NY Yankees (63-56) at Minnesota (66-52)

TV: YES | Radio: WCBS 880, WNSW 1430 8:10 pm ET Metrodome TV: FSN | Radio: KSTP-AM/TRN, KMNV / KMNQ
nyy

Scuffling Yanks focused on righting ship

Bryan Hoch / MLB.com
The early returns on Xavier Nady's Yankees experience haven't been quite what the outfielder envisioned when he was plucked from the National League in a late July deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Full story >

Yankees probable pitcher

Mike Mussina

  • #35 RHP
  • (15-7) 3.27 ERA 96 SO
Yankees: Mussina turned in perhaps the finest outing of his resurgent season last Thursday, blanking a hot Rangers offense for seven innings and leading the Yankees to a victory. Though Mussina allowed base runners in each of the first six innings, he induced two double plays and didn't allow the Rangers to mount a serious threat. He's now won five of his last six decisions, and is 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA this season against the Twins, his next opponent.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 265-151 3.68 3502.2 774 2759 .254
Season 15-7 3.27 140.1 20 96 .275
August 2-0 0.64 14.0 3 11 .204
Vs. Minnesota 2-0 1.29 14.0 1 11 .226

Series at a Glance

Standings - 08/12/2008 W L PCT GB Home Away
New York Yankees (AL East) 63 56 .529 9.0 36-26 27-30
Minnesota Twins (AL Central) 66 52 .559 - 40-21 26-31
Stats - 08/12/2008 AVG R HR RBI SB SO ERA IP H BB SO
NYY .271 569 122 549 78 703 4.27 1055.0 1076 364 842
MIN .276 586 83 560 65 704 4.27 1055.0 1156 282 696
min

Casilla says he'll be back this season

Kelly Thesier / MLB.com
Before the Twins left town for their recent seven-day road trip to Seattle and Kansas City, infielder Alexi Casilla believed there was about a 60 or 70 percent that he'd play again this season. Now, that number has shot up -- way up.
Full story >

Twins probable pitcher

Nick Blackburn

  • #53 RHP
  • (9-6) 3.60 ERA 71 SO
Twins: The right-hander was forced to work his way out of a few jams in his last start, on Wednesday against the Mariners. Blackburn admitted he didn't have his best stuff in the contest and never "felt good" on the mound. Still, the rookie managed to give up just three earned runs over six innings to a Seattle club that had taken its toll on the Twins' pitching staff. Blackburn will try to see if he can get through his next start a little easier. He'll face the Yankees for the third time this season. He's 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA in two starts against New York this season.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 9-8 3.92 151.2 23 79 .292
Season 9-6 3.60 140.0 21 71 .285
August 2-0 2.77 13.0 2 3 .283
Vs. NY Yankees 0-1 6.00 6.0 3 4 .387

Yankees hitters vs Nick Blackburn

  2008 2003-2007
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Cabrera, Melky .333 3 0 0 .333 3 0 0
Cano, Robinson .000 3 0 0 .000 5 0 0
Cervelli, Francisco - - - - - - - -
Corona, Reegie - - - - - - - -
Gardner, Brett 1.000 1 0 0 .375 8 0 0
Jackson, Austin - - - - - - - -
Jeter, Derek .667 3 1 2 .500 6 1 3
Miranda, Juan - - - - - - - -
Nunez, Eduardo - - - - - - - -
Pena, Ramiro - - - - .222 9 0 1
Posada, Jorge - - - - - - - -
Rodriguez, Alex .750 4 1 3 .500 6 1 3
Russo, Kevin - - - - - - - -
Swisher, Nick .333 9 0 2 .333 9 0 2
Teixeira, Mark - - - - 1.000 2 0 1

Twins hitters vs Mike Mussina

  2008 2003-2007
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Butera, Drew - - - - - - - -
Casilla, Alexi .500 6 0 0 .571 7 0 0
Cuddyer, Michael .333 3 0 1 .188 16 0 2
De Los Santos, Estarlin - - - - - - - -
Hardy, J.J. - - - - - - - -
Harris, Brendan .200 5 0 0 .222 9 0 1
Hughes, Luke - - - - - - - -
Kubel, Jason .333 3 0 1 .231 13 1 3
Mauer, Joe .000 2 0 0 .000 8 0 0
Morales, Jose - - - - - - - -
Morneau, Justin .167 6 0 0 .263 19 0 1
Plouffe, Trevor - - - - - - - -
Pridie, Jason - - - - - - - -
Punto, Nick .000 3 0 0 .111 9 0 0
Ramos, Wilson - - - - - - - -
Span, Denard .000 4 0 0 .125 8 0 0
Tolbert, Matt - - - - - - - -
Tolleson, Steven - - - - - - - -
Valencia, Danny - - - - - - - -
Young, Delmon .167 6 0 1 .250 20 0 1

A-Rod, X-Man play superheroes (64-56) (66-53)

Yankees 9, Twins 6 (12)

Yanks halt skid

Bryan Hoch / MLB.com
Mariano Rivera suffered his first blown save of the season by allowing a game-tying homer to send the contest to extras, but in the 12th, Alex Rodriguez and Xavier Nady went deep to help the Yankees snap their season-high four-game losing streak.

