drove in three runs, and Dan Brewer and Jaedyn Pruitt added two RBI each as SI built a 7-1 lead. The pen nearly blew the game, as Aberdeen cut the margin to 7-6. The Yankees added a pair of insurance runs and Pat Venditte picked up his 22nd save after allowing two unearned runs in the ninth.

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Minor League Recap - 7/10

Games of 7/9

Scranton lost in the bottom of the 9th, 2-1, to the Toledo Mud Hens, but Al Aceves made his Triple-A debut. Back from a strained groin, Aceves, working on a strict pitch count, allowed no runs, 2 hits, walked none, and struck out 2. The Mud Hens scored the game winner against Kei Igawa, who threw a solid 5.1 innings. The Yankees had 8 hits, 3 by Juan Miranda, but push across just the one run.

Chad Jennings reports that Cody Ransom will take Justin Christian's place in the International League All-Star game. Ransom is hitting just .257, but has 14 home runs and 48 RBI in 86 games.

The Yankees open a series tonight against their former affiliate, the Columbus Clippers, and will face former Yankee Tyler Clippard.

	July 9, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Scranton/WB 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 8 1 Toledo 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 9 0 Recap | Box | W: F. Cruceta (2-1, 3.63); L: K. Igawa (8-5, 3.80) HR: TOL: T. Perez (10).

The Trenton Thunder took an early 2-0 lead, but couldn't hold on, and lost to the Altoona Curve 6-2. Starter Phil Coke took the loss after allowing 3 runs in 6 innings pitched. Mark Melancon allowed the final 4 runs, of which just 1 was earned, in 2.1 innings. P.J. Pillitere had 2 of the 5 Thunder hits and drove in a run.

Thunder beat writer Mike Ashmore had a chance to converse with Mark Newman recently.

	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Altoona 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 4 7 9 2 Trenton 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 2 Recap | Box | W: K. Bloom (1-4, 4.57); L: P. Coke (7-4, 2.96); SV: J. Mateo (1) HR: ALT: J. Boone (7).

Tampa and St. Lucie were able to get in one of their two scheduled games on Wednesday. St. Lucie won it 3-0, holding the Yankees to just 4 hits for their 8th straight loss. Ivan Nova put together a decent outing (5.2 IP 2 ER 6 K), but dropped to 3-11.

	July 9, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E St. Lucie 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 3 8 1 Tampa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 Recap | Box W: D. Owen (7-6, 3.83); L: I. Nova (3-11, 4.84) HR: None.

Austin Krum's 8th inning single snapped a 4-4 tie and gave the Charleston RiverDogs a 5-4 win over the Lexington Legends. David Williams went 3-3 and scored the game winner. Jesus Montero chipped in with his 9th home run of the season.

Dellin Betances made the start for the Dogs, allowing just 1 earned run and 2 hits in 5 innings, but he did walk 5. Chace Vacek earned the win with help from Jon Ortiz, who picked up his 23rd save.

July 9, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Lexington 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 4 7 1 Charleston 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 1 X 5 11 2 Recap | Box | W: C. Vacek (4-3, 4.23); L: F. Abad (1-4, 3.70); SV: J. Ortiz (23) HR: CHA: J. Montero (9).

Staten Island's defense was just out and out ugly last night. Defense probably isn't even the word to use after the Baby Bombers committed 7 errors. It contributed to 5 unearned runs as the Yankees fell 5-4 to the Oneonta Tigers. It overshadowed a good effort by starter Luke Greinke, who allowed 3 hits over 4 innings, didn't walk a batter and struck out 2. David Adams, mired in a 4-34 slump, was 4-5 with 2 RBI.

	July 9, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Oneonta 0 0 2 0 1 2 0 0 0 5 10 2 Staten Island 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 4 12 7 Recap | Box W: M. Brackman (1-1, 7.71); L: L. Greinke (0-2, 1.53); SV: T. Stohr (7) HR: None.

