DATE: May 28, 2012 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Downs Toledo 6-3 in Series Opener

 Nelson Figueroa allows just one run over seven innings just days after his 38^th birthday

 Rochester – Nelson Figueroa made his return to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre rotation and had one of his best starts of the season. He held the Mud Hens to just one run in five innings en route to a 6-3 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre victory over Toledo in the opening game of a four game series at Frontier Field.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom half of the second when Argenis Diaz couldn’t handle a ground ball off the bat of Ramiro Pena. Jack Cust scored on the Diaz error giving the Yankees their only run of the inning after having the bases loaded with just one out in the inning.

The Yankees extended their lead to 5-0 with a four-run second inning. With two outs in the inning, Brandon Laird smoked a two-RBI double to right field scoring Matt Antonelli and Jack Cust. Francisco Cervelli then provided the final two runs of the inning with a two-run blast to right-centerfield.

Brad Eldred brought the Mud Hens within 6-1 with his International League leading 19^th home run of the season. In Eldred’s last 79 at bats he has eight hits, five of which were home runs.

Eldred crushed his second homer of the day way over the left field wall cutting the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre lead to just 6-3.

Nelson Figueroa earned the win improving to 3-1 for the Yankees. He threw seven innings allowing just one run on five hits, while walking two and striking out five. Andy Oliver suffered the loss for the Mud Hens. He went just three innings allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits, while walking five and striking out four.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre improved to 27-22, while Toledo fell to 24-27. The Yankees and Mud Hens play game two of a four game set at Frontier Field tomorrow evening. Right-hander Adam Warren (2-3, 5.14) gets the nod for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, while southpaw Adam Wilk (2-4, 2.70) takes the ball for the Mud Hens.

-SWB YANKEES-

(Dave Miley and Ramiro Pena chat it up during batting practice)

SWB YANKEES GAME NOTES  – May 28th vs. Toledo

5-28 Notes

STREAK COMES TO AN END…

Kevin Russo’s season high 10-game hitting streak came to an end yesterday afternoon in Buffalo. Russo went 0-4 with a strikeout in a 1-0 victory over the Bisons at Coca-Cola Field in Buffalo. Over his last ten games, Russo is hitting .304 (14-46) with five runs and two RBI.

LEANING TOWARDS THE LEFT…

Toledo will send three left-handers to the mound against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre over the next four days. Southpaw Andy Oliver opens the four game set on the bump for the Bisons. The Yankees have enjoyed much more success over  left-handed pitchers than against righties. Through 46 games, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is hitting .279 against lefties and just .245 against righties. Kevin Russo leads the pack against lefties with an average .370 in 54 at bats with eight RBI. Colin Curtis is also raking against lefties, he is hitting .343 in 42 at bats with six RBI.

ON THE MIC – SWB Starting Pitcher RAMON ORTIZ

STARTING LINEUPS – MAY 28th (*left hander | # switch hitter)

Toledo Mud Hens (24-26)
#17 Justin Henry* – CF
#31 Ben Guez – RF
#6 Matt Young* – 2B
#44 Brad Eldred – DH
#34 Ryan Strieby – 1B
#35 Jeff Frazier – LF
#16 Audy Ciriaco – 3B
#2 Bryan Holaday – C
#11 Argenis Diaz – SS
#27 Andy Oliver – LHP

SWB Yankees (26-22)
#7 Kevin Russo – CF
#30 Matt Antonelli – 2B
#25 Steve Pearce – 1B
#29 Jack Cust* – DH
#2 Ronnier Mustelier – LF
#8 Brandon Laird – 3B
#3 Francisco Cervelli – C
#17 Cole Garner – RF
#19 Ramiro Pena# – SS
#20 Nelson Figueroa – RHP

Umpires: HP – Marcus Pattillo, 1B – David Soucy, 3B – Ben May
Forecast (from weather.com): Partly cloudy with temperatures slowly falling to near 82F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.

