Scranton Wins Governors' Cup

The Scranton Yankees completed a three game sweep of the Durham Bulls to win the International League championship. The Yankees captured the Governors' Cup with a 20-2 pasting on Friday night.

Already leading 11-1, Scranton put eight runs on the board in the sixth inning to put the game completely out of reach. Juan Miranda had three hits, including a home run, and drove in a game high six runs. Justin Christian, Bernie Castro, and Chris Basak added 3 RBI each as the Yankees banged out 18 hits.

Phil Hughes picked up the win after striking out 12 batters in 5 innings. He allowed 1 run, 4 hits, and walked 4 batters. Jon Albaladejo and Zach Kroenke finished out the final four innings. Highly touted Rays prospect Wade Davis gave up 8 runs, 5 of them earned, in just two innings of work.

	September 12, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Scranton/WB 0 5 5 0 1 8 0 0 1 20 18 0 Durham 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 7 3 W: P. Hughes (1-0, 0.69); L: W. Davis (1-1, 6.75) HR: SWB: J. Miranda (1). DUR: G. Martinez (1).

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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 - 7/24

We're enjoying a day off in the schedule before three big games in Boston this weekend. Here's what's going on.

Things have really begun to heat up in talks with Seattle that would sent pariah #2 Kei Igawa (Pavano is of course #1) to the Mariners for Jarrod Washburn and contract throw in Jose Vidro.

We're not big fans of Washburn, but he battles, gives you innings and has done well in the post-season. He would also give you another left-hander in the rotation in addition to Andy Pettitte, and would be a viable option out of the pen should the Yankees make the playoffs. He's got about $4 million left on his deal this year and has a $10 million contract for next season. Igawa's contract runs through 2011 and is worth about $14 million.

Vidro was once a good 2nd baseman and swung a good bat, but his knees and his skills have eroded and now he's a DH without any pop.

* * *

The media is blasting the Yankees from all sides for their decision not to shut down Jorge Posada immediately so that he'll be ready for the start of next season. There were even rumors that Randy Levine insisted that Posada play because of the big contract he signed in the off-season. It's very believable considering Levine is pretty much a dick.

We, as we stated yesterday, are in agreement that Posada will not be any use to the team this year. His shoulder will not strengthen to the point that he will be able to hit with any kind of authority.

* * *

Today is the 25th anniversary of a game that will in infamy. The Pine Tar game between the Yankees and Royals on July 24, 1983. Brian Heyman of the Journal News looks back, and has thoughts from George Brett and ump Tim McLelland.

* * *

Mark Lelinwalla of the Daily News has a nice piece on rookie outfielder Justin Christian. We repeat, time for Brett Gardner, who couldn't break a pane of glass right now, to go back to Scranton and for Christian to get increased playing time.

* * *

Pitching match ups for this weekend:

Friday: Joba Chamberlain vs. Josh Beckett
Saturday: Andy Pettitte vs. Tim Wakefield
Sunday: Sidney Ponson vs. Jon Lester

Saturday's game is one of those annoying 3:55 starts on Fox and Sunday is an 8:05 "we'll have to listen to Joe Morgan" affair on ESPN.

* * *

The YES Network continues to a great job covering the life and death of our man Bobby Murcer. Yankees Magazine included some new interviews from the likes of Reggie Jackson, Michael Kay, and others are the All-Star game. It's still shocking when Reggie acts humbly.

* * *

The Trenton Thunder have signed a 10-year extension with Mercer County that will keep the Yankees Double-A affiliate in Trenton through 2023. The new deal gives the Thunder more control over operations at Waterfront Park.

* * *

And finally, in case you missed it Tuesday, here's the video (we found the connection to be a bit troublesome) of Melky Cabrera making an error because he was paying attention to the Bleacher Creatures instead of the game.

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Moose Dominates in Yankees Sweep

Mike Mussina may not have made the American League All-Star team, but he's clearly All-World in the eyes of the Yankees right now. Mussina picked up his 13th win by throwing 8 dominant innings in the Yankees 5-1 win over the Minnesota Twins. The victory completed the Yankees second straight series sweep, allowed them to keep pace with the 1st place Rays, and moved them to a season high 11 games over .500.

