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NEW YORK -- Mark Teixeira has provided consistent power for weeks. http://www.nfljetsus.com/Womens-Dexter-McDougle-Authentic-Jersey/ . The rest of the New York Yankees joined in Saturday. Teixeira hit a two-run homer, Zoilo Almonte connected in his first start of the season and New York went deep five times for a 7-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was the second time since 2011 that five Yankees players homered in one game. "It was nice to see," manager Joe Girardi said. "Our team is built for this park." Brett Gardner and Alfonso Soriano also homered off a struggling Edinson Volquez to back five scoreless innings from David Phelps (1-0). Brian McCann added a two-run drive in the eighth against reliever Vin Mazzaro as New York won for only the second time in eight home games. Coming off consecutive road shutouts against the crosstown rival Mets, the Yankees took their third straight following a four-game slide. "We had a very good game overall," Soriano said. "Thats what we expect." Starling Marte homered and had three hits in his return to the starting lineup for the Pirates, winless at Yankee Stadium since Harvey Haddix pitched them to a 5-2 victory in Game 5 of the 1960 World Series. Volquez (1-4) gave up six hits -- four homers -- and no walks in 6 1-3 innings, dropping to 0-4 in his last five starts. Teixeira connected on a 1-2 pitch following Derek Jeters single in the first for his eighth home run in his last 17 games. It was the 350th of his career, tying Chili Davis for sixth place among switch-hitters. Almonte sent Volquezs first pitch of the third into the raised bleachers in right-centre for his second major league homer. Called up from the minors Tuesday, Almonte was a late addition to the lineup when centre fielder Jacoby Ellsbury was scratched with flu-like symptoms. Gardner homered leading off the sixth and Soriano did the same in the seventh. "They are great hitters and I made a lot of mistakes," Volquez said. "You cannot make a lot of mistakes in this ballpark." After a rainout Friday night, 47,353 fans turned out on a beautiful afternoon for the Pirates first visit to the current Yankee Stadium. They went 0-6 in interleague games at the old place, swept in a June 2005 series and again two years later. Phelps pitched out of early trouble to earn his first win as a starter since July 4, 2013, at Minnesota. After beginning the season in the bullpen, the right-hander was making his third start since replacing injured Michael Pineda in the rotation. "At the end of the day it was five zeros and Ill take that," he said. "You dont want to grind every time out, but its one thing that Ive kind of done this year. I havent really had my best stuff yet." Phelps got some help from the overaggressive Pirates, who ran into three outs on the bases. "We were pushing guys out there," manager Clint Hurdle said. "Those are the chances you want to take when youre not getting those big hits with runners in scoring position, try to push yourself across the plate or get yourself in scoring position." Dellin Betances tossed two innings in relief before Adam Warren and Matt Daley finished up. Phelps is 3-0 with a 1.08 ERA in his last three starts at Yankee Stadium. "He made pitches when he had to," Girardi said. "There were some good plays." Pirates bopper Pedro Alvarez, who grew up a few miles from Yankee Stadium, went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in his first game against the Yankees. He left about a dozen tickets for family and friends and was expecting his father to be in the crowd. Two calls were overturned on replay challenges, one in favour of each team. Both plays involved tags by Jeter at second base. "We won with the home run today, which were capable of doing," Teixeira said. "We have to score a little bit more and I think the last few games our pitching has really picked us up. So its good to see us break out today." NOTES: Marte (lower back tightness) made his first start in a week. ... 1B Ike Davis, traded by the Mets last month, went 0 for 3 with a walk and three strikeouts in his return to New York. ... Girardi said he would be "kind of shocked" if LHP CC Sabathia (right knee) is able to return after only 15 days on the disabled list. "We dont know when hes coming back," Girardi said. ... Pineda (shoulder muscle) is scheduled to throw 25 pitches on the side Sunday. ... Ichiro Suzuki (back) entered in RF in the ninth and is likely to play in the traditional doubleheader Sunday -- the first single-admission twinbill at Yankee Stadium since 2004. ... RHP Hiroki Kuroda chose to start the opener Sunday against Pirates RHP Charlie Morton. LHP Vidal Nuno will pitch the second game against RHP Gerrit Cole, who spurned the Yankees to attend UCLA after they drafted him out of high school. Eric Decker Blue Jersey . -- When Roberto Luongo learned he wouldnt be starting the Heritage Classic, the disappointed goaltender asked agent Pat Brisson to call Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis just to get a read on his future. Eric Decker Youth Jersey . Associate coach Rick Bowness confirmed after the morning skate the Canucks would go with the same defence pairings against the Dallas Stars as they did during their 1-0 win over Colorado on Wednesday night.