Minor League Playoff Update - 9/10

Scranton and Trenton both began their championship series last night in their respective leagues. The International League showdown pits the Yankees and the Rays' top farm team, the Durham Bulls. The Yankees built a 6-2 lead behind Chase Wright's strong six innings and a potent offense against stud starter David Price, but the Scranton bullpen coughed up five runs in the seventh inning and suddenly the Bulls had a 7-6 lead.

The Yankees rallied in the ninth though, tying the game when Tim Battle doubled home pinch-runner Chris Basak from second base. Then it was Eric Duncan's turn to play hero, and he came through, lining a single to right to score Battle with the game winner. The victory gave Scranton a 1-0 lead in the Governor's Cup final. Kevin Czerwinski of mlb.com has more.

Trenton meanwhile got another big start from Eric Hacker in taking the Eastern League final opener, 3-1 over the Akron Aeros. Hacker allowed a run on three hits over six innings and is now 2-0, 1.54 in his two post-season starts. Chris Malec drove in two runs and Ramiro Pena enjoyed a 3-hit night. Jhonny Nunez recorded the final four outs for the save.

Staten Island has been eliminated in two games in their quest for the New York-Penn League title. The Jamestown Jammers jumped out to an 8-1 lead after just two innings in game one and held on for a 10-7 win. Mitch Abeita and Mike Lyon homered in a losing cause.

Game two showcased much better pitching on both sides, but the Baby Bombers came out on the wrong end of a 4-1 score. The Jammers again jumped out to a quick lead, with a three run first inning against Jon Albaladejo. Elih Villanueva dominated the Baby Bombers, limiting them to one unearned run and four hits over six innings, while striking out 10. Jeremy Bleich was a bright spot for S.I. though, throwing four scoreless innings in relief.

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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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The Daily Yankeeland - 8/25

Newsday's Kat O'Brien spoke to Ivan Rodriguez about his struggles since coming to New York.

Others may not want to say it, but Mike Mussina knows the wildcard is the Yankees only shot at making the post-season.

Mike Ashmore has a Q & A with up and coming pitcher, Eric Hacker. He also reports that Victor Zambrano could be the guy to replace Darrell Rasner.

Mr. Met is a Moron.

Newsday's Ken Davidoff thinks it's time to stop bashing A-Rod.

Chad Jennings talks about Al Aceves' outstanding start for Scranton on Sunday.

Former bat boy and Yankees advisor Ray Negron dedicates his second children's book to King George.

The Trenton-Yankees alliance has been a profitable one.

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Down on the Farm - 8/8

Before we get into how the Tampa Yankees are doing, kudos to them for holding Breast Cancer Awareness Night at GMS III Field on August 15. The players will be wearing blue jerseys with pink lettering, like that Joba guy once did, that will be auctioned off with partial proceeds going to the Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute.

On a lighter note, the team is also holding a Jimmy Buffett tribute night on the 16th.

It's been an up and down season for the Florida St. Leaguers, who have had a number of winning and losing streaks. Their current two game slide has left them 58-57, 21-24 in the second half. They obviously miss the pitching of Eric Hacker (Trenton) and Al Aceves (Scranton), who were a combined 6-3, 1.98 before being promoted. Zach McAllister's 6-6 record doesn't reflect just how well he's pitched. The right-hander has compiled a 2.17 ERA in his 12 starts. Overall, between Charleston and Tampa, McAllister is 12-9, 2.30 in 22 starts. Jon Hovis has excelled in the closer's role, recording 10 saves, and has an 8:1 strikeout to walk ratio.

Offensively, 1st baseman Kevin Smith leads the team with 50 RBI while posting a .283 average. DH Andres Perez has added 8 home runs and 41 RBI to a team that misses Edwar Gonzalez, who was promoted to Trenton after 27 games. Mitch Hilligoss, who hit in 38 straight games en route to a .310 season, has been a disappointment. The third baseman is batting just .241.

The Charleston RiverDogs battled a number of injuries to put together a fantastic 45-25 first half in the South Atlantic League. Things haven't gone so smoothly since, as the Dogs have put together just a 22-23 record. Granted, they have lost stars like starters McAllister and Jason Stephens to Tampa.

The big name on the RiverDogs is of course Jesus Montero. The 6'4" catcher fought off a bad May and came back strong, hitting .293 in June and .341 in July. He's topped that with a .387 average in 8 games in August. Montero has hit 13 home runs, 30 doubles, and driven in 69 runs in 430 at-bats. He's also done a good job of making contact, having struck out 69 times. He's also hit an impressive .350 with runners in scoring position and has an .844 OPS.