 DATE: May 27, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Yankees Blank Buffalo 1-0 to Gain Split in Four Game Series

Ramon Ortiz tosses 6.2 shutout innings for third win; Steve Pearce supplies offense with 10^th HR

 Buffalo, NY – Steve Pearce’s 10^th home run of the season broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (26-22) picked up a 1-0 win in the series finale of a four game set vs. the Buffalo Bisons (28-22) at Coca-Cola Field on Sunday afternoon.

Starting pitchers Ramon Ortiz (WP, 3-3) of the Yankees and Chris Schwinden (LP, 3-4) of Buffalo each carried a shutout into the sixth inning.  Schwinden fell behind SWB lead off man Matt Antonelli 3-0 before striking him out for the first out of the inning.  With one down Pearce took a Schwinden offering over the wall in centerfield for his team leading 10^th homer of the season.  The solo shot gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead and as it turned out would be all the offense the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre would need.

Schwinden’s day ended after 5.2 innings of work, Ortiz pitched through the sixth and into the Bison seventh. Jordany Valdespin led off theBuffaloseventh with a single to left field. Lucas May failed to advance Valdespin to second with a foul out to catcher Francisco Cervelli on a sacrifice bunt attempt and he remained at first base with one down.  Valdespin tried moving into scoring position on his own with a steal of second base but was thrown out by Cervelli for the second out of the inning.  After an infield single by Michael Fisher, SWB went to the pen as Juan Cedeno got out of the seventh and recorded the first two outs in the eighth keeping the shutout in tact.

Kevin Whelan (SV, 12) came in replacing Cedeno with two out in the Bisons eighth inning and retired Josh Satin on a foul pop to first base to get the Yankees to the ninth still leading 1-0.  The IL leader in saves made it 12 for 12 on the season as he set down the Bisons in the ninth saving the game for Ortiz, who has won his last three starts and has allowed just two runs in his last 21.2 innings pitched.

The Yankees and Toledo Mud Hens open up a four game series at Frontier Field in Rochester on Monday afternoon with a 4:05 PM first pitch. Right hander Nelson Figueroa (2-1, 5.40) gets the start for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, while left hander Andy Oliver (3-3, 3.99) gets the start for Toledo.

-SWB YANKEES-

A cool looking fountain in downtown Buffalo, near the SWB Yankees team hotel

SWB YANKEES GAME NOTES  – May 27th vs. Buffalo

5-27 Notes

NOW YOU’RE JUST SOMEONE THAT I USED TO KNOW…
Ramon Ortiz makes his first career start on Sunday against the Buffalo Bisons.  Ortiz was briefly a Bison starting eight games for the NY Mets top affiliate in 2010.  Prior to his start this afternoon with the SWB Yankees, the only other time in his 17 year career that he would have had the chance to face Buffalo was later on in the 2010 season when he was with the Durham Bulls.  But Ortiz’s and the Bisons paths did not cross.

BACK IN THE MIX…
Colin Curtis is back in the Yankees starting lineup for Sunday’s wrap up game with Buffalo.  Curtis removed himself from Scranton/Willkes-Barre’s game on Saturday May 19th with a sore hip and had missed the last six team games.

WHERE ARE WE AGAIN?…
The Yankees return to Frontier Field for a quick four game series with Toledo (Mon-Thurs) before heading back on the road for 10 games in eight days, including two double headers with Norfolk (six games in four days) and a four game series at Durham before returning to Rochester for a four game series with Louisville (June 9th – 13th).

VOTE EARLY, VOTE OFTEN…
Fan voting for the Triple-A All-Star Game at Coca-Cola Field in Buffalo on July 11th is underway.  Voting can be done by fans on line at the SWB Yankees Website at www.swbyankees.com or at www.milb.com

PNC FIELD UPDATES…
Fans wanting to stay on top of the latest visuals from the construction site at PNC Field can go to the SWB Yankees website at www.swbyankees.com (the same one that is listed above) and can get both a live construction cam as well as a slide show of the demolition that has taken place to date.  If you’re into the Twtter thing, you can follow the demolition/construction by following the “official demolition and reconstruction Twitter account” @SWBBallpark ….Accept no substitutes.