Tough night for the GCL Yankees, who lost a pair to the Blue Jays. Toronto's rookie team took the opener in 11 innings, scoring 2 unearned runs for a 2-0 win. Yankees 17-yr old starter Manuel Banuelos threw no-hit ball over 5 innings.

The Yankees lack of hitting continued in the second game as they lost 5-1. Yunior Tabares hit his first home run for the lone Yankees run.

July 9, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E GCL Blue Jays 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 4 0 GCL Yankees 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 2 Recap | Box W: J. Potts (3-0, 1.42); L: G. Tatis (0-1, 8.10) HR: None.

	July 9, 2008 Game 2
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E GCL Yankees 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 5 1 GCL Blue Jays 2 2 1 0 0 0 X 5 8 0 Recap | Box W: J. Cuotto (1-1, 3.32); L: A. Vizcaino (2-1, 4.50) HR: YAN: Y. Tabares (1). BLU: R. Diaz (2), L. Fernandez (1).

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Minor League Recap - 6/28

Games of 6/27

Scranton's game with the Buffalo Bison was called in the bottom of the 9th due to poor weather conditions. The Yankees had tied the game in the top of the 9th and will be continued today.

According to Chad Jennings, Al Aceves has been scratched from his scheduled start today due to a strained groin and Jason Jones will be recalled from Trenton to fill in. Alan Horne will then go on Sunday.


Eric Wordekemper made a spot start last night for Trenton with unfavorable results. The righty reliever allowed 2 runs in 3.1 innings. Mark Melancon didn't fare any better, allowing 3 runs in 3.2 innings as the Thunder lost to the Portland SeaDogs 5-3. Edwar Gonzalez drove in 2 of the 3 Thunder runs.

June 27, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Trenton 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 3 10 0 Portland 0 1 0 2 0 0 2 0 X 5 9 0 Recap | Box | W: K. Jackson (4-1, 4.82); L: E. Wordekemper (2-2, 4.59); SV: B. Vaughan (9) HR: POR: S. Madera (7), M. Wagner (7), A. Bates (5).

Jason Stephen's second start at Tampa was as successful as his first one. The Yankees beat the Palm Beach Cardinals 4-1 behind 6 steller innings from Stephens, who scattered 7 hits and struck out 5. Mitch Hilligoss had a hit, walk, and 2 runs scored.

June 27, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Tampa 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 4 8 2 Palm Beach 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 2 Recap | Box | W: J. Stephens (2-0, 0.82); L: K. Mura (5-4, 4.21); SV: J. Hovis (7) HR: None.

The Columbus Catfish routed the Charleston RiverDogs 12-3 before an unhappy crowd at the Joe. Wil De la Rosa and Chace Vacek both had nights they would like to forget, allowing 8 runs in less than 4 innings pitched. Austine Romine drove in a pair of runs for the Dogs.

June 27, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Columbus 2 0 0 0 6 0 2 0 2 12 15 1 Charleston 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 7 3 Recap | Box | W: J. Ragan (6-6, 3.73); L: W. De La Rosa (3-2, 2.58) HR: None.

Staten Island blew a 3-0 lead, but pulled the game out in the 8th inning on an errant pick off throw. Pat Venditte picked up his first win in the 4-3 victory over Hudson Valley, and David Adams was 3-4 with 2 runs scored and his first 2 stolen bases of the season.

June 27, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Hudson Valley 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 13 2 Staten Island 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 X 4 11 2 Recap | Box | W: P. Venditte (1-0, 0.00); L: M. Fleming (0-1, 1.93) HR: None.

The GCL Yankees rallied with single runs in the 7th and 8th innings to beat the GCL Blue Jays 2-1. Jose Perela and Jimmy Paredes each drove in a run. Francisco Rondon allowed 1 unearned run over 4 innings for the win. Humberto Sanchez started the game, throwing 1 inning in a rehab performance.

June 27, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E GCL Yankees 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 7 1 GCL Blue Jays 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 0 Recap | Box W: F. Rondon (1-0, 0.00); L: J. Castillo (0-2, 8.59); SV: M. Obradovich (2) HR: None.

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