GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: AL: MINNESOTA (42-40) at NY YANKEES (39-41)

AL: MINNESOTA at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
MINNESOTA 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 2 6 8 0
NY YANKEES 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 1 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: MIN - JOHAN SANTANA, PAT NESHEK (8TH), JOE NATHAN (9TH) AND MIKE
REDMOND

NYY - MIKE MUSSINA, LUIS VIZCAINO (7TH), KYLE
FARNSWORTH (8TH), BRIAN BRUNEY (9TH) AND WIL NIEVES, JORGE
POSADA (8TH)

HOME RUNS: MIN - JASON KUBEL (6) OFF MIKE MUSSINA IN THE 7TH, 1 ON
LUIS RODRIGUEZ (2) OFF BRIAN BRUNEY IN THE 9TH, 1 ON

NYY - HIDEKI MATSUI (9) OFF JOHAN SANTANA IN THE 2ND, 0 ON</div>

 

AL: MINNESOTA at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
MINNESOTA 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 2 6 8 0
NY YANKEES 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 1 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: MIN - JOHAN SANTANA, PAT NESHEK (8TH), JOE NATHAN (9TH) AND MIKE
REDMOND

NYY - MIKE MUSSINA, LUIS VIZCAINO (7TH), KYLE
FARNSWORTH (8TH), BRIAN BRUNEY (9TH) AND WIL NIEVES, JORGE
POSADA (8TH)


WP - JOHAN SANTANA (10-6)
LP - MIKE MUSSINA (4-6)
SAVE - NONE

HOME RUNS: MIN - JASON KUBEL (6) OFF MIKE MUSSINA IN THE 7TH, 1 ON
LUIS RODRIGUEZ (2) OFF BRIAN BRUNEY IN THE 9TH, 1 ON

NYY - HIDEKI MATSUI (9) OFF JOHAN SANTANA IN THE 2ND, 0 ON


TIME: 2:54 ATT: 52,040

PROBABLES: MIN - KEVIN SLOWEY (3-0, 5.13)
NYY - KEI IGAWA (2-2, 6.91)</div>

 

AL: MINNESOTA at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">MINNESOTA (6) VS NY YANKEES (2) - FINAL

MINNESOTA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Bartlett ss 4 2 1 0 0 0 1 .254
J Mauer dh 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 .298
M Cuddyer rf 4 0 0 1 0 1 2 .280
J Morneau 1b 4 0 2 1 0 1 0 .283
T Hunter cf 4 2 2 0 0 1 2 .299
J Kubel lf 3 1 1 2 1 0 1 .242
M Redmond c 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .283
L Rodriguez 3b 4 1 1 2 0 2 0 .182
N Punto 2b 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 .202

Totals 34 6 8 6 2 7 7

BATTING: 2B - J Morneau (16, M Mussina); T Hunter 2 (23, M Mussina, B Bruney).
HR - J Kubel (6, 7th inning off M Mussina 1 on, 0 Out), L Rodriguez (2, 9th
inning off B Bruney 1 on, 2 Out). RBI - J Morneau (62), M Cuddyer (51), J Kubel
2 (30), L Rodriguez 2 (7). 2-out RBI - J Morneau, L Rodriguez 2. Runners left
in scoring position, 2 out - T Hunter 1. GIDP - M Redmond. Team LOB - 3.

BASERUNNING: SB - J Bartlett (17, 2nd base off M Mussina/W Nieves).


NY YANKEES ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
M Cabrera cf 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 .265
M Cairo 3b 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .244
b-J Damon ph-1b 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .249
D Jeter ss 4 1 1 0 0 2 0 .341
A Rodriguez dh 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .314
H Matsui lf 3 1 1 1 1 1 0 .270
A Phillips 1b-3b 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 .250
R Cano 2b 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 .267
K Thompson rf 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 .231
W Nieves c 2 0 0 0 0 1 3 .120
a-J Posada ph-c 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .330

Totals 30 2 4 2 2 8 6

a-grounded to pitcher for W Nieves in the 7th; b-grounded to shortstop for M
Cairo in the 8th.

