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Pittston council OKs deal to separate stormwater, sewage lines

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Friend says Trump is considering ‘terminating’ Mueller

<p>While it&#8217;s unknown how long Ben Heller&#8217;s stay in New York will be, the reliever adds some intrigue to the Yankees bullpen nonetheless.</p><p>Heller, who was called up by the Yankees Sunday night, has a fastball-slider combination that has given opponents fits at times this season and could be what extends the right-hander&#8217;s stay with the Yankees more than a day or two.</p><p>&#8220;Throwing it for a strike early in the count and then burying it late in the count,&#8221; Heller said of his slider on May 17. &#8220;I think if I can do that along with my good, hard fastball. To me, that&#8217;s when I&#8217;m going to be at my best. Just continuing to try to do that every outing and just be consistent with it.&#8221;</p><p>Looking back at Heller&#8217;s recent appearances, there&#8217;s been a difference in the way the reliever has pitched. And it stems back to mid May, the last time Heller gave up an earned run.</p><p>The 25-year-old entered that matchup against Pawtucket in the eighth inning, relieving RailRiders starter Luis Cessa. In a tie game, Heller let up a pair of runs, on a Ryan Court RBI single and Matt Dominguez RBI fielder&#8217;s choice, before settling down and retiring the next two batters to end the inning.</p><p>Heller came back out to pitch in the ninth after the RailRiders scored three runs to give him a 9-8 lead. The righty pitched in to trouble again before striking out two of Pawtucket&#8217;s best hitters in Sam Travis and Steve Selsky to end the game.</p><p>By pitching out of trouble to record the win, Heller found something that&#8217;s propelled him to his current 10.1-inning shutout streak. He&#8217;s struck out 13 batters over the stretch.</p><p>&#8220;I think more than anything, I was happy with the sliders I threw in that last inning and kind of the intensity as a whole,&#8221; Heller said. &#8220;I think in the first inning I was trying to be a little too fine and picking at the strike zone. Then the second inning, I was like, &#8216;That&#8217;s not me.&#8217; I just need to go out there and let it eat. Attack the strike zone with both my fastball and slider, and that&#8217;s what I did. Going forward I think that&#8217;s going to be the mentality that helps me.&#8221;</p><p>While Heller has had his fair share of trouble this season &#8212; sporting a 6.00 ERA after April &#8212; the former Cleveland Indians prospect has turned things around of late. He&#8217;s found control of his slider and has been able to pitching it with a harder bite.</p><p>Heller credits the help of Yankees minor league pitching coordinator Scott Aldred on the improvement of his slider.</p><p>&#8220;Early in the season and in spring training I was just messing around with it and it kind of got away from me,&#8221; Heller said. &#8220;I&#8217;m trying now really to just not worry about trying to make it do too much and just throw it in the way it feels natural. That&#8217;s kind of where I got it in the ninth inning I felt it was as sharp as it was last year and that&#8217;s where I&#8217;m at my best.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Reliever Ben Heller was called up by the New York Yankees for the first time since Aug. 23, 2016 on Sunday. Sean McKeag | Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_TTL050617Railriders1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Reliever Ben Heller was called up by the New York Yankees for the first time since Aug. 23, 2016 on Sunday. Sean McKeag | Times Leader</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By DJ Eberle</p><p>djeberle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach DJ Eberle at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @ByDJEberle</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Ben Heller offers Yankees options out of the bullpen