GAME THREAD: AL: MINNESOTA (42-38) at NY YANKEES (37-41)

AL: MINNESOTA at NY YANKEES

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MINNESOTA (1) AT NY YANKEES (5) - EVENT LOG
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Minnesota Starting Lineups -- L Castillo 2B, J Bartlett SS, J Mauer C,
M Cuddyer RF, J Morneau 1B, T Hunter CF, J Kubel DH, J Cirillo 3B, L Ford LF,
B Bonser RHP.

Ny Yankees Starting Lineups -- J Damon DH, M Cabrera CF, D Jeter SS,
A Rodriguez 3B, J Posada C, H Matsui LF, B Abreu RF, A Phillips 1B, R Cano 2B,
R Clemens RHP.

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

Gametime Weather: 74 degrees, Clear, wind left to right at 5 mph.


MINNESOTA 1ST: L Castillo grounded out to third. J Bartlett flied out to
center. J Mauer lined out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0,
NY YANKEES 0.

NY YANKEES 1ST: J Damon singled to left. M Cabrera singled to center,
J Damon to second. D Jeter flied out to right, J Damon to third. A Rodriguez
grounded into fielder's choice to third, J Damon scored, M Cabrera out at
second. J Posada walked, A Rodriguez to second. H Matsui lined out to right.
(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, NY YANKEES 1.

MINNESOTA 2ND: M Cuddyer singled to left. J Morneau walked, M Cuddyer to
second. T Hunter struck out swinging, M Cuddyer to third, J Morneau to second
on wild pitch by R Clemens. J Kubel grounded out to second, M Cuddyer scored,
J Morneau to third. J Cirillo grounded out to shortstop. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1, NY YANKEES 1.

NY YANKEES 2ND: B Abreu singled to right. A Phillips grounded into double
play, third to second to first, B Abreu out at second. R Cano walked. R Cano
stole second. J Damon flied out to right. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1,
NY YANKEES 1.

MINNESOTA 3RD: L Ford grounded out to second. L Castillo lined out to
left. J Bartlett grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
MINNESOTA 1, NY YANKEES 1.

NY YANKEES 3RD: M Cabrera reached on infield single to pitcher. D Jeter
singled to right, M Cabrera to second. A Rodriguez struck out swinging.
J Posada struck out swinging. H Matsui flied out to center. (0 Runs, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1, NY YANKEES 1.

MINNESOTA 4TH: J Mauer doubled to deep left. M Cuddyer flied out to
center. J Morneau fouled out to third. T Hunter grounded out to shortstop.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1, NY YANKEES 1.

NY YANKEES 4TH: B Abreu flied out to center. A Phillips struck out
swinging. R Cano singled to center. J Damon walked, R Cano to second.
M Cabrera flied out to center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1, NY YANKEES 1.

MINNESOTA 5TH: J Kubel struck out looking. J Cirillo struck out swinging.
L Ford grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1, NY YANKEES 1.

NY YANKEES 5TH: D Jeter struck out swinging. A Rodriguez struck out
swinging. J Posada struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1,
NY YANKEES 1.

MINNESOTA 6TH: L Castillo grounded out to pitcher. J Bartlett grounded out
to first. J Mauer flied out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1,
NY YANKEES 1.

NY YANKEES 6TH: H Matsui lined out to first. B Abreu homered to right.
A Phillips doubled to deep left. R Cano singled to center, A Phillips to third.
J Rincon relieved B Bonser. J Damon walked, R Cano to second. M Cabrera
walked, A Phillips scored, R Cano to third, J Damon to second. M Guerrier
relieved J Rincon. D Jeter singled to left, R Cano and J Damon scored,
M Cabrera to second. A Rodriguez grounded into fielder's choice to third,
D Jeter out at second, M Cabrera to third. J Posada walked, A Rodriguez to
second. M Cairo ran for A Rodriguez. H Matsui grounded out to second. (4 Runs,
4 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1, NY YANKEES 5.

MINNESOTA 7TH: M Cairo at third base. M Cuddyer grounded out to third.
J Morneau flied out to left. T Hunter grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1, NY YANKEES 5.

