Pair star in Triple-A debuts for Yankees

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Two players making their Triple-A debuts played key roles as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees broke out of their scoring slump.

Chris Kunda was a defensive replacement and stroked a two-run double in his first at-bat, and Eladio Rodriguez was 1-for-3 and caught the entire game, as the Yankees withstood a valiant comeback try by the Buffalo Bisons to claim a 10-6 victory on Tuesday night.

The Yankees, who hadn’t scored more than three runs in seven of their previous eight games, erupted for six runs in the second inning against Buffalo starter Matt Ginter.

After Kunda’s double in the fourth made it 8-0, it seemed like the Yankees would cruise. But the Bisons charged back, eventually reducing the lead to 8-6 in the eighth inning.

They had two runners on, but Ben Francisco, the defending International League batting champ, struck out against Jose Veras.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre then chipped away for a pair of insurance runs without hitting a ball out of the infield in the ninth. Veras set down Buffalo in order to pick up his league-high ninth save.

“That’s the way it seems to be around here,” said Yankees manager Dave Miley. “I didn’t want to use six pitchers, but that was the only way we could close it out.”

Eric Duncan began the second-inning barrage with a two-run homer, his third of the season. Greg Porter added an RBI single, and Juan Miranda capped the rally with a three-run double off the glove of Buffalo outfielder Ben Francisco.

Kunda replaced Miranda in the third due to an injury, and got his memorable first at-bat in the fourth inning.

“I came here wanting to be ready when I got my chance,” said the 23-year old infielder, who played in five games with Single-A Tampa after starting the year in extended spring training. “It was nice to be able to contribute.”

Rodriguez found comfort in his debut, working with starting pitcher Dan Giese, who has become the sudden stopper in the Yankees’ starting rotation. Rodriguez last year was the co-MVP in the initial season of the Israeli Baseball League.

A 29-year-old whose last experience in the U.S. minor leagues was in 2004 as a pitcher in the Boston Red Sox organization, Rodriguez was signed by the New York Yankees last October and was stashed on the roster of short-season Staten Island before his promotion to Scranton on Monday.

“Our starting pitching was very strong,” Rodriguez said. “When the pitcher throws strikes, the catcher looks good.”

Giese (2-0) was quite effective despite giving up a pair of runs in the fifth inning. The two-run dent marked the first time this season he had yielded more than one run in any game and raised his earned run average this season to 1.35.

Miley was pleased not only with the win, but the progress of his two new players.

“They played well,” said Miley. “Rodriguez was fine behind the plate. I had never seen him play. Kunda’s double was the lead until we added a couple in the ninth. I’m happy the way they played.”

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