Manhattan Drops Series Finale with Lafayette

Jaspers Fall 8-0 in Sunday Affair

BRONX, NEW YORK, May 6- Looking for a non-conference sweep, the Manhattan baseball team struggled in their series finale with Lafayette, falling 8-0 at Kamine Stadium. The Jaspers (21-25) were held to just five hits as the Leopards (10-40) tacked on runs late to salvage the final game.

Lafayette jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning as Andrew Ruck tripled off starting pitcher Michael Martin to drive in Kevin Casey with one out. Martin then settled down, retiring the side in order in two of the next three innings. Unfortunately, his offense could not muster a tying run as the Jaspers only got four base runners in the first five innings.

Martin would find trouble again in the home half of the fifth. After Jackson Kramer laced a one out double to right, Andrew Santomauro walked putting two runners on. Then, Casey smashed a three-run homerun to left center to open up a four run lead. The Jasper southpaw hit the next batter but followed with consecutive pop-ups to end the inning. Jared Hirschberg would come on in relief in the sixth, striking out the side in order.

While the Leopards were putting up crooked numbers, pitcher Michael Massa was putting up zeros on the mound. He would begin by setting Manhattan down in order in the first before doing it again in the fifth, not allowing a runner past second for the first five frames.

The Jaspers biggest threat came in the top of the sixth as they loaded the bases with two outs. After Andrew Gorecki worked a one-out walk, Ramon Ortega would follow two batters later before Christian Santisteban was hit by a pitch. They would be unable to capitalize though as Brendan Slattery was called out on strikes to end the inning.

Lafayette tacked on another run in the seventh off Kevin Bonanni who walked Scott Kelleher with the bases loaded for a 5-0 advantage. Chris Liquori would come on with the bases juiced and just one out, inducing a double play ball to get out of the jam. The Leopards added two more in the eighth on a two run triple from Santomauro and an RBI single from Casey off Matt Jordan for the final margin.

Martin (1-5) got the loss for the Jaspers giving up four runs on four hits in five innings while striking out three. Massa (3-6) picked up the win going seven shutout innings, allowing just five hits to go along with three walks and three strike outs. Derek Gussaroff then came on in relief and tossed two perfect innings, striking out the final two batters of the game.

Senior Nick Camastro picked up one hit on the day, giving him 217 for his career placing him sixth all-time in program history. He is now two hits shy of tying Eric Nieto (2005-08).

To follow Manhattan Athletics on Twitter, go to twitter.com/GoJaspers or visit Manhattan's Facebook fan page.

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Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Searching for Answers

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Searching for Answers: Fire Destroys Shops, Injures 10 in Wakefield (Photos by David Greene) By David Greene BRONX, NEW YORK, May 6- Investigators continue to ...

Searching for Answers

Fire Destroys Shops, Injures 10 in Wakefield

(Photos by David Greene)

By David Greene

BRONX, NEW YORK, May 6- Investigators continue to sift through the ashes from a devastating fire that wiped-out an entire city block, leaving a row of stores and an apartment building in ash and rubble.

Officials say at least 11 shops were destroyed in the fire that broke out at just after 6 a.m. on May 2. The fire was officially under control by 9 a.m., but firefighters would battle pockets of fire that would flare up, for most of the day.

Destroyed was a cell phone and check cashing store, a deli, a laundromat and a mosque.

Fire officials say the 5-alarm fire started in a garage on E. 225 Street and quickly spread to the shops. The bustling White Plains Road and the overhead subway were shut as the billowing black smoke could be seen for miles on a clear spring day.

Officials say 200 firefighters battled the blaze, leaving 11 with minor injuries. An 11-year old girl was also treated for smoke inhalation.   

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Bronx News Sports: Yanks Drop 5-4 Contest to Oakland

Bronx News Sports: Yanks Drop 5-4 Contest to Oakland: First One Run Loss of Season By Howard Goldin BRONX, NEW YORK, May 6- The Yankees ended their most recent homestand on Sunday afternoon...

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Yanks Drop 5-4 Contest to Oakland

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Yanks Drop 5-4 Contest to Oakland: First One Run Loss of Season By Howard Goldin BRONX, NEW YORK, May 6- The Yankees ended their most recent homestand on Sunday afternoon ...

Yanks Drop 5-4 Contest to Oakland

First One Run Loss of Season

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, May 6- The Yankees ended their most recent homestand on Sunday afternoon with a 5-4 loss to the Oakland Athletics. The defeat was the first one run loss suffered by the Yankees this season. They were the last team in the majors to be defeated by one run in 2013.

After leaving the bases loaded in the first inning, the A’s pushed the first run of the contest across the plate in the third without benefit of a base hit. Lead-off batter Derek Norris walked. The next batter, Jed Lowrie, was hit by a pitch. A double play attempt went awry as second sacker Robinson Cano threw the ball by first base, allowing Norris to score.
Luke Montz, called up to the A’s on Wednesday, belted a 3-2 pitch by Andy Pettitte into the stands in left as the lead-off batter in the fourth. His first home run of the year gave Oakland a 2-1 advantage.