BATTING: 2B - D Jeter (23, J Santana). HR - H Matsui (9, 2nd inning off J
Santana 0 on, 0 Out). S - M Cairo. RBI - H Matsui (47), A Phillips (5). Runners
left in scoring position, 2 out - W Nieves 2, A Rodriguez 1. Team LOB - 4.

FIELDING: E - D Jeter (13, ground ball). DP: 2 (R Cano-A Phillips, R Cano-D
Jeter-J Damon).


----------------------------------------------------
MINNESOTA - 100 001 202 -- 6
NY YANKEES - 010 100 000 -- 2
----------------------------------------------------

MINNESOTA ip h r er bb so hr era
J Santana (W, 10-6) 7 4 2 2 2 5 1 2.75
P Neshek (H, 8) 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 1.34
J Nathan 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.23

NY YANKEES ip h r er bb so hr era
M Mussina (L, 4-6) 6 5 4 3 0 5 1 4.62
L Vizcaino 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 5.40
K Farnsworth 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 4.73
B Bruney 1 2 2 2 1 0 1 2.57

M Mussina pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.

Pitches-strikes: J Santana 107-66; P Neshek 14-10; J Nathan 6-6; M Mussina
93-60; L Vizcaino 17-9; K Farnsworth 14-9; B Bruney 19-10. Ground balls-fly
balls: J Santana 8-8; P Neshek 1-0; J Nathan 1-1; M Mussina 6-7; L Vizcaino
1-1; K Farnsworth 0-1; B Bruney 2-1. Batters faced: J Santana 27; P Neshek 3; J
Nathan 3; M Mussina 24; L Vizcaino 4; K Farnsworth 3; B Bruney 5.

UMPIRES: HP--Adrian Johnson. 1B--Dan Iassogna. 2B--Wally Bell. 3B--Ron Kulpa.

T--2:54. Att--52,040.
Weather: 74 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 15 mph, out to
left.</div>

 

AL: MINNESOTA at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
AL
MINNESOTA 6
NY YANKEES 2 FINAL</div>

 

Santana wins fourth straight start

<h3>MINNESOTA 6, NY YANKEES 2</h3>BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- The Minnesota Twins did not havemany hard hits until the seventh inning but at least they hadtheir ace on the mound.

Jason Kubel hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the top of theseventh and Johan Santana worked seven effective frames as theTwins snapped a three-game losing streak with a 6-2 victory overthe New York Yankees on Wednesday.

Before going ahead, the Twins managed just three hits, twocoming from All-Star Justin Morneau. Their other hit was aleadoff single by Jason Bartlett in the sixth but as the seventhstarted, Minnesota had a pair of hard hits.

Torii Hunter, who was hitless in his previous 11 at-bats, beganthe frame with a long double to left-center field. One pitchlater, Kubel hit his sixth home run of the season to snap a 2-2tie and chase Yankees starter Mike Mussina (4-6).

Kubel's blast was Minnesota's first in 36 innings and firstagainst the Yankees in six games this season.

Unlike the previous two games of the series, the Twins did notallow the big inning and that was because of Santana (10-6), wholimited the Yankees to two runs and four hits. The All-Starlefthander struck out five, walked two and threw 66 of 107pitches for strikes.

The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner won hisfourth consecutive start. During the stretch, Santana hasallowed just five runs and 18 hits over 28 innings.

Pat Neshek struck out two in scoreless eighth and Joe Nathanworked a perfect ninth in a non-save situation. Minnesotapitching retired the final 16 batters.

Luis Rodriguez hit a two-run homer of Brian Bruney with two outin the top of the ninth, giving the Twins some added insurance.It was just his second homer in 88 at-bats this season.

The Yankees rested most of their lefthanded hitters, who hadlittle success off Santana. But one lefthanded hitter who hadhit Santana well was Hideki Matsui, who forged a 1-1 tie in thesecond with his ninth home run of the season.