NY YANKEES 7TH: M Garza relieved M Guerrier. B Abreu singled to center.
A Phillips grounded out to shortstop, B Abreu to second. R Cano grounded out to
first, B Abreu to third. J Damon grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1, NY YANKEES 5.

MINNESOTA 8TH: J Kubel grounded out to first. J Cirillo grounded out to
third. L Ford struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1,
NY YANKEES 5.

NY YANKEES 8TH: M Cabrera grounded out to pitcher. D Jeter flied out to
center. M Cairo singled to center. J Posada struck out swinging. (0 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1, NY YANKEES 5.

MINNESOTA 9TH: M Rivera relieved R Clemens. L Castillo grounded out to
third. J Bartlett singled to center. J Mauer singled to center, J Bartlett to
second. M Cuddyer grounded into double play, third to first, J Bartlett out at
third. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1, NY YANKEES 5.</div>

 

Clemens earns 350th career win as Yankees beat Twins

<h3>NY YANKEES 5, MINNESOTA 1</h3>BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- The good news for the New YorkYankees was that Roger Clemens reached another milestone. Thebad news was that they suffered a potentially damaging injury.

Clemens recorded his 350th victory and Bobby Abreu sparked afour-run sixth inning but the Yankees lost third baseman AlexRodriguez to a hamstring injury in a 5-1 win over the MinnesotaTwins on Monday night.

In his finest outing since returning to the Yankees on June 9,Clemens (2-3) allowed an RBI groundout to Jason Kubel in thesecond and scattered two hits in eight innings. He struck outfour, walked one and threw 67 of 97 pitches for strikes.

The seven-time Cy Young Award winner retired the final 14hitters he faced and became the eighth pitcher in major leaguehistory to reach 350 victories.

After failing in his previous four attempts at the milestone, itappeared Clemens would have to wait again as the Yankeessputtered in key situations early on.

New York stranded seven through the first five frames againstBoof Bonser, who struck out All-Stars Derek Jeter, Rodriguez andJorge Posada.

Things changed with one out in the sixth, when Abreu sent a 2-1pitch into the upper deck in right field for his fifth homer ofthe season. It was Abreu's first in 70 at-bats dating to afirst-inning homer he hit off Arizona righthander Brandon Webbon June 12.

The Yankees kept it going as consecutive singles by AndyPhillips and Robinson Cano knocked out Bonser. Juan Rinconissued consecutive walks to Johnny Damon and Melky Cabrera,which made it 3-1.

New York added its final two runs off Matt Guerrier, when Jeterchopped a single that eluded third baseman Jeff Cirillo.Rodriguez followed by avoiding a double play and taking a tumbleinto first base.

Rodriguez, who leads the majors in homers (28) and RBI (80),appeared to hurt his left leg but stayed in the game after beingattended to by assistant trainer Steve Donohue. After Posadawalked to loaded the bases a second time, Rodriguez came out.

After being examined by team physician Stuart Hershon, Rodriguezwas diagnosed with a strained left hamstring. Rodriguez, whowill be re-evaluated Tuesday, was replaced by Miguel Cairo.

In 5 1/3 innings, Bonser (5-5) allowed four runs and nine hits.He has surrendered 11 runs and 17 hits over 9 2/3 innings intwo starts against the Yankees this season.

New York opened the scoring in the first on Rodriguez's RBIgroundout.

 

Clemens earns 350th career win as Yankees beat Twins

<h3>NY YANKEES 5, MINNESOTA 1</h3>BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- The good news for the New YorkYankees was that Roger Clemens reached another milestone. Thebad news was that they suffered a potentially damaging injury.

Clemens recorded his 350th victory and Bobby Abreu sparked afour-run sixth inning but the Yankees lost third baseman AlexRodriguez to a hamstring injury in a 5-1 win over the MinnesotaTwins on Monday night.

In his finest outing since returning to the Yankees on June 9,Clemens (2-3) allowed an RBI groundout to Jason Kubel in thesecond and scattered two hits in eight innings. He struck outfour, walked one and threw 67 of 97 pitches for strikes.