Moose (13-6, 3.26) scattered 6 hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out 7 as he earned his 263rd career win. For a while it seemed Mussina might fall victim to a lack of run support, but the Yankees finally broke through against Twins starter Glen Perkins in the 5th. Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera started the rally with back to back one out singles. Jose Molina hit into a force out, but rookie Justin Christian delivered a big two out double into the left corner that scored both runners for a 2-0 lead.

The Yankees tacked on runs in the 6th after Derek Jeter led off with a double and Bobby Abreu drew a walk. Both came around when Alex Rodriguez hammered a ball of the wall in left. Rodriguez moved to 3rd on the throw and scored on Richie Sexson's fly to deep center.

Meanwhile, Mussina was mowing down Twins as he has all opponents this season. He allowed just three singles through 5 innings and no base runner reached 2nd base. He gave up a lead off single in the 6th to Carlos Gomez, but got Denard Span to hit into a double play. It proved crucial when Alexi Casilla followed with a double. Mussina then retired Mike Redmond on an inning ending ground out. He retired the side in order in the 8th, striking out the final two hitters, waving to the fans who gave him a standing ovation.

The Twins finally broke up the shutout against LaTroy Hawkins in the 9th on a Mike Lamb single, but Mariano Rivera came on to strike out Jason Kubel with two aboard to end it. Rivera recorded his 25th save in as many chances.


News and Notes

Another day in July, another multi-hit game for Robinson Cano. He's now 14-27 since the break.

Justin Christian was 2-3 with 2 RBI and a stolen base. It's time for Brett Gardner to go back to Scranton and for Christian to get some more chances.


July 23, 2008

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

Minnesota	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Span, RF	4	0	0	0	0	1	2	.326
Casilla, 2B	4	1	2	0	0	1	0	.323
Redmond, C	4	0	1	0	0	0	2	.288
Morneau, DH	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.317
Young, LF	4	0	0	0	0	2	3	.294
Lamb, 1B	4	0	3	1	0	0	0	.229
Harris, 3B	3	0	1	0	0	1	2	.261
a-Kubel, PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	.259
Punto, SS	3	0	0	0	0	1	2	.303
Gomez, CF	3	0	1	0	0	1	1	.248
Totals	34	1	9	1	0	9	15
a-Struck out for Harris in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Casilla (14, Mussina), Lamb (9, Mussina). TB: Casilla 3; Redmond; Morneau; Lamb 4; Harris; Gomez. RBI: Lamb (27). 2-out RBI: Lamb. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Redmond; Harris; Kubel. GIDP: Punto; Span. Team LOB: 6. FIELDING Pickoffs: Perkins (Abreu at 1st base).

Minnesota	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Perkins (L, 7-3)	6.0	8	5	5	1	2	0	4.08
Guerrier	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	3.40
Nathan	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.08

BATTING 2B: Christian (2, Perkins), Jeter (21, Perkins), Rodriguez, A (20, Perkins). TB: Jeter 3; Rodriguez, A 2; Cano 2; Cabrera 2; Christian 3. RBI: Christian 2 (4), Rodriguez, A 2 (61), Sexson (32). 2-out RBI: Christian 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Damon; Abreu. SF: Sexson. Team LOB: 4. BASERUNNING SB: Christian (3, 2nd base off Guerrier/Redmond). CS: Abreu (7, 2nd base by Perkins/Redmond). PO: Abreu (1st base by Perkins). FIELDING DP: 2 (Sexson-Jeter, Cano-Jeter-Sexson).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mussina (W, 13-6)	8.0	6	0	0	0	7	0	3.26
Hawkins	0.2	3	1	1	0	1	0	5.71
Rivera (S, 25)	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1.21

WP: Hawkins.
Pitches-strikes: Perkins 85-53, Guerrier 16-11, Nathan 16-10,
Mussina 105-73, Hawkins 12-11, Rivera 4-3.
Ground outs-fly outs: Perkins 7-8, Guerrier 0-1, Nathan 3-0,
Mussina 13-4, Hawkins 1-0, Rivera 0-0.
Batters faced: Perkins 26, Guerrier 4, Nathan 3,
Mussina 28, Hawkins 5, Rivera 1.
Inherited runners-scored: Rivera 2-0.
Umpires: HP: Mike DiMuro. 1B: Damien Beal.
2B: Mike Everitt. 3B: Tim McClelland.
Weather: 76 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 14 mph, L to R.
T: 2:31.
Att: 54,114.