New York went ahead in the fourth as Derek Jeter doubled andscored on Andy Phillips' base hit.

After Mussina retired the side in the fifth, Bartlett singled,stole second, took third on a groundout and scored the tying runon Michael Cuddyer's groundout.

Mussina lasted six-plus innings and allowed four runs and fivehits.

Both he and the Yankees suffered a rare loss to the Twins.Mussina fell to 20-6 lifetime against Minnesota and the Yankeeslost for just the third time in their last 18 contests againstthe Twins at Yankee Stadium.

 

AL: MINNESOTA at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MINNESOTA (6) AT NY YANKEES (2) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MINNESOTA 1ST: J Bartlett safe at first on error by shortstop D Jeter.
J Mauer grounded out to shortstop, J Bartlett to second. M Cuddyer flied
out to right. J Morneau hit a ground rule double to left, J Bartlett scored.
T Hunter struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 1 Error) MINNESOTA 1, NY YANKEES 0.

NY YANKEES 2ND: H Matsui homered to right. A Phillips flied out to right.
R Cano struck out looking. K Thompson flied out to right. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1, NY YANKEES 1.

NY YANKEES 4TH: D Jeter doubled to left. A Rodriguez grounded out to
second, D Jeter to third. H Matsui walked. A Phillips reached on infield
single to third, D Jeter scored, H Matsui to second. R Cano fouled out to
third. K Thompson walked, H Matsui to third, A Phillips to second. W Nieves
flied out to right. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1, NY YANKEES 2.

MINNESOTA 6TH: J Bartlett singled to shallow right center. J Bartlett
stole second. J Mauer grounded out to first, J Bartlett to third. M Cuddyer
grounded out to second, J Bartlett scored. J Morneau grounded out to second.
(1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 2, NY YANKEES 2.

MINNESOTA 7TH: T Hunter doubled to deep center. J Kubel homered to right,
T Hunter scored. L Vizcaino relieved M Mussina. M Redmond grounded out to
third. L Rodriguez struck out swinging. N Punto walked. J Bartlett bunt
popped out to catcher. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 4, NY YANKEES 2.

MINNESOTA 9TH: J Damon at first base. A Phillips at third base. B Bruney
relieved K Farnsworth. T Hunter doubled to left. J Kubel walked. M Redmond
grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, J Kubel out at second,
T Hunter to third. L Rodriguez homered to right, T Hunter scored. N Punto
popped out to third. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 6, NY YANKEES 2.</div>

 

AL: MINNESOTA at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MINNESOTA (6) AT NY YANKEES (2) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Minnesota Starting Lineups -- J Bartlett SS, J Mauer DH, M Cuddyer RF,
J Morneau 1B, T Hunter CF, J Kubel LF, M Redmond C, L Rodriguez 3B, N Punto 2B,
J Santana LHP.

Ny Yankees Starting Lineups -- M Cabrera CF, M Cairo 3B, D Jeter SS,
A Rodriguez DH, H Matsui LF, A Phillips 1B, R Cano 2B, K Thompson RF, W Nieves C,
M Mussina RHP.

Umpires -- Adrian Johnson (HP), Dan Iassogna (1B), Wally Bell (2B), Ron Kulpa (3B).

Gametime Weather: 74 degrees, Cloudy, wind out to left at 15 mph.


MINNESOTA 1ST: J Bartlett safe at first on error by shortstop D Jeter.
J Mauer grounded out to shortstop, J Bartlett to second. M Cuddyer flied out
to right. J Morneau hit a ground rule double to left, J Bartlett scored.
T Hunter struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 1 Error) MINNESOTA 1, NY YANKEES 0.

NY YANKEES 1ST: M Cabrera singled to center. M Cairo sacrificed to
pitcher, M Cabrera to second. D Jeter grounded out to second, M Cabrera to
third. A Rodriguez flied out to center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1,
NY YANKEES 0.

