The Daily Yankeeland - 9/17

Phil Hughes tries to make an impression for 2009 tonight. Could he maybe win a game for a change?

Joe Girardi talked to Robinson Cano about his benching and then put him back in the lineup last night. Missed this one yesterday. Ken Davidoff knows it will take a team effort to get to Cano.

Good guy Bobby Abreu made a kid's wish come true.

Larry Brooks compares the Stadium to a museum.

More on the reported tax violations for the new Stadium.

Tony LaRussa talks about his visit to the Stadium on Monday night.

Sacramento beat Scranton in the one game Triple-A showdown in Oklahoma City. The game's MVP award was named after Bobby Murcer :)

A reminder - if you do the crime, you will pay the time. A warning against ripping off Stadium mementos.

Reginald Martinez Jackson talks about the House that Ruth Built and Reggie "Octoberized".

The YES announcers got screwed out of working the season finale, but Giants and ESPN announcer Jon Miller is ecstatic. Guess we'll hear Joe Morgan say "Bernie Wheelyums"

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The Daily Yankeeland - 9/15

The Yankees open a four game series this evening with the Chicago White Sox at the Stadium tonight. The pale hose swept the Tigers in a doubleheader on Sunday to extend their AL Central lead to 1.5 games over the Twins.

Pitching match ups for the series:
Monday: Mark Buehrle (13-11, 3.88) vs. Al Aceves (1-0, 1.29)
Tuesday: Gavin Floyd (15-7, 3.77) vs. Andy Pettitte (13-13, 4.52)
Wednesday: Lance Broadway (1-0, 8.49) vs. Phil Hughes (0-4, 9.00)
Thursday: Javier Vazquez (12-13, 4.15) vs. Mike Mussina (17-9, 3.63)

Jorge Posada is a team leader in the Yankees clubhouse, but it will be interesting to see the reaction to comments he made on a taping of Centerstage, with Michael Kay. When Kay played word association and said, "Joba Chamberlain", Posada answered quite bluntly.

"Leave him in the bullpen," Posada replied flatly, before being asked to expand on his answer. "If you start him and he pitches 200 innings, he won't be able to (last).

"You're going to lose him. He's going to get hurt . . . I don't see him as a starter. I'd leave him in the bullpen."

We hadn't realized that Jorge was a pitching expert/coach. Posada expects to be ready by spring training and in not so many words, said Ivan Rodriguez has to go.

"Pudge, he's my friend, but he's going to have to go somewhere else."

There was no real likelihood of the Yankees bringing back I-Rod anyway.


The Journal Star has a profile on Joba Chamberlain's mom.

Unfortunately, Bob Sheppard will be unable to attend the Stadium finale on Sunday.

Newsday's Anthony Rieber thinks the Stadium farewell is "falling flat".

More on Derek Jeter's record tying Sunday.

Joe Girardi talked with Jack Curry about this year's disappointments.

The Scranton Yankees, winners of the International League championship, will face the Sacramento RiverCats, the A's triple-A affiliate and Pacific League champions, in a one game showdown on Tuesday. The game will be televised at 8 PM EDT on ESPN2.

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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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Scranton on the Verge of Title

The Scranton Yankees are on the verge of winning the International League's Governors' Cup trophy after downing the Durham Bulls, 1-0 in 13 innings last night. The win, which was the third straight playoff walk off win for the Yankees Triple-A affiliate, put Scranton up 2-0 in the series, which will resume on Friday night.

The Yankees hadn't come up with a hit in more than seven innings when Bernie Castro singled home Chris Stewart with the game winner. Ian Kennedy got into a number of jams, but was able to wiggle out of each of them.

Former Yankee Heath Phillips appeared in one inning for Durham and struck out the side with Juan Miranda, Shelley Duncan, and Ben Broussard being the victims.

Kei Igawa faces Jeff Niemann in game three.

More from mlb.com.

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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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PawSox Even Up Yankees

It's a good thing that Devern Hansack was on a pitch count for the Pawtucket Red Sox last night. In his second start back from the DL the right-hander no-hit the Scranton Yankees for six innings before hitting his pitch count. Pawtucket held on for a 3-1 win to even their best of five International League series at a game apiece.