STARTING LINEUPS – MAY 27th (*left hander | # switch hitter)

Buffalo Bisons (28-21)
#12 Corey Wimberly# – CF
#33 Fred Lewis* – LF
#2 Josh Satin – 1B
#17 Valentino Pascucci – DH
#7 Matt Tuiasosopo – RF
#1 Jordany Valdespin* – 2B
#26 Lucas May – C
#11 Michael Fisher# – 3B
#9 Omar Quintanilla* – SS
#38 Chris Schwinden – RHP

SWB Yankees (25-22)
#7 Kevin Russo – LF
#30 Matt Antonelli – 2B
#25 Steve Pearce – 1B
#29 Jack Cust* – DH
#8 Brandon Laird – 3B
#9 Colin Curtis* – CF
#3 Francisco Cervelli – C
#17 Cole Garner – RF
#19 Ramiro Pena# – SS
#35 Ramon Ortiz – RHP

Umpires: HP – Travis Carlson, 1B – David Rackley (CC), 2B – Mike Estabrook, 3B – Brad Myers
Forecast (from weather.com): Partly to mostly sunny with temperatures warming into the low to middle 80s. Winds light and variable

DATE: May 26, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Buffalo Spoils Yankees Comeback with 8-7 Win

After blowing six run lead, Bisons come from behind with two run eighth

Buffalo, NY – After trailing the Buffalo Bisons (28-21) heading to the fifth inning 6-0 on Saturday afternoon, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (25-22) battled back with five in the fifth and two in the seventh to take a 7-6 lead.  The Yankees could not complete what would have been their biggest come back of the season asBuffalo came from behind picking up two in the eighth inning for a come from behind 8-7 win.

The Bisons got to SWB starter D.J. Mitchell early scoring in each of their first three at bats. Buffaloscored five of their six runs against Mitchell on two out hits.  Valentino Pascucci’s two out RBI double in the first inning gave the Bisons a 1-0 lead. Buffaloadded four runs in the second inning, the first coming on Omar Quintanilla’s double to left scoring Dustin Martin who walked with two outs in the inning.  Following the second walk of the day to Bisons centerfielder Corey Wimberley, Fred Lewis hit a three run homer to right center to push the lead to 5-0.  Buffalo’s sixth run off Mitchell came in the third on a one out single from Matt Tuiasosopo, scoring Pascucci and the Bisons lead was 6-0.  It was the second consecutive start that Mitchell allowed six runs.

Garrett Olson kept the Yankees at bay for the first four innings of the afternoon before running into trouble in the fifth.  Scranton/Wilkes-Barre scored five runs in the fifth, matching a season high with six hits off Olson to close to within one run at 6-5.  Gustavo Molina led off the inning with his first homer of the season to get the Yankees on the board.  With one down and Ramiro Pena at first base following a single, Matt Antonelli hit the second SWB homer of the inning with a two run shot over the wall in left.  His first long ball with the Yankees moved the Yankees to within 6-3.  Two batters later with Steve Pearce on first base, Jack Cust hit his second homer of the series and first of two on the day to pull the Yankees to within 6-5.

Olson was done after five innings allowing 10 hits and five earned runs with no walks and five strikeouts.  After a scoreless sixth inning from Elvin Ramirez, the Bisons went to the bullpen for the second time on the game bringing in left hander Justin Hampson (WP, 3-1).  Cust’s first at bat facing Hampson resulted in his second homer of the afternoon.  The solo homer for the Yankees DH flew over the wall in left and tied the game at 6-6.  Thanks to some shaky Bisons defense, SWB would have the lead before the inning was over.  With two outs in the seventh, Dustin Martin dropped Brandon Laird’s fly ball to right for a two base error.  Laird would score on Cole Garner’s second hit of the day, an RBI single to center and the Yankees came all the back from 6-0 down to lead 7-6.