Montero is not alone, though. 3rd baseman Brad Suttle (.280-10-33, .828 OPS in 72 games), fellow catcher Austin Romine (.283-7-34 in 82 games), Justin Snyder (.290, 52 RBI), and Brandon Laird (17 HRs, 60 RBI) have all put together solid seasons.

Jon Ortiz has been a stud at closer, recording 28 saves, while striking out 73 batters in 52.2 innings. Starter Wil De la Rosa, a converted position player, has compiled a 7-3, 2.29 mark with 110 strikeouts in 90.1 innings. Dellin Betances and Lance Pendleton have each had solid seasons, with 7 wins apiece.

Tomorrow - the Staten Island and GCL Yankees

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Down on the Farm - 8/7

Time to do some catching up at the minor league level. Today we'll start with Scranton and Trenton, taking a look at how the teams and their prospects are doing.

Austin Jackson
He's really put together a solid year and word is that he'll spend the entire season at Trenton. He's batting .290-9-61 in 449 at-bats with an .816 OPS, which escalates to .936 against left-handers. He's also stolen 15 bases in 20 attempts.

Jackson has particularly been red hot with the warm weather, batting .357 since July 1.

Al Aceves
There's been plenty of buzz around the right-hander plucked from the Mexican League. But after being out with a strained groin, he's been struggling at Scranton. Chad Jennings has more.

Jason Jones
With Ian Kennedy being called up, Jones has headed up to Scranton. Jones has put together an 11-5, 3.03 record in 21 starts. His ERA had been 2.28 before being roughed up in a pair of late July games.


Scranton

The Triple-A Yankees are 73-47 leading the Pawtucket Red Sox by one-half game in the International League's North Division. With promotions (Justin Christian, .309) and injuries, several players have stepped up. Juan Miranda is wreaking havoc on left-handed pitching, batting .352. Veteran first baseman Ben Broussard has belted 10 home runs and Brett Gardner has 37 steals to go with a .405 OBP.

As for pitching, the club has seen a rash of injuries and call ups, and the departure of Dan McCutchen and Jeff Karstens via trade. Kei Igawa has stepped up as the ace of the staff. Yes, we really said that. The overpaid left-hander is 12-5, 3.39 with 100 strikeouts in 132.2 innings pitched. He's 8-1 since June 1.

Trenton

The Thunder have had a number of players, especially key pitchers, promoted to Triple-A, but those who have taken their place have really done the job. Trenton leads the Eastern League's Northern division by 8 games over the Portland SeaDogs (again a Red Sox farm team), and has compiled a 70-45 mark.

As we mentioned earlier, Jason Jones has put together a terrific season, but he's not alone. Phil Coke (9-4, 2.51), Chase Wright (8-2, 2.96), who recently got bumped up to Scranton, McCutchen, Aceves, and Erick Hacker (6-2, 2.82) have all contributed to the club's success. The bullpen has been solid too with Anthony Claggett (3-2, 1.76, 8 saves) and Mark Melancon (6-0, 1.81, 2 saves) being the big names.

Offensively, the team lost Matt Carson and Edwar Gonzalez to promotion, but Chris Malec is hitting .304, and catchers P.J. Pilliterre and Joe Muich have added a lot offensively. And of course there's Action Jackson.

Tomorrow - Tampa and Charleston

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Minor League Recap - 7/11

Games of 7/10

Dan McCutchen is getting the hang of Triple-A. He put together his 4th straight good start last night in a 7-3 Scranton win over the Columbus Clippers. McCutchen allowed 2 runs on 7 hits in 6 innings pitched. He walked just 1 and struck out 6. McCutchen is 3-6, 3.32 since his promotion to Scranton, but is 2-1, 1.95 over his last four starts, with a 5:1 strikeout to walk ratio.

McCutchen got plenty of offensive support last night as Yankees Cody Ransom, Juan Miranda, and Matt Carson each went deep against former Yankees Tyler Clippard. Miranda is quietly making a bid for a shot at the bigs next season, specifically against right-handed pitching. Overall, he's hitting .296-5-29 and has posted an .826 OPS. He's hitting .350 against right-handers, as opposed to .151 against lefties.