"I've been getting stronger. For me there's a tremendous amountof work," Clemens said. "I will take a deep breath when all ofthis is over. But right now is not the time to do it. It is areal neat moment and I'm glad I did it here. I'm glad you all(media) were here and to do it in this type of market, I enjoyplaying here.

"Not too many guys pitch as long as Roger," Yankees manager JoeTorre said. "And to pitch as long as he has and not change thestyle of pitching, thats pretty incredible."

The seven-time Cy Young Award winner retired the final 15hitters he faced and became the eighth pitcher in major leaguehistory to reach 350 victories, an achievement that Clemensdidn't think he would reach after his initial retirementfollowing the 2003 season.

"I wouldn't have (thought I'd win 350)," Clemens said. "I wasvery sincere way back when in 2003. I thought I had touched a<div class="pre">little bit of everything in this game and wanted to move on and</div>do something else."

The righthander also became the first pitcher to accomplish thefeat since Hall of Famer Warren Spahn did it for the MilwaukeeBraves against the Chicago Cubs on September 29, 1963. Clemenswas 13 months old at the time but Yankees manager Torre wasSpahn's 23-year-old catcher.

"Roger Clemens, he pretty much dominated our lineup," Twinsmanager Ron Gardenhire said. "We really didn't have too manychances against him. He pretty much shut us down totally."

"He was in and out," Minnesota center fielder Torii Hunter said."He didn't make too many mistakes and his split-finger wasmoving like crazy. It wasn't even real. But his velocity it'snot like 95 anymore. It's 91 but I think he's smarter. He'shitting the outside corner, the inside corner and he's notleaving too many balls over the plate."

After failing in his previous four attempts at the milestone, itappeared Clemens would have to wait again as the Yankeessputtered in key situations early on.

New York stranded seven through the first five frames againstBoof Bonser, who struck out All-Stars Derek Jeter, Rodriguez andJorge Posada.

Things changed with one out in the sixth, when Abreu sent a 2-1slider into the upper deck in right field for his fifth homer ofthe season. It was Abreu's first in 70 at-bats dating to afirst-inning homer he hit off Arizona righthander Brandon Webbon June 12.

When Abreu homered off Webb, he was batting third. Since thenhe has been shifted down to eighth a few times and was battingseventh.

The homer was one of three hits for Abreu, who had two hits inhis previous 26 at-bats before Monday.

"It's been a tough season for me so far and I'm just trying toenjoy it," Abreu said. "I think today it was one of these days,maybe I can feel better, especially when we're winning."

"Since I've been here, when Bobby hits, it seems like we have atotally different lineup," Clemens said. "When I faced him overthere, (in the National League), he was the guy that you didn'twant to let beat you. He was a dangerous hitter and when he'sright he's a dangerous hitter. It was great to see him smile."The Yankees kept it going as consecutive singles by AndyPhillips and Robinson Cano knocked out Bonser. Juan Rinconissued consecutive walks to Johnny Damon and Melky Cabrera,which made it 3-1.

New York added its final two runs off Matt Guerrier, when Jeterchopped a single that eluded third baseman Jeff Cirillo.Rodriguez followed by avoiding a double play and taking a tumbleinto first base.

Rodriguez, who leads the majors in homers (28) and RBI (80),appeared to hurt his left leg but stayed in the game after beingattended to by assistant trainer Steve Donohue. After Posadawalked to loaded the bases a second time, Rodriguez came out.

"I dont know (what happened)," Rodriguez said. "Two big guysbanged up each other pretty good there. I think we're bothfortunate because it could have been ugly for him and for me."

After being examined by team physician Stuart Hershon, Rodriguezwas diagnosed with a strained left hamstring. Rodriguez, whowill be re-evaluated Tuesday, was replaced by Miguel Cairo.

In 5 1/3 innings, Bonser (5-5) allowed four runs and nine hits.He has surrendered 11 runs and 17 hits over 9 2/3 innings in twostarts against the Yankees this season.

New York opened the scoring in the first on Rodriguez's RBIgroundout.