pre-seasons then struggle through the regular

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MINNEAPOLIS -- Vernon Wells drove in three runs, and the New York Yankees pounded rookie Kyle Gibson and the Minnesota Twins 9-5 on Thursday to finish a four-game sweep. Travis Hafner had three hits and scored twice, and Ichiro Suzuki had a two-run triple among his three hits for the Yankees, who scored 29 runs in the series. The Yankees didnt even need their usual super-sized contribution from Robinson Cano, whose streak of six straight multihit games ended without reaching base. He still batted .500 on this seven-game road trip with 11 RBIs. Justin Morneau homered twice for the Twins, one-third of his season total. But Gibson (1-1) gave up 11 hits, a walk, a hit by pitch and eight runs in 5 1-3 innings with two strikeouts in his second start. David Phelps (6-5) surrendered Morneaus first homer and three more runs in the seventh, when he left with one out. RBI singles by Pedro Florimon and Brian Dozier and a sacrifice fly by Joe Mauer helped the Twins catch up in that inning, and Morneau went deep again in the eighth. Phelps gave up eight hits and four runs, but he struck out five without a walk. Zoilo Almonte and Alberto Gonzalez also drove in runs for the Yankees. Phelps had a decent June until his final start of the month, when Baltimore beat him up for a season-most nine runs in 2 1-3 innings last Saturday. Swept by the Orioles in that series, the banged-up Yankees brought a five-game losing streak to Target Field, where their woes were quickly forgotten against their longtime punching bag. Since the start of 2002, including the post-season, the Yankees are 71-23 against Minnesota. Gibsons debut last weekend matched the anticipation of the 2009 first-round draft pick built up in the fan base, a winning performance with six sharp innings and two runs allowed. This time, he was behind 3-0 after just his 17th pitch. The first five batters produced two singles, two doubles and a soaring sacrifice fly by Cano that Oswaldo Arcia caught at the wall in left field. The next batter, Wells, hit a two-run single. The game, though, was essentially decided in the third inning. Gibson hit Hafner with a pitch and let him move up on a wild pitch. Then Wells sneaked a low-arc pop-up in the space between Arcia and the infield, just right for Hafner to score, Arcia to miss a sliding catch by a few inches and Wells to get a double. Luis Cruz followed with an RBI single, his first hit for the Yankees, to stretch the lead to 5-0. Then in the bottom of the inning, the Twins found more bad breaks indicative of a slumping team. After consecutive singles to start for the Twins, Brian Doziers bunt rolled perfectly down the third-base line where no play was possible. But it strayed a bit too far, across the chalk, and Dozier was summoned back to the box. Then he grounded into a double play, thanks to a slick running pickup and same-motion, sidearm toss by the shortstop Cruz to Cano at second base to start the process. Mauer struck out looking next on a pitch the catcher believed was low, in disagreement with home plate umpire Ed Hickox. Mauer was called out on strikes in his next at-bat, too, and he had more words for Hickox on his way back to the dugout. With Josh Willingham out until August, the Twins are even thinner in the middle of their order. So manager Ron Gardenhire stuck Arcia, an emerging candidate for the Rookie of the Year award, in the third spot and moved Mauer back in the No. 2 slot. "Put him in there and let him hack," Gardenhire said. The Twins have lost 10 of their last 13 games. NOTES: Noted Yankees birthdays on July 4: late owner George Steinbrenner and radio announcer John Sterling. ... Arcia popped out to shortstop in the first inning, breaking his bat so badly that the barrel flew toward first base and landed upright in the grass by the cut-out with the jagged edge working like a tent stake. ... The Yankees have moved SS Eduardo Nunez up to Double-A Trenton in his rehab assignment. Manager Joe Girardi said Nunezs return to the team is possible before the All-Star break. ... The Yankees start a 10-game homestand on Friday, beginning with Baltimore. RHP Ivan Nova (2-2, 4.63 ERA), in place of Hiroki Kuroda, will take the mound. RHP Miguel Gonzalez (6-3, 3.77 ERA) will pitch for the