Igawa Leads Scranton to 2-1 Lead

The Scranton Yankees are one game away from winning their first round International League series with the Pawtucket Red Sox after a 6-4 win tonight. Kei Igawa allowed one earned run over seven innings to pick up the win. The PawSox scored a pair of runs off Steven Jackson before Scott Strickland slammed the door on them, striking out three of the four batters he faced.

Leading 3-2 in the fourth inning, Eric Duncan belted a 3-run home run off of Jon Switzer to break the game open. Ben Broussard was 3-3 in the game, and he and Matt Carson, who played center field since Melky Cabrera was back with the Yankees, scored two runs each.

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The Daily Yankeeland - 8/27

Sidney Ponson goes against Paul Byrd in the second game of the series tonight. Unfortunately that means Michael Kay will talk about how much Byrd looks like Kelsey Grammer.

The Boston Herald talked to Mariano Rivera about no longer facing Manny Ramirez on a regular basis.

Joel Sherman says Alex Rodriguez is the Yankees poster boy for failure. We don't disagree.

Jason Giambi continues to prove that the Yankees need a real first baseman.

The Post's Kevin Kernan says Andy Pettitte's big game performances are a thing of the past.

Tyler Kepner has info on Melky Cabrera, Joba's unscripted return, and Jose Molina's nickname.

Quote of the day from The Record's Ian O'Connor. In comparing Tiger Woods, who was at last night's game, and Alex Rodriguez, "Tiger shrinks the moment. Rodriguez? The moment shrinks him."

Jon Heyman has this on Jason Giambi:

Jason Giambi, Yankees first baseman ($21 million option, $5 million buyout): Teammate/good buddy Johnny Damon recently told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe that Giambi likes it so much in the Bronx he'd be happy to return for less than that $21-million figure. Damon isn't exactly giving away state secrets, but no matter what Damon or anyone says, the Yankees are more likely to try to lure Teixeira as they try to get younger. The call: The Yankees buy Giambi out and let him go.

Needless to say, the Yankees better NOT bring Giambi back under any circumstances.

LoHud's Sam Borden wonders if this team would have responded differently under Joe Torre.

Igawa continues to earn that Triple-A money.

A man who wrote threatening, racially charged letters to Derek Jeter, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and others, was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison.

John Flaherty was elected to the Hall of Fame. No, not that one.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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Minor League Recap - 7/22

Games of 7/21

There has been trade rumors lately surrounding Jarrod Washburn of the Seattle Mariners. Buster Olney of ESPN believes the Yankees could use Kei Igawa as part of a deal. Igawa helped the cause last night, by allowing 3 runs on 4 hits over 7 innings in Scranton's 6-4 win over the Richmond Braves. He's now 9-5, 3.80 overall.

Ben Broussard hit a pair of home runs and drove in 3, and Cody Ransom smacked his 17th home run of the season.

	July 21, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Richmond 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 4 7 0 Scranton/WB 0 1 1 2 0 1 0 1 X 6 8 0 Recap | Box | W: K. Igawa (9-5, 3.80); L: F. Bueno (2-5, 4.97); SV: S. Jackson (2) HR: RIC: B. Canizares (11). SWB: C. Ransom (17), B. Broussard 2 (4).

The Trenton Thunder won their 6th straight, 9-8 over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, after blowing a 5-0 lead. Anthony Claggett gave up his first run in over a month, but picked up his 2nd victory of the season. The Thunder had 14 hits with four different players driving in 2 runs each.

	July 21, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Trenton 5 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 9 14 1 New Hampshire 2 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 2 8 11 2 Recap | Box | W: A. Claggett (2-0, 1.10); L: J. Pinto (4-3, 6.02); SV: J. Valdez (1) HR: NHM: T. Snider (15).

Tampa and Brevard County were rained out, but will play a pair today.

Charleston built up a 9-4 lead, but fell to the Greensboro Grasshoppers 10-9. The loss overshadowed a big night for RiverDogs 2nd baseman Justin Snyder, who went 3-5 with a 3-run home run, 4 RBI and 4 runs scored. Jesus Montero also stayed hot, going 3-4 to raise his average to .311.

	July 21, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Charleston 0 3 3 0 1 0 2 0 0 9 13 0 Greensboro 0 1 2 0 1 1 4 1 X 10 15 2 Recap | Box | W: S. Cishek (2-4, 3.97); L: C. Vacek (5-4, 3.93) HR: CHA: J. Snyder (4), C. Angelini (2). GBO: T. Hickman (11), R. Curry (9), M. Dominguez (7), T. Langley (5).

Brandon Braboy pitched 5 innings of 2-hit ball, but had nothing to show for it as the Staten Island Yankees lost a 4-1 contest with the Brooklyn Cyclones.