The lead was short lived as the Yankees bullpen blew just its second save of the year allowing two runs in the top of the eighth givingBuffalothe lead back at 8-7.  Manny Delcarmen (LP, 1-2) took over to begin the inning replacing Justin Thomas, who pitched a scoreless seventh taking over for Mitchell who was lifted after the sixth.  Delcarmen allowed the first two batters to reach on a single and a walk.  Tuiasosopo moved Josh Satin to third and Pascucci to second with a sacrifice bunt.  With second and third and one down, Jordany Valdespin tied the game at 7-7 with an RBI single to left field.  With Pascucci at third and Valdespin at first, Valdespin broke for second and got in a run down on the base paths staying alive in the run down long enough for Pascucci to score the eventual winning run.

The Yankees put the first two runners on in the ninth inning against Fernando Cabrera (SV, 10) before the right hander got out of the mess with a strikeout of Cust, a foul pop from Ronnier Mustelier and a strikeout of Laird to end the game.

The Yankees and Bisons wrap up the four game series at Coca-Cola Field inBuffaloon Sunday afternoon with a 1:05 PM first pitch. Right hander Ramon Ortiz (2-3, 3.86) gets the start for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, while righty Chris Schwinden (3-3, 2.72) gets the start for Buffalo.

-SWB YANKEES-

Upper deck view of Coca-Cola Field in Buffalo 

SWB YANKEES GAME NOTES – May 26th vs. Buffalo

5-26 SWB Yankees Game Notes

WHAT TIME DOES THIS 7:05 GAME START?…
Thanks to an alert camera operator from the Bisons TV staff, Friday night’s 7:05 PM first pitch actually happened at 7:05PM, on time as scheduled.  The Yankees had taken the field and Dellin Betances had finished his warm up pitches and was ready to pitch to Corey Wimberly at 7:03 PM, two minutes before first pitch.  Thanks to Friday being a televised game, the camera man informed home plate umpire Mike Estabrook that the broadcast was still in commercial and “could we wait” until the advertisements ran.  The Yankees radio broadcast was still in commercial as well…So, thanks! Anonymous camera guy for delaying the game just long enough.

BASEBALL THE WAY IT WAS INTENDED…
The Yankees begin a stretch of three consecutive day games on Saturday afternoon in the third game of a four game series against Buffalo.  Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and the Bisons will wrap up the four game series at 1:05 PM on Sunday afternoon.  The Yankees will then open a four game series in Rochester against the Toledo Mud Hens with a 4:05 PM first pitch on Memorial Day.  The four game series will wrap up on Thursday with a 12:05 PM start.

MAKE UP DATES MAKE FOR EXTENDED SERIES…
SWB will hit the road again for a 10 game eight-day trip to Norfolk and Durham beginning on June 1st.  Due to rain and snow in Batavia, New York earlier in the season, the Yankees and Tides will play six games in four days, including a pair of double headers at Harbor Park.  Monday, June 1st is  twin bill beginning at 6:15 PM with the third day of the series, Saturday, June 3rd, serving as the other double-header date with a 1:15 PM first pitch.

Hopefully the weather cooperates during the four game trip to Norfolk.  It seems like every year the Yankees have gone down to the Virginia shore there has been one day of heavy rain.  The last thing you want to see with six games in four days is a scene like the one at Harbor Park from the 2011 season.

HANGING AROUND….
The Yankees are beginning their 23rd consecutive day in fourth place in the International League North Division.  With a win on Friday over Buffalo and losses by both Pawtucket and Lehigh Valley, the Yankees picked up a game on all three teams in front of them in the standings.  Despite being a “second division” team for the last three weeks, SWB is only 3.5 games out of first place in the division and 2.0 behind Lehigh Valley in the Wild Card standings (with a lot of baseball yet to be played).

HELP FROM A PRESS ON…
Dellin Betances who has gone 3.2 innings, 4.2 innings and 2.0 innings in his last three starts is on the SWB pitching probables and will make his next start against Toledo on Wednesday night at Frontier Field.  Betances apparently tore part of a fingernail on his pitching hand in his start at Columbus on May 20th.  In between that appearance and his start Friday at Buffalo, the right hander made a visit to a nail salon and got an acrylic replacement put on and did not have any issues with the finger in his most recent outing.