Orioles. ... The Twins begin a 10-game road trip on Friday, continuing their grind through the AL East. RHP Kevin Correia (6-5, 4.08 ERA) will start in Toronto, with LHP Mark Buehrle (4-5, 4.81 ERA) taking the mound for the Blue Jays. Tim Hardaway Jersey . With the win, the Marlies complete a three-game series sweep of the Admirals and move on to the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs. T.J. Brennan added an empty netter with less than 25 seconds remaining for his second of the playoffs. Omri Casspi Jersey . To get things started, heres a little photo tour to get you acquainted with all the main characters. http://www.nbawarriorsauthority.com/and ... rsey-c-10/. Dancevic won his singles match on Friday, defeating Go Soeda 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-1, to even the best-of-five series at a game apiece. World No. 18 Kei Nishikori defeated Peter Polansky in the opening match, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Kevon Looney Jersey . Still, Milan remained five points behind city rival Inter Milan in the race for fifth place and the final Europa League berth, after Inter beat 10-man Parma 2-0. Meanwhile, Paul Pogba led the way as Juventus stayed on course for a third consecutive title with a 1-0 win over relegation-threatened Bologna. Latrell Sprewell Jersey . That time around, the cage is as much a part of baseballs daily routine as a beer and a hotdog is to a fan in the stands. Coaches, scouts, broadcasters and other media hover, tossing verbal barbs, telling stories and sharing laughs. Occasionally, especially in spring when the atmosphere is relatively laid back, the list of invited guests expands and on this day, Gibbons welcomed two men strongly influential in his life.SASKATOON -- The Boston Bruins blanked the Winnipeg Jets 5-0 on Friday, in the final pre-season game for both teams. This was Bostons second victory over the Jets in as many nights, following a 3-2 win at Winnipeg. The Bruins pulled off to an early lead, scoring twice in the opening six minutes. Bruins coach Claude Julien said he will likely settle his roster by Monday, and wont let his team get too comfortable despite a few early wins. "Im not putting too much stock in that," he said. "Ive seen teams have great pre-seasons then struggle through the regular season." Carl Soderberg scored 26 seconds in, helped by some slick passing from line mates Chris Kelly and Reilly Smith. This was followed by Johnny Boychuk, who put one past Winnipeg netminder Al Montoya glove side from inside the blue line at 5:46. Winnipeg struggled to generate any offensive momentum, registering only four shots in the second period and three in the third. Jordan Caron racked up the Bruins third goal of the night 13 minutes into the second, assisted by Nick Johnson, during a scramble that caught Jets goalie Montoya briefly behind his net. Nick Johnson made it 4-0 midway through the third period with a high slapshot from the blue line, with assists from Boychuk and Matt Bartkowski. Patrice Bergeron put away a demoralizing fifth goal for Boston at 17:19.dddddddddddd Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said hes proud the team pulled away early, then played solid defence. "We took a lot of pride in our last pre-season game," he said. "We hit it hard and got a good team effort." Some 12,500 of the 15,190 seats at Saskatoons Credit Union Centre were filled, with the crowd cheering overwhelmingly for Boston. Jets assistant captain Mark Stuart said his team didnt give the effort required, and isnt feeling too positive heading into the regular season. "There were just a lot of breakdowns," he said. "Well be watching a lot of tape." Boston showed lots of offensive zing, seeming to have suffered little from the departure of longtime scoring stalwart Jaromir Jagr. He joined the New Jersey Devils on a one-year contract during the off-season. Chara and longtime Calgary Flames star Jarome Iginla displayed some good chemistry on the power play, setting up multiple scoring chances but failing to produce a goal this game. Iginla said hes meshing well with new teammates. "There are a lot of different tools and a lot of guys who can pound the puck," he said. "Nobody shoots harder than Chara, period." Tuukka Rask made 20 saves for the shutout. 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