	July 10, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Scranton/WB 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 3 0 7 8 0 Columbus 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 3 9 1 Recap | Box | W: D. McCutchen (3-6, 3.32); L: T. Clippard (5-7, 4.52) HR: SWB: C. Ransom (15), J. Miranda (5), M. Carson (4).

Eric Hacker wasn't at his best (3 earned runs in 5.1 IP), but he was good enough in Trenton's 5-3 win over the Altoona Curve. Hacker improved to 5-1, 2.37 as a member of the Thunder, after posting a 2-2, 1.87 mark for Tampa. Colin Curtis had a big night with the bat, banging out three doubles and drove in 3 runs. Anthony Claggett struck out 4 in the final 2 innings for his 7th save.

	July 10, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Altoona 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 10 1 Trenton 0 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 X 5 5 0 Recap | Box | W: E. Hacker (5-1, 2.37); L: J. Hughes (0-1, 9.00); SV: A. Claggett (7) HR: None.

The Tampa Yankees losing streak was extended to 10 games after losing a pair of 7 inning games to the St. Lucie Mets on Thursday. The Mets scored 2 runs off of Josh Schmidt in the 7th for a 3-1 win in the opener. Former Yankees prospect Elvys Quezeda picked up the win.

The Mets won the nightcap 6-3 as Yankees starter Jason Stephens had his worst start of the season. Stephens, who was an All-Star at Charleston prior to his promotion to Tampa, allowed 6 runs in just 3.2 innings pitched. He had allowed just 2 earned runs in his previous 17 innings. Tim Battle, who drove in the lone Tampa run in game one, homered in the nightcap. The Yankees will try to snap their streak tonight when they start a 4-game series with Vero Beach.

July 10, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E St. Lucie 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 3 4 0 Tampa 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 7 0 Recap | Box W: E. Quezada (2-0, 2.92); L: J. Schmidt (0-2, 3.50); SV: G. Marte (4) HR: None.

	July 10, 2008 Game 2
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E St. Lucie 1 1 1 3 0 0 0 6 13 1 Tampa 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 3 6 0 Recap | Box W: M. Antonini (3-0, 1.95); L: J. Stephens (2-2, 3.48); SV: S. Clyne (2) HR: TAM: T. Battle (8).

The Charleston River Dogs game with the Lexington Legends was rained out, but they start a new series tonight with the West Virginia Power.

Staten Island blew a 3-0 lead, but then beat the Oneonta Tigers 5-3. Mike Lyons' single in the 7th put the Yankees ahead for good, and Jahdiel Santamaria added an insurance RBI single for the Baby Bombers in the 8th. Drew Shetrone picked up the win after a very good start by Brandon Braboy. Pat Venditte earned his 6th save with a scoreless 9th, and has not been scored upon in 10.2 innings this season.

	July 10, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Oneonta 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 10 1 Staten Island 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 X 5 9 2 Recap | Box W: D. Shetrone (1-1, 3.24); L: A. Fuhrman (2-2, 6.59); SV: P. Venditte (6) HR: ONE: B. Nowlin (1).

The GCL Yankees rallied from a 3-run deficit to beat the GCL Braves 6-5 in 11 innings. The Yankees trailed 5-2 in the 9th, but Alvaro Ramirez hit a 2-run home run and Tom Baldridge singled in the tying run. In the 11th, Zoilo Almonte singled, moved to 2nd base on a wild pitch, and scored on a single by Neall French for the game winner. Mike O'Bradovich tossed 3 scoreless innings for the win.

	July 10, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E GCL Braves 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 5 10 1 GCL Yankees 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 1 6 14 0 Recap | Box W: M. Obradovich (1-0, 0.00); L: C. Hung (1-1, 2.45) HR: YAN: A. Ramirez (1).

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Minor League Recap - 7/8

Here's a quick recap since we checked in last.

Triple-A
Scranton went 2-2 with one game suspended by rain. Among the highlights was Dan McCutchen's complete game shutout of the Syracuse Chiefs on July 5. McCutchen allowed 5 hits, walked none, and struck out 10. Eric Duncan helped him out a bit with 3 RBI in the 5-0 win. The Yankees also beat the Toledo Mud Hens 5-4 when Alberto Gonzalez hit his first home run of the season in the 12th inning.