WALKING OFF WITH A BIG FLY…
The Yankees walk off homer from Jack Cust in the bottom of the 10th inning on Friday night was the first walk off homer for the Yankees sinceJustin Maxwell’s walk off at PNC Field against Syracuse on April 25, 2011 in the bottom of the 13th inning.

STARTING LINEUPS – May 26th (* Left Hander | # Switch Hitter)
BUFFALO BISONS (27-21)
#12 Corey Wimberly# – CF
#33 Fred Lewis* – LF
#2 Josh Satin – 1B
#17 Valentino Pascucci – DH
#7 Matt Tuiasosopo – 3B
#1 Jordany Valdespin* – 2B
#48 Jean Luc Blaquiere – C
#32 Dustin Martin* – RF
#9 Omar Quintanilla* – SS

#47 Garrett Olson – LH

SWB YANKEES (25-21)
#7 Kevin Russo – CF
#30 Matt Antonelli – SS
#25 Steve Pearce – 1B
#29 Jack Cust* – DH
#2 Ronnier Mustelier – LF
#8 Brandon Laird – 3B
#17 Cole Garner – RF
#55 Gustavo Molina – C
#19 Ramiro Pena – 2B

#21  DJ Mitchell – RH

Umpires: HP – Brad Myers, 1B – Travis Carlson, 2B – David Rackley (CC), 3B – Mike Estabrook
Forecast: Partly to mostly sunny with temperatures steady near 79F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.

DATE: May 25, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Yankees Get a Walk Off Winner from Cust in 8-7 Victory over Bisons    

Mustelier’s two run shot in seventh ties game at 7-7, Cust homer in 10^th is the winning hit

Buffalo, NY – Whether the ball goes over the outfield fence by an inch or a mile, it still counts as a run. In the bottom of the tenth inning, Jack Cust crushed a solo home run just over the right field wall giving the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees an 8-7 win in walk-off fashion over the Buffalo Bisons.

Despite ultimately losing the game in extra innings, Josh Satin got things going in the first for the Bisons with an RBI infield single to shortstop. Later in the first, Matt Tuiasosopo drew a bases load walk allowing Fred Lewis to jog in from third. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre starter Dellin Betances then walked Jordany Valdespin allowing Satin to trot home.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre scored two runs in the bottom half of the first to get to within one run at 3-2. With one out in the inning, Jack Cust roped a two-RBI single for both of the Yankee runs in the inning.

Betances struggles continued in the second as Corey Wimberly scored from third on a wild pitch making it a 4-2 ball game after an inning and a half.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre tied the ball game at 4-4 with a two run second inning. Francisco Cervelli scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Ramiro Pena and Kevin Russo provided the second run with an RBI single to right field.

Tuiasosopo gave the Bisons a 5-4 lead with a sacrifice fly in the top half of the fifth. Buffalo extended its lead to 6-4 in the sixth. Brad Emaus reached on an error allowing Lucas May to score.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre got one back in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI line drive single off the bat of Cole Garner. However, Lewis made it a two-run game yet again with a solo blast over the left field wall making it a 7-5 game.

Ronnier Mustelier tied the game at 7-7 with a two-run homer to left field. It was Mustelier’s fourth homer of the year. Cust then won the game for the Yankees in the bottom of the tenth with a walk off homer to right field off of Buffalo Reliever Edgar Ramirez.

Kevin Whelan gets credit for the win improving to 2-0 on the season. He struck out one and walked one in just 1/3 of an inning. Ramirez suffered the loss for the Bisons as he went two innings allowing just one run on one hit. However, the run was the Cust walk off homer in the tenth.

The Yankees and Bisons play game three of a four game series at Coca-Cola Field in Buffalo, NY on Saturday at 1:05 PM. DJ Mitchell (4-1, 3.73) takes the hill for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, while Garrett Olson (1-3, 4.24) gets the nod for Buffalo.

