The Courier-News from Bridgewater, New Jersey • Page 17

CAMCnCET DATniATC rV 7 1 GAME TONIGHT Presented by RaritanCrDssing.com 08-252-0700 www.somerMtpatriots.com SATURDAY, JULY 3, 2010 FOR LIVE SPORTS SCORES AND STATS send a text message with TEAM NAME (e.g. Mets) or PLAYER NAME (e.g. Derek Jeter) to 446364 (4INFO). SECTION COURIER NEWS PORTS 1 1 Yanks7 pen blows game Burnett excels against old team Baseball as first, second careers BLOGGING BLUE JAYS 6, YANKEES 1 11 innings The Yankees' A.J. Burnett shut out the Blue Jays for 6Vs innings on Friday, but did not factor in the it Sfkt IV By CHAD JENNINGS GANNETT NEW YORK After a month of bad starts, the Yankees finally got a gem out of A.

J. Burnett on Friday. It was the rest of the team that fell apart. The Yankees' streaky offense gave Burnett the smallest of leads, but their shaky bullpen couldn't hold onto it, losing to the Blue Jays 6-1 in extra innings. "We kind of let him down," reliever Dave Rob- Jim Green follows the Yankees all year long in The Yankee Scrolls, at blogs.MyCentralJersey.

comyankees was more than the Yankees had scored in six of their previous seven games. "A.J. went out and pretty much dominated," Nick Swisher said. "To not be able to put up the runs See Yankees, Page B5 ertson said. Burnett's winless June started with a bad start in Toronto, but this time he shut out the Blue Jays through 623 innings.

He handed a 1-0 lead to setup man Joba Chamberlain, who gave up a two-out run that tied it in the eighth. In the 11th, Robertson and Chan Ho Park combined to allow five runs, which By MELISSA CHODAN STAFF WRITER BRIDGEWATER After 13 years of professional baseball, Rob Lukachyk knew he was in the twilight of his career. He knew injuries were catching up with him. He knew he loved baseball. But he did not know much else.

It turned out he didn't have to. PATRIOTS world CUP: Netherlands 2, Brazil 1 lira IE Second-half rally stuns Brazil in quarterfinals 7 4r -M Wit' 5 IT mining A career .267 hitter, the then-31-year-old asked the Somerset Patriots for a chance at an entry-level spot in the front office and 10 years later turned it into a second career. "Back then would I have told you that I planned on being here for 10 years? No," Lukachyk said. "I was a player that didn't know what I wanted to do and I found what I wanted to do. I was very lucky." Lukachyk started in sales before finding his niche in baseball operations.

He is currently an assistant general manager, bringing a player's perspective to the corporate side of baseball. "What gave me an edge at the time is I understood baseball, I lived it," Lukachyk said. "They thought it was going to be a good bridge from the front office to the players." When Lukachyk joined the front office, the Patriots were still in their infancy. They were trying to build a winning franchise and a tradition. "While we were just starting out and building the organization he gave us a lot of great feedback on what players liked," General Manager Patrick McVerry said.

"That gave us a lot of our foundation for success." Along with bringing baseball experience to the front office, Lukachyk learned there was much more to baseball than showing up ready to play. "As a player I never knew how much it took to put on a game or ballpark operations," Lukachyk said. "As a player you stroll in at 2 p.m., get ready, and think everything just happens. That's the biggest thing I learned, how much it takes to put on the show." Lukachyk's professional life was not the only thing that changed. In his last season of playing, Lukachyk met his wife, Arlene.

Arlene was employed by the Patriots and the two worked together when he joined the front-office staff. See Patriots, Page B5 BLOGGING Follow the Somerset Patriots throughout the year in Patriots' Pulse at blogs.MyCentralJersey. cornpatriots WrittfMs 4 A THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa Don't call the Dutch under-achievers anymore. Not after the way the Netherlands rallied to upset five-time champion Brazil, 2-1, in the World Cup quarterfinals Friday. After waking themselves up at halftime, the title that has eluded the Dutch for all these years is now just two wins away.

"For 45 minutes we went full-throttle," said Wesley Sneijder. "We were rewarded." One of the shortest players on the field, Sneijder put the Netherlands ahead in the 68th minute on a header a thrill so huge he ran to a TV camera, tapped the lens and stuck his face in for a close up. "It just slipped through from my bald head and it was a great feeling," Sneijder said. He was in the middle of the postgame party, too, as his teammates swarmed him when the final whistle blew. John Heitinga picked up Sneijder and slung him over his shoulder as Netherlands captain Giovanni van Bronck-horst, a Brazil shirt in hand, leaped up and rubbed Sneijd-er's closely shaved head.

The result was a case of role reversal for both sides. The top-ranked team in the world and one of the most impressive squads in the tournament until Friday, Brazil lost its composure after falling behind and defender Felipe Melo was ejected in the 73rd minute for stomping on the leg of Arjen Robben. The Dutch made the championship match in 1974 and '78, lost both, and rarely have lived up to their talent in other World Cups. They did this time, helped by an own goal off the head of unfortunate Felipe Melo that brought them into a 1-1 tie in the 53rd. See Dutch, Page B3 MORE ONLINE For more World Cup coverage, go to MyCentralJersey.com worldcup.

S. I III 7 US' -a 4 A av1 AP PHOTO The Netherlands' Arjen Robben (center) and Dirk Kuyt (top) celebrate their 2-1 win over Brazil with a team staff member after their World Cup quarterfinal game. (nicks set to meet with Stoudemire 650 CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED NBA Ffcm: them. When the Suns gave long-term deals to Chan-ning Frye and Hakim Warrick, it became clear that Stoudemire was on his way out of Phoenix. His agent, Happy Walters, confirmed that the Suns were no longer in the picture and said Stoudemire was going to New York this weekend to meet with the Knicks "but we're talking to other teams as well." Walters said no nfatter where Stoudemire signs, it will be for the maximum of five years and about $100 million.

The Knicks might be willing to spend that if they feel they'll fall short in pitches they made to James on Thursday, and Wade and Bosh on Friday. James received visits Friday from the Heat and Los Angeles Clippers. The Heat have also spoken to See NBA, Page B2 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Amare Stoudemire is out of Phoenix and headed to New York for a meeting. If the Knicks are willing to give him a maximum salary contract, a deal might not be far behind. Speaking of meetings, Dwyane Wade had a second one with the Chicago Bulls on Friday, perhaps a sign that his return to Miami isn't as guaranteed as oncethoughi." Paul Pierce agreed to 1 stick around in Boston and the Mavericks let Dirk No-witzki know how much they want him to remain in Dallas, but many of the leading names in this free agency class are still available.

Though the focus has been on LeBron James, Wade and Chris Bosh, Stoudemire njight be able to land big bucks before Family Of Dealerships.