	July 21, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Brooklyn 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 4 9 1 Staten Island 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 7 3 Recap | Box W: B. Moore (3-1, 4.05); L: T. Dennehy (1-1, 1.86); SV: S. Clyne (3) HR: BRO: J. Abruzzo (2).

The GCL Blue Jays doubled up the GCL Yankees 10-5. Christian Garcia, still working his way back from arm surgery, gave up 2 runs on 5 hits in 1.2 innings pitched.

	July 21, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E GCL Yankees 2 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 5 12 0 GCL Blue Jays 1 1 0 3 1 2 1 1 X 10 18 1 Recap | Box W: R. Page (1-0, 3.18); L: H. Noesi (1-1, 5.06) HR: BLU: J. Talley (3).

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Minor League Recap - 6/17

The New York-Penn league opens action tonight. The Staten Island Yankees, also known as the "Baby Bombers" open on the road with the Mets rookie team, the Brooklyn Cyclones. This year's manager is Pat McMahon. The roster includes some of this year's draft picks including 2nd baseman David Adams. Click here for the complete roster.

Kei Igawa (7 IP 3 ER) put together a strong start, but the Scranton Yankees couldn't hold a 3-1 lead and lost 4-3, in 10 innings, to the Norfolk Tides. Nick Green homered and Justin Christian had a 3-hit night. Shelley Duncan had the rare distinction of walking all four times he came up.

The Trenton Thunder had last night off. They begin a 3-game series tonight in Harrisburg, PA against the Senators.

The Tampa Yankees rallied for a 3-2 win over the Clearwater Threshers in 11 innings. Down by a run in the 9th, Seth Fortenberry doubled and later scored the tying run on a Clearwater error. It was Fortenberry playing hero again in the 11th when he belted his 5th home run of the season to win it for the Yankees. Ivan Nova allowed 4 hits and struck out 7 in his 6.2 innings pitched and the bullpen combo of Josh Schmidt, Wil Arias (3-0), and Jon Hovis (5th save) blanked the Threshers over the final 5 innings.

The game also marked the return of catcher Francisco Cervelli, who was injured in the spring training collision with Rays infielder Elliot Johnson. He was 0-4 in his return behind the plate.

The Charleston RiverDogs and the South Atlantic League are on their All-Star break.

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Minor League Recap - 6/13

Tough loss for the Scranton Yankees last night. They blew a 7th inning 3-1 lead and and a 4-3 13th inning lead to the Richmond Braves, losing 5-4. The Yankees took the lead in the 13th when Brett Gardner walked with the bases loaded, but Steven White couldn't hold the advantage in the bottom of the inning as the Braves scored twice. Kei Igawa gave the Yankees a solid start, allowing 3 runs in 6.1 innings and 5 relievers combined for 5.2 scoreless innings prior to the 13th. Former Yankees catcher Sal Fasano homered for the Braves.

June 12, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 R H E Scranton/WB 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 12 1 Richmond 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 10 0 Recap | Box | W: C. Resop (1-0, 4.50); L: S. White (4-4, 5.68) HR: RIC: S. Fasano (1).

For the second straight game, the Trenton Thunder got a great performance from their starting pitcher, but couldn't muster a single run. Jason Jones (8-2, 2.30) went the distance but was saddled with the loss as the Connecticut Defenders defeated the Thunder 3-0. Ramiro Pena had 2 of the Thunder's 8 hits.

June 12, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Connecticut 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 8 1 Trenton 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 1 Recap | Box | W: J. Martinez (3-5, 1.90); L: J. Jones (8-2, 2.30); SV: K. Pichardo (2) HR: CT: T. Ishikawa (8), D. Maroul (6).

Tampa rallied from a 2-run deficit in the 8th inning and went on to beat the St. Lucie Mets, in 12 innings, 5-4. An Andres Perez infield single and a Mets error allowed the go ahead run to score for the Yankees. RBI singles by James Cooper and Seth Fortenberry had tied the game 4-4 in the 8th. Jon Hovis picked up the victory with 2 innings of work.

June 12, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R H E Tampa 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 1 5 13 0 St. Lucie 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 10 2 Recap | Box W: J. Hovis (2-0, 2.03); L: C. Hoorelbeke (0-2, 3.48) HR: None.

David Williams' 9th inning single snapped a 3-3 tie and the Charleston RiverDogs topped the Rome Braves 4-3. The RiverDogs had built a 3-1 lead with a pair of RBI from Justin Snyder, before the Braves tied things up in the 8th inning. Chace Vacek (3-1) picked up the win while Jon Ortiz was credited with his 20th save.

June 12, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Charleston 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 11 2 Rome 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 7 0 Recap | Box | W: C. Vacek (3-1, 1.47); L: Y. Castro (0-4, 6.92); SV: J. Ortiz (20) HR: ROM: C. Lundahl (1).

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