On the downside, Jeff Karstens was knocked around by the Mud Hens last night, allowing 6 runs in 5.1 innings pitched. J.B. Cox also got tagged for 2 runs in 2.2 innings. Cox also got tagged for 4 runs in 2 innings Saturday in an 8-5 loss to Syracuse. Duncan belted a 3-run home run in that one

Double-A
The Trenton Thunder have won 4 of their last 5, including winning 3 of 4 from the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. It started out with Jason Jones throwing 7 innings of 2-hit ball to beat the Portland Sea Dogs 4-0 on July 3. Phil Coke matched that effort with 7 innings of 2-hit ball against the Fisher Cats the next night in a 6-0 win.

More good pitching on 7/5 with 5 solid innings from Eric Hacker and a great job by the Thunder pen, in a 3-2 win over New Hampshire. And the Thunder won the series last night, 6-4, behind a pair of RBI each from Austin Jackson and Chris Malec. The lone set back was the third game of the series when George Kontos got knocked around in a 6-1 loss.

You wonder how long it will be until Anthony Claggett makes the jump to Triple-A. After 2 scoreless innings last night, his ERA is now 1.00 in 18 appearances for Trenton. His walk total, 16 in 36 IP, is a bit high, but he also has 33 strikeouts.

Jackson, meanwhile, has hit a bit of a slump with just 10 hits in his last 44 at-bats (.227). On the other hand, his fellow All-Star, Chris Malec, has been red hot, hitting .342 over the last 10 games.

Advanced 'A'
The Tampa Yankees are mired in a 7-game losing streak that started back on July 1st. For the most part the Yankees have gotten good pitching, but have had hitting woes. Ivan Nova gave up 2 runs over 7 innings on July 3, but the Yankees were beaten 2-1 by the Ft. Myers Miracle. The Miracle held the Yankees to 1 run in their 3 game series.

Then Tampa was swept by the Sarasota Reds. They were shutout for the third time in four games, 6-0 despite a great outing by Zach McAllister. He allowed 2 runs over 8 innings and struck out 9. Pitching was definitely not in the cards in the middle game of the series when Mike Dunn and the bullpen got blasted in a 12-5 loss. A 5-2 loss capped the series on Sunday (Monday's series opener with St. Lucie was rained out).


'A' Ball
The Charleston RiverDogs split their last four ball games, winning against Lexington last night 2-0. Wil de la Rosa struck out 9 and allowed just 2 hits over 6 innings. Jon Ortiz picked up his 22nd save of the season and Jesus Montero belted his 8th home run. The Dogs also beat the Augusta GreenJackets 6-3 on Sunday behind 3-hit ball by Jairo Heredia over 6-plus innings. Austine Romine went deep in that one.

Sunday's win would be the only game Charleston would take in the 4-game series with Augusta. They lost 5-4 on July 3 despite a pair of Brad Suttle home runs, and dropped a 5-2 game on July 4 despite a good rehab performance by Dellin Betances. The big right-hander, who didn't figure in the decision, allowed 2 runs over 5 innings and struck out 6. Betances allowed 3 hits and, more importantly, walked just one batter.

Short Season
No one is hotter than the Staten Island Yankees, who have won 10 in a row, including 5 straight since we last checked in. Luke Greinke didn't figure in the decision, but he tossed 4.2 shutout innings in the Baby Bombers 10-1 blow out of Mahoning Valley Scrappers on 7/3. Dan Brewer (hitting .351) and Mitch Albeita drove in 3 runs each.

The offense was at it again the next night in an 11-9 win over the Scrappers. Walt Ibarra hit a 3-run home runs and three players drove in 2 runs each.

Dave Phelps threw 5.1 innings to lead SI over the Auburn Doubledays, 6-2, on Saturday. Mike Lyon's (hitting .349) home run help propel the Yankees to a 4-2 win on Sunday and they finished off the Doubledays by the same score last night. Casey Erickson allowed 2 unearned runs over 6 innings and Albeita drove in another 3 runs.

Rookie Ball
The GCL Yankees dropped 3 of 4, their lone win being a 6-2 victory against the GCL Tigers. Chris Britton threw 2 shutout innings in a rehab stint. Emerson Landoni went 4-4.

Brian Bruney threw the first two innings of Saturday's game as he rehabs his Lysfranc injury. Humberto Sanchez also tossed one inning, striking out the side. The Tigers, however, were 7-1 winners.

Chad Gross hit a grand slam on Saturday, but the Yankees were out scored by the Phillies 10-9. The Philles won against last night 4-3 as Bruney and Sanchez each threw another inning. Landoni drove in 2 runs for the Yankees.

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