Orioles 4
Yankees 3
It was a game the Yankees seemed to have lost, then salvaged and eventually lost again. And when Mike Bordick’s hooking ninth-inning RBI double landed right on the left-field line, closer Mariano Rivera could only wave foul on the mound. The word could be used to describe the Bombers’ performance for much of the night, a 4-3 loss to lowly Baltimore.
Perhaps the Yankees were still hung over from their emotional series with arch-rival Boston. Or maybe all those home runs have just been Fool’s Gold. Whatever the case, they looked lackluster and lethargic for seven innings last night, trailing 3-1 until scoring two in the eighth, before giving up the winning run in the ninth.
Dropping a series to Boston was one thing, and the Yankees told themselves the Red Sox are just a great team. But against a team they usually handle and a closer that almost never fails, they came away with a defeat. Detroit’s 7-6 win over Boston leaves the Yankees five games back in the loss column in the AL East race.
The near-infallible Rivera (1-2) came on to pitch the ninth inning of a 3-3 tie, a game the Yankees thought they’d pulled out. Baltimore right fielder Gary Matthews Jr. stroked a one-out single in the top of the ninth, and after Rivera fanned Geronimo Gil, Matthews stole second. And when Bordick doubled to left, the win was for the Birds.
Roger Clemens had been dominant for seven innings, with two runs allowed and 13 strikeouts to match his career-high as a Yankee. But the team that leads the world in home runs couldn’t muster any offense, shy of Nick Johnson’s upper-deck solo blast in the fifth, until Clemens had left the game.
Unimposing Sidney Ponson – who had been just 2-5 with a 5.10 career ERA against the Yankees, and hadn’t beaten them since 1998 – held them at bay for most of the night in front of 31,476 fans at the Stadium. The Os, who’d lost 22 of their last 31 here, survived a great outing by Clemens and a terrific comeback by the Bombers.
Clemens issued a one-out, full-count walk to designated hitter Jay Gibbons, and then surrendered a double down the left-field line to third baseman Tony Batista. Clemens fell behind Matthews Jr. 3-0, and when he tried to intentionally walk him, he uncorked a wild pitch over Jorge Posada’s head to let Gibbons score from third. But he kept the Yankees within striking distance until Johnson’s bombed knotted the score.
But despite the way Clemens’ fastball was popping, Baltimore scraped out another run to quickly reclaim the lead in the sixth. Brian Roberts led off with a single, stole second and third even as Clemens was striking out center fielder Chris Singleton and Jeff Conine. And when Gibbons beat out Alfonso Soriano’s throw for an infield hit, the Os led 2-1.
Clemens was trying to match teammate Mike Mussina with an AL-leading eight wins. Since getting shelled in Toronto April 11 while making an emergency start on three day’s rest, he’d been 6-0 with a 2.76 ERA in his nine starts prior to last night’s no-decision and was as dominant last night as he has been in any of the nine.
Singleton added an RBI single in the eighth off Yank reliever Steve Karsay, and it proved pivotal. The Yankees got a run back in the bottom of the inning when Johnson led off with a single to left and Soriano followed with a double to left that Melvin Mora misplayed allowing Johnson to come all the way around to score.
After Derek Jeter walked, reliever Willis Roberts came in and walked Bernie Williams on four pitches to load the bases with nobody out for Jason Giambi. B.J. Ryan came into that mess and fanned Giambi, and gave way to Jorge Julio. Julio, after giving up a game-tying sac fly to Posada, got Enrique Wilson to fly out to right. Bordick’s ninth-inning double gave him the win.