Ian Kennedy put in a yeoman effort, allowing two runs in seven innings, but took the loss. Ex-Scranton Yankee Jason Lane made his former team pay with an RBI single in the third inning and a home run in the eighth inning off of Zach Kroenke. Jeff Korsaletti also homered for the PawSox.

Eric Duncan and Ben Broussard had the only Scranton hits and Chris Stewart drove in the lone run. Kei Igawa faces Adam Mills in game 3 this evening.

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Rehab Update

Phil Hughes was back on this hill this evening for the Scranton Yankees. He went 4.2 innings, throwing 68 pitches, 40 of them strikes. His fastball was clocked at 93-94 mph. Chad Jennings has more specifics of Hughes' outing.

The question now will be whether Hughes' next outing is for the Scranton or New York Yankees.

Carl Pavano was also back on the mound tonight for the Trenton Thunder. According to Mike Ashmore, Pavano went 3.2 innings, allowing 1 hit, no runs, walked 2, and struck out 4.

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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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Karstens Pitches, McCutchen Drives?

Jeff Karstens started for the Scranton Yankees this afternoon as he works his way back to being being recalled by the Yankees (perhaps for Ian Kennedy). Chad Jennings also reports that word around the clubhouse is that Dan McCutchen will be called up to Triple-A Scranton, though he has not been able to confirm the news. Jennings also reports that Juan Miranda is probably headed for the DL with an injured shoulder.

Karstens allowed 3 runs in 5 innings of work (he'll fit right in the at the majors right now) in the Yankees 3-2 loss to the Pawtucket Red Sox. He's not at the point where his pitch count is up to starting, but he could be a long man out of the pen if the Yankees want to bring him back sooner rather than later.

J.B. Cox had his 3rd scoreless appearance since being promoted to Triple-A.

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IPK in AAA

Ian Kennedy may have said all the wrong things when he left New York, but he did all the right things when he faced the Charlotte Knights last night. Kennedy took a no-hitter into the 6th inning before Jerry Owens singled to break it up. IPK "settled" for 7.1 innings of 1-hit ball; he didn't issue a walk and struck out 8 as he picked up the victory in Scranton's 4-0 win.

Chad Jennings spoke with Kennedy after the game.

“I’m trying to say it humbly, but it doesn’t matter what I say, it’s going to come out cocky,” he said. “You just know. I woke up today and told my wife, I just have a feeling I’m going to make these guys look stupid.”

If only he had that same attitude in the Bronx.

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Yankees Add Another Catcher to the Chain

Chad Jennings of The Times Tribune reports that the Yankees have brought veteran J.D. Closser into the organization to add some depth at the catcher position. Catchers have been coming and going this season for the Bombers. With injuries to Jorge Posada and Jose Molina, Chad Moeller and Chris Stewart were both signed and have played in the Bronx. The Yankees also Francisco Cervelli in spring training with a broken wrist.

Closser will immediately join fellow catchers Stewart, and Jason Brown in Scranton. Eladio Rodriguez, who had been signed last week, was reassigned to Staten Island, which doesn't open its season until June.

The 28-yr old Closser has had some cups off coffee with the Colorado Rockies over the years and spent the entire 2005 season with them.

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Alan Horne has Torn Muscle

Chad Jennings of the The Scranton Times Tribune reports that Alan Horne has a slight tear of his right biceps and has been put on the minor league DL. Jennings speculates that either Chase Wright or Dan McCutchen will be bumped up from Trenton to take Horne's place in the rotation.

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Iron Pigs Can't Hit

First off, who came up with the bright idea to name the Phillies Triple-A team, Lehigh Valley,the "Iron Pigs"? Pigs don't have opposable thumbs, which must explain why Kei Igawa threw 6 perfect innings against them tonight.

Igawa struck out 7 as he combined with Scott Patterson, Edwar Ramirez, and Jose Veras on a 1-hitter.

Jason Lane homered and Eric Duncan had 2 hits and an RBI to lead the Scranton offense.



photo courtesy of the Times Tribune

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