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Kerry, Thanks for the blog, always a great read. I was just wondering about the something that happened in the Leafs/Canes game. So in the second period, Paul Ranger and Alex Semin took minors at the same stoppage. The game then went to 4-on-4, until Dion Phaneuf took a hooking penalty. This made it 4-on-3 for the Canes, which they proceeded to score on and Phaneuf came out of the box. My question is why did Phaneuf come out of the box instead of Ranger? And why does the NHL go to 4-on-4 instead of keeping it 5 on 5 and having the players wait for a whistle? Thanks again, look forward to continuing to read your blog. Thanks,Alex Gane Hey Alex: I hope everyone celebrated a wonderful Christmas with family and friends. CMon Ref is thrilled to return after a break for the holiday week. Thanks also to those that visited me @kfraserthecall on twitter with your questions from games during that period! The answer to your specific question Alex is found in Rule 19 (coincidental penalties) which states, "When one minor penalty is assessed to one player of each team at the same stoppage in play, these penalties will be served without substitution provided there are no other penalties in effect and visible on the penalty clocks. Both teams will therefore play four skaters against four skaters for the duration of the minor penalties." In your example, one minor penalty was assessed to one player of each team (Paul Ranger of the Leafs and Alex Semin of the Hurricanes) with no other previous penalties visible on the time clock. Semin and Rangers minor penalty times were therefore placed on the clock and served as per the rule. It is important to note the while the teams play 4 on 4 as a result of the one minor penalty to each player at the same stoppage it does not create a short-handed situation. From Rule 16, short-handed means that the team must be below the numerical strength of its opponent on the ice at the time the goal was scored. The minor or bench minor penalty which terminates is the one with the least amount of time on the clock. Eric Decker Authentic Jersey. Thus coincident minor penalties to both Teams do not cause either side to be "short-handed." The formula used to determine minor penalty expiration when goals are scored against a short-handed team is as follows: i) Is the team scored against short-handed? ii) Is the team scored against serving a minor penalty on the clock? If both criteria are satisfied, the minor penalty with the least amount of time on the clock shall terminate except when coincidental penalties are being served. The penalty that caused the Leafs to become short-handed was the subsequent minor penalty assessed to Dion Phaneuf. Once the Canes power-play goal was scored the Leafs were entitled to relief by virtue of Phaneufs minor penalty. Why does the NHL not treat the minor penalties to Paul Ranger and Alex Semin as coincidental and play 5 on 5 you ask? The coincidental minor penalty rule has in fact changed back a forth since the mid 1980s. The Edmonton Oiler young guns led by Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and the cast of future Hall of Fame players were primarily responsible for the initial change from minor penalties being served (4 on 4 hockey) to being treated as coincidental (5-on-5). In late stages of a game with the score either tied or close, a huge advantage resulted for the skilled Oiler players when more ice space was created by a 4 on 4 situation. No one recognized this more than Oiler coach Glen Sather. One of his players would intelligently initiate an altercation or scrum with an opponent where punches were exchanged and a minor penalty to each player was assessed by the referee. The Oiler stars were even more difficult to contain with the extra ice afforded them which often resulted in the scoring of a goal. Eventually the rule was changed to its present form. We also see the entertaining benefits derived from 4 on 4 hockey during overtime in the regular season. Referees have also been instructed to penalize the instigator or aggressor in a scrum wherever possible to act as a deterrent. ' ' ' |