MINNESOTA 2ND: J Kubel flied out to center. M Redmond grounded out to
pitcher. L Rodriguez flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
MINNESOTA 1, NY YANKEES 0.

NY YANKEES 2ND: H Matsui homered to right. A Phillips flied out to right.
R Cano struck out looking. K Thompson flied out to right. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1, NY YANKEES 1.

MINNESOTA 3RD: N Punto struck out looking. J Bartlett flied out to right.
J Mauer struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1,
NY YANKEES 1.

NY YANKEES 3RD: W Nieves struck out swinging. M Cabrera grounded out to
third. M Cairo struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1,
NY YANKEES 1.

MINNESOTA 4TH: M Cuddyer struck out swinging. J Morneau singled to center.
T Hunter flied out to center. J Kubel flied out to center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1, NY YANKEES 1.

NY YANKEES 4TH: D Jeter doubled to left. A Rodriguez grounded out to
second, D Jeter to third. H Matsui walked. A Phillips reached on infield
single to third, D Jeter scored, H Matsui to second. R Cano fouled out to
third. K Thompson walked, H Matsui to third, A Phillips to second. W Nieves
flied out to right. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1, NY YANKEES 2.

MINNESOTA 5TH: M Redmond grounded out to pitcher. L Rodriguez struck out
swinging. N Punto popped out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
MINNESOTA 1, NY YANKEES 2.

NY YANKEES 5TH: M Cabrera bunt grounded out to second. M Cairo grounded
out to second. D Jeter struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
MINNESOTA 1, NY YANKEES 2.

MINNESOTA 6TH: J Bartlett singled to shallow right center. J Bartlett
stole second. J Mauer grounded out to first, J Bartlett to third. M Cuddyer
grounded out to second, J Bartlett scored. J Morneau grounded out to second.
(1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 2, NY YANKEES 2.

NY YANKEES 6TH: A Rodriguez flied out to center. H Matsui struck out
swinging. A Phillips grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
MINNESOTA 2, NY YANKEES 2.

MINNESOTA 7TH: T Hunter doubled to deep center. J Kubel homered to right,
T Hunter scored. L Vizcaino relieved M Mussina. M Redmond grounded out to
third. L Rodriguez struck out swinging. N Punto walked. J Bartlett bunt
popped out to catcher. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 4, NY YANKEES 2.

NY YANKEES 7TH: R Cano popped out to second. K Thompson flied out to left.
J Posada hit for W Nieves. J Posada grounded out to pitcher. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) MINNESOTA 4, NY YANKEES 2.

MINNESOTA 8TH: J Posada catching. K Farnsworth relieved L Vizcaino. J Mauer
singled to right. M Cuddyer lined into double play, second to first, J Mauer
doubled off first. J Morneau struck out looking. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
MINNESOTA 4, NY YANKEES 2.

NY YANKEES 8TH: P Neshek relieved J Santana. M Cabrera struck out swinging.
J Damon hit for M Cairo. J Damon grounded out to shortstop. D Jeter struck
out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 4, NY YANKEES 2.

MINNESOTA 9TH: J Damon at first base. A Phillips at third base. B Bruney
relieved K Farnsworth. T Hunter doubled to left. J Kubel walked. M Redmond
grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, J Kubel out at second,
T Hunter to third. L Rodriguez homered to right, T Hunter scored. N Punto
popped out to third. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 6, NY YANKEES 2.

NY YANKEES 9TH: J Nathan relieved P Neshek. A Rodriguez struck out looking.
H Matsui grounded out to second. A Phillips flied out to right. (0 Runs,
0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 6, NY YANKEES 2.</div>

 

Santana wins fourth straight start

<h3>MINNESOTA 6, NY YANKEES 2</h3>BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- The Minnesota Twins did not havemany hard hits until the seventh inning but at least they hadtheir ace on the mound.