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Minor League Recap - 7/2

Games of 7/1

The Scranton Yankees came from behind to top the Buffalo Bisons 5-2. Ross Ohlendorf made his first start for the Yankees, allowing 1 run in 3 innings pitched. The Yankees trailed 2-0 until tying it in the 6th inning on a Justin Christian 2-run home run. Then it was red hot J.D. Closser striking in the 7th with a 3-run home run, his second in as many games. J.B. Cox pitched 2 scoreless frames for the win.

Chad Jennings reported that Justin Christian has been named to the Triple-A All-Star Team. Austin Jackson, Chris Malec, PJ Pilittere and Jason Jones have been named to the Double-A All-Star squad.

Shelley Duncan will getting checked out today for a possible separated shoulder.

	July 1, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Buffalo 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 8 0 Scranton/WB 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 X 5 7 0 Recap | Box | W: J. Cox (3-2, 1.59); L: J. Rincon (0-1, 16.20); SV: S. Strickland (2) HR: SWB: J. Christian (5), J. Closser (2).

The Trenton Thunder lost the first game of their three game series with the Portland SeaDogs 4-1. The Thunder fell behind early, as George Kontos got tagged for 3 runs in the 1st inning. Zach Kroenke and Eric Wordekemper did a good job keeping the Thunder in the game over the final 4 innings, but Trenton could manage only a single run after an Austin Jackson double in the 8th.

Mike Ashmore reported that Jose Tabata had to leave the game with a possible hamstring issue. It was later reported as a cramp, but he's not expected to play today. Carlos Mendoza also had to leave the game after being hit in the leg by a pitch.

	July 1, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Portland 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 6 2 Trenton 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 8 2 Recap | Box | W: K. Johnson (7-3, 3.09); L: G. Kontos (3-8, 3.39); SV: B. Vaughan (10) HR: None.

19-yr old Deolis Guerra, acquired from the Mets in the Johan Santana deal, shut out the Tampa Yankees on just 3 hits as the Ft. Myers Miracle won 4-0. Phil Bartleski was the lone bright spot for Tampa. The 25-yr old reliever has allowed just 3 earned runs in 27.1 innings this season, with 33 strikeouts. He's also walked just 9 hitters.

	July 1, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Tampa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 Fort Myers 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 X 4 9 2 Recap | Box W: D. Guerra (8-4, 4.32); L: G. Duff (1-5, 3.27) HR: None.

The Charleston RiverDogs had their 3-game winning streak snapped as the Savannah Sand Gnats salvaged the finale of the 4-game series with a 7-0 win. Lance Pendleton was tagged with 4 earned runs in 4 innings pitched. Austin Krum had 2 of the RiverDogs 6 hits and also added a walk.

	July 1, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Savannah 0 0 1 4 0 1 0 1 0 7 12 0 Charleston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 Recap | Box | W: J. Stinson (2-4, 2.96); L: L. Pendleton (6-4, 2.64); SV: N. Abel (1) HR: SAV: C. Guzman (4), G. Veloz (4).

Staten Island was out hit 9-6, but beat the Aberdeen IronBirds 9-4. Dan Brewer drove in 2 runs and Walt Ibarra had an RBI and a pair of runs scored. Andy Shive picked up his first win of the year.

	July 1, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Aberdeen 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 9 3 Staten Island 0 0 0 5 0 0 4 0 X 9 6 2 Recap | Box W: A. Shive (1-2, 3.09); L: A. Odom (1-2, 3.24) HR: None.

The GCL Yankees dropped a 6-2 decision to the GCL Indians as Rich Martinez was tagged for a pair of home runs.

	July 1, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E GCL Yankees 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 1 GCL Indians 0 0 1 0 2 2 1 0 X 6 9 1 Recap | Box W: T. McFarland (1-1, 3.14); L: R. Martinez (0-1, 5.14) HR: IND: A. Abreu (2), A. Rodriguez (1).

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