The Athletics put more distance between themselves and the Yanks by scoring two additional runs off Pettitte in the fifth. Lowrie, hitting .400 off Pettitte (4 for 10), was put on base for the third time of the game with a base on balls. Yoenis Céspedes followed with his fifth round tripper of the campaign.

Pettitte left the game after five innings. The lefty yielded four runs, three earned, four hits, three walks and a hit batsman. After the contest, Yankees manager Joe Girardi assessed Pettitte’s performance, “He didn’t have real good command of his fast ball. He threw a lot of pitches.” The veteran uncorked 100 pitches in his five inning stint.

The Yanks again knotted the score with three runs in the sixth. The key blows were a run batted in single by Ichiro Suzuki and a two run double by Lyle Overbay.

Preston Claiborne, 25, pitched an impressive two innings (sixth and seventh) in his MLB debut. He retired all six batters he faced. Girardi was full of praise for his work, “Had two very good innings, threw strikes, used all his pitches. He gave us a chance to tie the game.”
The last lead change won the contest for Oakland. The second batter of the eighth, Josh Donaldson, hit a 2-1 pitch off Boone Logan, who entered the game in that inning, into the left field seats to break the 4-4 tie.

Oakland closer Grant Balfour earned the save by pitching a scoreless ninth frame. It was his fifth save in five opportunities this year. He now has 23consecutive save conversions, a streak that began exactly one year before, May 5, 2012. Girardi commented upon Balfour and his bullpen mates, “They have a good bullpen, no doubt about it.”

MLB now takes an eight day hiatus from Yankee Stadium. After an off-day on Monday, the Yanks travel to Colorado for a three game series. They then play three games at Kansas City, followed by a double header at Cleveland on May 13. Oakland remains on the road with a four game series at Cleveland, which will be followed by three games at Seattle.
Injury report-Eduardo Nuñez was removed from the game with tightness in his left ribcage in the fifth inning. The report from his MRI was negative. According to Girardi the shortstop is day to day. He will not be replaced on the roster if the injury is short term. Girardi said, “If it is for a couple of days, we’re okay.”

Outstanding Hughes

Outstanding Performance by Phil Hughes Gives Yanks a 4-2 Win

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, May 5-Under a beautiful blue sky and temperature in the 60’s, the Yanks and the A’s met for the second game of a three game set at Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The great weather and the attractive contest drew a crowd of 41,349, the third largest Yankee Stadium attendance in 2013.

As happened in the previous game on Friday, the two starting pitchers, Phil Hughes of the Yankees and Bartolo Colón of the Athletics, entered into a fast moving pitchers’ duel. Each of the two scattered four hits in the first five frames. The Yanks took a 2-0 lead because two of their four hits were home runs.

Catcher Chris Stewart began the scoring with his second homer of the season leading off the second inning. The second run of the contest scored on a first pitch home run to right by Lyle Overbay that led-off the bottom of the fifth. For Overbay, who said, “It’s been a dream come true playing for the New York Yankees,” the home run was his fifth of the season.

The third run of the game began its life with a lead-off double by Robinson Cano in the sixth. The base hit was Cano’s 344th career double, tying him with Yankees icon Mickey Mantle for the eighth spot in the Yankees rankings. Cano crossed the plate after Colón’s final pitch was hit to center by Travis Hafner for a single.

Colón left the game after 5.1 innings after having given up three runs on only six hits. For the fifth of his six starts, the veteran did not walk a batter. The three runs were responsible for Colón’s first defeat of the year.

Hughes had his most impressive outing of the season. He hurled 8.0 innings for the first time since July 1, 2012. He allowed only three singles and one double while issuing bases on balls to two batters. Hughes tied his season high of nine strikeouts. He did not surrender a run and retired the last 10 batters he faced. The win was the first for Hughes since September 20, 2012.

Hughes threw a first pitch strike to 21 of the 26 batters he faced. After the game, he commented regarding that advantage, “Getting ahead of guys makes it easier to do what I wanted to do.” After not yielding more than two runs in each of his last four starts, he said, “I feel like I’m kind of clicking right now.”

Yankees manager Joe Girardi listed the three facets of Hughes’s performance that most pleased him, “The consistency of his pitches every inning, the eight strong innings [and] the strikeouts.”

The Yankees scored their final run of the game in the seventh on a triple by Eduardo Nuñez and a run batted in single by Brett Gardner.

Hughes’s attempt for a shutout was marred by two runs scored off Sean Kelley and Mariano Rivera in the ninth.

The rubber game of the series is scheduled for Sunday afternoon with veteran Andy Pettitte (3-2), coming off his worst start of the season, starting for the Yanks versus Dan Straily (1-0) of Oakland.