-SWB YANKEES-

Highway sign a long fly ball away from home plate in Buffalo over the left center field wall, reminding you just how far north you are

SWB YANKEES GAME NOTES – Friday May 25th vs. Buffalo

5-25 Notes

ON THE MIC – SWB Yankees Infielder MATT ANTONELLI

WATCH LIVE AS WE BREAK STUFF…
The demolition of PNC Field is well underway as the $43.3 million renovation project to the home of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees continues at the base of Montage Mountain.  You can check out all of the progress of the demolition and (eventually) construction and you won’t need a hard hat and steel toed boots to do it.  Go to the SWB Yankees website at www.swbyankees.com and check out the live construtcion (and as of now demolition) cam for real time looks at the project.  You can also get a photo slide show of what has happened since the project got under way in late April. Links to both the “Construction Cam” and the “Demolition Slide Show” are below.

SWB YANKEES CONSTRUCTION CAM

SWB YANKEES DEMOLITION SLIDE SHOW

BACK IN THE STARTING MIX…
With Manny Banuelos on the disabled list retro to May 19th with a sore left elbow, right hander Nelson Figueroa is back in the Yankees starting rotation and is slated to get his first start in the Yankees series opening game on Monday at Frontier Field against Toledo in a 4:05 PM Memorial Day start.  With his 1.o inning of relief work in the series opener against Buffalo on Thursday, Figueroa has made six appearances with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season, three as a starting pitcher and three out of the bullpen.  As a starter, Figueroa is 1-1 with a 6.14 ERA in 14.0 IP.  He has allowed 21H, 13R, 12ER with 3BB, 6K’s and a .350 average against.  Coming out of the bullpen for the Yankees the right hander is 1-0, with a 3.86 ERA in 7.2 innings of work.  Allowing 6H, 3R, 3ER with 6BB, 5K’s and a .231 average against.

TRIPLE-A ALL-STAR VOTING BEGINS
Fan voting has begun for the 2012 Triple-A All-Star Game to be held at Coca-Cola Field in Buffalo, New York on July 11, 2012.  The three day event will feature the annual Home Run Derby as well as other events for fans to get a chance to see their favorites from the SWB Yankees as well as the rest of the International League and Pacific Coast League.  Fans can go online and vote for their favorite players at www.milb.com as well as on the both the International League and Pacific Coast League websites and any of the individual team website of the 30 Triple-A teams.  Vote early and often for your favorite SWB Yankees players at www.swbyankees.com   For more information regarding the voting prcedures and the all star game festivities itself you can check out the following  information released by Minor League Baseball earlier today  | SWB Yankees first baseman Steve Pearce (top five in the IL in eight different catagories) and closer Kevin Whelan (IL leader in saves and second in K’s per 9.0 IP) are two players who need the fans support and should be starters at their respective positions.

TRYING TO GET BACK IN THE FIRST DIVISION…
The Yankees are beginning their 22nd consecutive day in fourth place in the IL North but despite the “second tier” status within their own division are just 4.5 games behind the Pawtucket Red Sox for first place.  Overall this season the Yankees have spent 28 days in fourth place, 15 days in fifth, three days in sixth, three days in third place and two days in second place.

A LOT AND NOT QUITE AS MUCH
Adam Warren (four seasons), Dellin Betances (six seasons) and D.J. Mitchell (four seasons) who comprise the first three starters for the Yankees in the current four game series against the Bisons have a combined 14 years of professional baseball experience between the three of them.  The game four starter in the series Ramon Ortiz has 17 seasons by himself (including parts of 11 different seasons in the Major Leagues).  Add the fifth SWB starter Nelson Figueroa to the mix, and the three young guns for the Yankees fall short again with the second veteran starter for the Yankees, working on his 17th professional season as well.

