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Governors’ cup finals

September 16, 2009

Bulls trample Yankees

Durham takes 1-0 lead in best-of-5 championship

MIKE POTTER For The Times Leader

DURHAM, N.C. — Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s Romulo Sanchez pitched well enough to win a lot of baseball games Tuesday night.

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Durham Bulls starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson allowed just one run in 6 2-3 innings in Game 1 of the Governors’ Cup finals against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Photo courtesy The Herald-Sun

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Durham’s Joe Dillon is safe at second as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre shortstop Doug Bernier makes a play during the sixth inning of Tuesday night’s game.

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Jeremy Hellickson was even better.

Hellickson fired 6 2-3 innings of one-run baseball, leading the Durham Bulls to a 4-1 victory against the Yankees in Game 1 of the Governors’ Cup finals at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

“Give Hellickson credit,” said Yankees manager Dave Miley, trying to become the fifth IL skipper to lead his teams to three Governors’ Cup titles. “He pitched a great ball game. He got a lot of offensive help and a great job out of his bullpen.

“When you don’t win the first one on the road, and then you can go for the clich� and go for a split to go home with the series tied.”

Ian Kennedy will take the mound for SWB in Game 2. The right-hander had surgery to repair an aneurysm under his right arm in April and wasn’t expected to pitch competitively until the Arizona Fall League season.

The best-of-5 series is a rematch of last season’s final, which the Yankees won in four games. It is the fourth rematch in Governors’ Cup Finals history. The survivor advances to the Triple-A National Championship Game on Sept. 22 in Oklahoma City.

The Yankees, who have lost 14 players to callups to New York and other transactions since Sept. 1, had outfielder Freddy Guzman recalled to the big club Monday. To make room for Guzman on the 40-man roster Anthony Claggett was designated for assignment.

Sanchez lasted five-plus innings, allowing three runs on four hits with eight strikeouts and two walks. Hellickson allowed five hits, struck out six and walked one. The Bulls staked the right-hander to a 1-0 lead on a Sean Rodriguez RBI single in the first inning.

"I get nervous before almost every game, but I don’t feel a lot of pressure,” said Hellickson. “I don’t think anybody does. It’s just a game. … I knew if I just kept it 1-0, we’d put some runs up there sooner or later.”

John Rodriguez had two of SWB’s five hits with a home run and a single. Durham finished with six hits, including a pair with an RBI from Matt Joyce.

The Bulls got a run in the first as Henry Mateo drew a one-out walk and scored on Rodriguez’s two-out single to left. Durham added three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Mateo led off with a bunt up the third-base line, with Sanchez firing the ball past first base and down the right field line.

Mateo advanced to third with a hit, an error on Sanchez and a fielding error on right fielder Colin Curtis. Joe Dillon followed with an RBI single, prompting Miley to remove Sanchez from the game.

Matt Joyce continued the rally with a double to right off reliever Zach Kroenke, followed by a one-out intentional walk to Justin Ruggiano. With two out, Michel Hernandez stroked a two-run single to center to make it 4-0.

Rodriguez, who played in Durham last season, got the Yankees on the board in the seventh by blasting Hellickson’s two-out, 1-1 offering over the wall at the 375-foot mark in left-center.

“Hellickson threw well against us when we faced him before,” Yankees third baseman Kevin Russo said. “Now we’ve just got to come back tomorrow and play hard and see what happens.”