Jason Kubel hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the top of theseventh and Johan Santana worked seven effective frames as theTwins snapped a three-game losing streak with a 6-2 victory overthe New York Yankees on Wednesday.

Before going ahead, the Twins managed just three hits, twocoming from All-Star Justin Morneau. Their other hit was aleadoff single by Jason Bartlett in the sixth but as the seventhstarted, Minnesota had a pair of hard hits.

Torii Hunter, who was hitless in his previous 11 at-bats, beganthe frame with a long double to left-center field. One pitchlater, Kubel hit his sixth home run of the season to snap a 2-2tie and chase Yankees starter Mike Mussina (4-6).

"I think it was a slider down in and I was just trying to pullthe ball any way (I could)," Kubel said. "So I got a pitchinside to do it with."

"Really in the back of my head I thought he was going to bunt,"Mussina said. "So I was trying to throw a strike and get to theline and the ball just ended up in the middle more (of theplate). He was trying to hook it and he just hooked it and gotunder it good enough to get it out right down the line."

Kubel's blast was Minnesota's first in 36 innings and firstagainst the Yankees in six games this season.

Unlike the previous two games of the series, the Twins did notallow the big inning and that was because of Santana (10-6), wholimited the Yankees to two runs and four hits. The All-Starlefthander struck out five, walked two and threw 66 of 107pitches for strikes.

"We stayed aggressive with all the fastballs in and out of theplate and mixed it up with a changeup and trying to have themput the ball in play so we can make a play," Santana said. "Butwe weren't trying to overdo things and throw one pitch at atime."

"Johan was very good again," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said."He always gives us a chance to win baseball games and he didwhat he had to do against a very good lineup."

Santana also improved to 3-0 against the Yankees and 5-1 in hislast six road starts. In four career appearances at YankeeStadium, Santana has allowed just three earned runs in 23innings.

"When you have to face a team like the Yankees, you know it'sgoing to be a tough challenge," Santana said. "But at the sametime, I'm always ready for the challenge, whatever the situationis and whoever I have to face, I'm always going to be ready.Whether it's here, Japan, Venezuela or wherever I have to pitch,I'm always going to bring my A-game."

The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner won hisfourth consecutive start. During the stretch, Santana hasallowed just five runs and 18 hits over 28 innings.

"He's pretty much tough every day," Yankees captain Derek Jetersaid. "There aren't too many teams that go out there and getfour or five runs against him. He's not fun to face."

"He's special," New York manager Joe Torre added. "We didpretty much what we wanted to do. We even had a lead but wecouldn't continue to put on the pressure."

Pat Neshek struck out two in a scoreless eighth and Joe Nathanworked a perfect ninth in a non-save situation. Minnesotapitching retired the final 16 batters.

Luis Rodriguez hit a two-run homer of Brian Bruney with two outin the top of the ninth, giving the Twins some added insurance.It was just his second homer in 88 at-bats this season.

The Yankees rested most of their lefthanded hitters, who hadlittle success off Santana. But one lefthanded hitter who hadhit Santana well was Hideki Matsui, who forged a 1-1 tie in thesecond with his ninth home run of the season.

Matsui's homer was just the fourth by a lefthanded hitter offSantana.

New York went ahead in the fourth as Derek Jeter doubled andscored on Andy Phillips' base hit.

After Mussina retired the side in the fifth, Bartlett singled,stole second, took third on a groundout and scored the tying runon Michael Cuddyer's groundout.

Mussina lasted six-plus innings and allowed four runs and fivehits. Unlike Friday against Oakland Mussina was unable to holda 2-1 lead and lost for the third time in four starts.

"We got two and 2-1 against Santana, you want to try and makethat work," Mussina said. "I made it stand up but I couldn't doit today."

Both he and the Yankees suffered a rare loss to the Twins.Mussina fell to 20-6 lifetime against Minnesota and the Yankeeslost for just the third time in their last 18 contests againstthe Twins at Yankee Stadium.