SWB Yankees Hitting Coach Butch Wynegar tosses BP prior to Friday’s “home game” with Buffalo

STARTING LINEUPS – May 25th (* – Left Handed | # Switch Hitter)
Buffalo Bisons (27-20)
#12 Corey Wimberly# – CF
#33 Fred Lewis* – LF
#2 Josh Satin – 1B
#17 Valentino Pascucci – DH
#7 Matt Tuiasosopo – 3B
#1 Jordany Valdespin* – 2B
#26 Lucas May – C
#32 Dustin Martin* – RF
#9 Omar Quintanilla* – SS

#28 Jeurys Familia – RH

SWB Yankees (24-21)
#7 Kevin Russo – CF
#30 Matt Antonelli – 2B
#25 Steve Pearce – 3B
#29 Jack Cust* – DH
#2 Ronnier Mustelier – LF
#8 Brandon Laird – 1B
#3 Francisco Cervelli – C
#17 Cole Garner – RF
#19 Ramirio Pena – SS

#32 Dellin Betances – RH

Umpires: HP Brad Myers, 1B Travis Carlson, 3B David Rackley (CC)
Forecast from Weather.com: Mostly sunny. Windy early. Temperatures cooling into the mid to upper 60s. WSW winds shifting to WNW at 15 to 20 mph.

DATE:May 22, 2012 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Yankees Score Five in the First, Ortiz Handles the Rest    

Right hander tosses eight innings of two run ball as SWB picks up 6-2 win

Columbus, OH – Ramon Ortiz (WP, 2-3) gave himself an early birthday present on Tuesday afternoon tossing eight innings of two run baseball as theScranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (24-20) took three of four from the Columbus Clippers (21-24) with a 6-2 win in the series finale at Huntington Park.

Ortiz, who turns 39 years old on the Yankees off day on Wednesday, pitched like someone much younger as he turned in his longest start of the season against the Clippers who managed two runs on a pair of solo homers against him on the afternoon.  While the Columbus offense couldn’t generate much against the SWB right hander, the Yankees put up a crooked number early in the game for the second straight day.  After scoring six runs in the second inning on Monday night, the Yankees scored five in the top of the first on Tuesday and gave Ortiz a comfortable lead before he ever threw a pitch.

Kevin Russo led off the game for the Yankees with a double into the right field corner off Clippers starter Chris Seddon (LP, 4-3) extending his hit streak to season high eight straight games.  Steve Pearce singled Russo to third with one down for Ronnier Mustelier.  Mustelier got the run home with a sacrifice fly to left field and the Yankees led 1-0.  With two down, the next four hitters for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre would reach against Seddon who allowed his biggest inning of the season since allowing six in a game against Toledoon April 24^th.  Francisco Cervelli knocked in Pearce with an RBI single, and when Canzler misplayed the ball in left, Brandon Laird scored all the way from first and Cervelli ended up on third base and the Yankees led 3-0.  Cole Garner followed with an RBI single and Gustavo knocked in a run with a double off the wall in right center and SWB had a 5-0 lead.

Ortiz pitched aggressively with the lead allowing only a lead off homer to open the second by Jared Goedert and a one out homer in the sixth inning by Cord Phelps.  The right hander finished his day with 8.0 IP, allowing six hits and two runs with no walks and four strikeouts.  Ortiz won his second consecutive start on the road trip after a seven inning winning effort at Toledoon Thursday May 17^th.

After the opening inning in which the Yankees scored five runs and matched their season high with six hits in a single inning, Seddon settled down retiring 12 consecutive SWB hitters after Molina’s first inning RBI double.  He managed to get through the seventh, which was big forColumbus, after Monday’s starter Corey Klueber was knocked out in the top of the season inning by the Yankees.  Ramiro Pena added the sixth and final run for SWB with a single to right field scoring Cervelli who was hit by a Seddon pitch, went to second on a Garner sacrifice bunt and moved to third on Laird’s fly out to center.

Juan Cedeno added a scoreless inning for the Yankees in a non save situation walking two and striking out one Clippers hitter in the bottom of the ninth.

Following an off day at home on the road in Buffalo on Wednesday, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre opens a four game “home” series with Buffalo in its own stadium on Thursday night.  The four game series at Coca-Cola Field starts on Thursday night with a 7:05 PM first pitch. Right-hander Adam Warren (2-2, 4.98) takes the mound for the Yankees, while the Bisons counter with right hander Matt Harvey (4-2, 4.31).

-SWB YANKEES-