By MIKE PUMA
June 23, 2008
Joe Girardi wasn't ready to officially name Sidney Ponson a starting pitcher for Friday's split doubleheader against the Mets, but the veteran right-hander solidified his positioning with a respectable start for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Saturday.
Ponson threw 78 pitches over four innings against Toledo, allowing two runs (one unearned) on three hits with three walks. Girardi said Ponson, whom the Yankees signed as a free agent on Wednesday, was removed because he had not pitched in more than two weeks.
"He's one of the candidates [for Friday]," said Girardi, who added Alan Horne, Jeff Karstens and Kei Igawa also are under consideration for the start.
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Derek Jeter's hitting streak reached 11 games with a sixth-inning single and Alex Rodriguez extended his hitting streak to 10 games with an eighth-inning single. Rodriguez has hit safely in 21 of his last 23 games and is hitting .412 (35-for-85) over that stretch with seven homers.
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Andy Pettitte's scoreless streak of 19 innings is his longest since pitching 23 straight shutout innings for the Yankees from June 25 to July 16 of 1997. Pettitte has gone consecutive starts without allowing a run for the first time since Aug. 31 to Sept. 5 of 2005 with the Astros.
Pitching matchups for the Pittsburgh series - Darrell Rasner (4-4, 3.64 ERA) vs. LHP Tom Gorzelanny (5-6, 6.59); Joba Chamberlain (1-2, 2.36) vs. LHP Zach Duke (4-4, 3.91); Mike Mussina (10-5, 3.93) vs. LHP Paul Maholm (5-5, 4.41).