Full story >

Yankees Wrap >

More Yankees Headlines

Tickets | MLB.TV | Multimedia | Shop

Series at a Glance

 

Back in second place

Kelly Thesier / MLB.com
Delmon Young belted a dramatic game-tying homer in the eighth off Mariano Rivera -- the first-ever blast by a Twins player off the Yanks closer -- but it wasn't meant to be, as Minnesota lost in 12 innings to fall back into second place.
Full story >

Twins Wrap >

More Twins Headlines

Tickets | MLB.TV | Multimedia | Shop

Yankees 9, Twins 6

NY YankeesABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVG
Damon, CF6231011.325
Jeter, SS5031020.284
  2-Cabrera, M, PR0000000.243
  Sexson, 1B1000001.222
Abreu, RF5121112.290
Rodriguez, A, 3B6111016.313
Giambi, DH2120200.257
  1-Christian, PR-DH0100000.250
  a-Rodriguez, I, PH-DH2110000.292
Nady, LF5124032.332
Cano, 2B5010104.264
Betemit, 1B-SS6011033.250
Molina, J, C4100104.226
Totals47916951123 

a-Grounded out for Christian in the 10th.
1-Ran for Giambi in the 8th. 2-Ran for Jeter in the 9th.

BATTING
2B: Nady (31, Blackburn), Rodriguez, I (17, Guerrier).
HR: Damon (8, 1st inning off Blackburn, 0 on, 0 out), Rodriguez, A (27, 12th inning off Guerrier, 0 on, 1 out), Nady (19, 12th inning off Guerrier, 1 on, 1 out).
TB: Damon 6; Jeter 3; Abreu 2; Rodriguez, A 4; Giambi 2; Rodriguez, I 2; Nady 6; Cano; Betemit.
RBI: Damon (51), Nady 4 (74), Jeter (57), Abreu (78), Betemit (20), Rodriguez, A (71).
2-out RBI: Nady 2; Jeter.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cano; Rodriguez, A; Molina, J; Sexson.
GIDP: Cano; Rodriguez, A; Betemit.
Team LOB: 8.

BASERUNNING
SB: Christian (7, 2nd base off Crain/Redmond), Damon (19, 2nd base off Guerrier/Redmond).
CS: Abreu (8, 2nd base by Blackburn/Redmond).
 
MinnesotaABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVG
Span, RF6010021.309
Punto, 2B6020021.258
Redmond, C6120012.277
Morneau, 1B4000102.305
Kubel, DH3110002.265
  a-Ruiz, PH-DH2110000.364
Young, LF5333000.288
Buscher, 3B4001011.307
Everett, SS4012000.214
Gomez, CF5010021.254
Totals4561261810 

a-Singled for Kubel in the 8th.

BATTING
2B: Young (21, Mussina), Punto (10, Mussina), Redmond (5, Marte).
HR: Young (6, 8th inning off Rivera, 2 on, 1 out).
TB: Span; Punto 3; Redmond 3; Kubel; Ruiz; Young 7; Everett; Gomez.
RBI: Buscher (31), Everett 2 (14), Young 3 (49).
2-out RBI: Everett.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Span; Kubel.
SF: Buscher; Everett.
Team LOB: 6.

BASERUNNING
SB: Gomez (25, 2nd base off Mussina/Molina, J), Young (13, 2nd base off Mussina/Molina, J).
CS: Span (4, 2nd base by Mussina/Molina, J).

FIELDING
E: Punto (5, throw).
DP: 5 (Redmond-Punto, Punto-Morneau, Punto-Everett, Punto-Everett-Morneau, Morneau-Everett).
 
NY YankeesIPHRERBBSOHRERA
Mussina 7.08331503.30
Marte (H, 19)0.12220004.50
Rivera (BS, 1)1.22110011.56
Veras (W, 3-1)2.00000202.79
Ramirez, E (S, 1)1.00000103.77
 
MinnesotaIPHRERBBSOHRERA
Blackburn 4.26443513.73
Bonser 1.12111106.37
Breslow 0.10000002.45
Crain 1.22111103.28
Reyes 0.21000202.45
Nathan 1.10000101.07
Guerrier (L, 6-6)1.14330124.67
Bass 0.21000004.96

Bonser pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.

IBB: Morneau (by Mussina), Cano (by Crain).
HBP: Nady (by Bonser).
Pitches-strikes: Mussina 104-68, Marte 19-12, Rivera 27-20, Veras 24-15, Ramirez, E 13-8, Blackburn 102-64, Bonser 27-16, Breslow 1-1, Crain 22-13, Reyes 18-11, Nathan 15-10, Guerrier 36-25, Bass 5-3.
Groundouts-flyouts: Mussina 10-5, Marte 0-1, Rivera 4-1, Veras 2-2, Ramirez, E 0-2, Blackburn 4-4, Bonser 2-1, Breslow 1-0, Crain 2-1, Reyes 0-0, Nathan 3-0, Guerrier 1-2, Bass 2-0.
Batters faced: Mussina 29, Marte 3, Rivera 7, Veras 6, Ramirez, E 3, Blackburn 21, Bonser 8, Breslow 1, Crain 6, Reyes 3, Nathan 4, Guerrier 8, Bass 2.
Inherited runners-scored: Rivera 2-2, Bonser 2-0, Breslow 2-1, Crain 1-0, Nathan 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Greg Gibson. 1B: Mike Winters. 2B: Angel Campos. 3B: Brian Runge.
Weather: 69 degrees, dome.
Wind: Indoors.
T: 4:22.
Att: 33,036.
August 12, 2008

Box score official statistics approved by Major League Baseball Office of the Commissioner