12 INNINGS
Red Sox 3
Yankees 2
It was the first time in six tries the Yankees and Red Sox gave us a game worth watching. The previous five tilts provided less interest than a lease reading. But with Yankee Stadium packed yesterday and brilliant sunshine providing a perfect backdrop, the blood rivals reminded everyone why you can’t ignore these teams ever.
They needed three extra innings to decide the latest chapter in sports’ best rivalry that concluded with a 3-2 Red Sox victory in front of 55,195.
Manny Ramirez opened the 12th inning with a double off Paul Quantrill and moved to third on Jason Varitek’s grounder to the right side. With the infield in, Quantrill hit Kevin Millar with an 0-1 pitch. That put the Yankees’ infield at double-play depth with Mark Bellhorn at the plate. Bellhorn plated Ramirez with a fly to center.
Joe Torre described George Steinbrenner’s mood before Friday night’s embarrassing 11-2 loss as “supportive.” That changed yesterday morning when The Boss, speaking from Tampa, let people in the organization know there was nothing he could support off Friday night’s loss. And now that the Red Sox have taken five of six from the Yankees, Steinbrenner has to be seething.
The Red Sox went 0-for-19 with runners in scoring position yet still won. The Yankees collected four hits, three of which were singles in the seventh inning when the Yankees scored their second run.
Mariano Rivera loaded the bases with one out in the 11th via two walks and a hit batter. When his first pitch to Bill Mueller was high, Mel Stottlemyre visited the mound. Two pitches later Mueller popped to Derek Jeter. Rivera fell behind David Ortiz, 2-0, got it to 2-2, watched Ortiz foul a pitch off and swing through a high fastball to strand three.
Alex Rodriguez clubbed a solo homer – his third – in the fourth and made a diving stop to rob Millar of a run-producing extra-base hit in the third. Rodriguez added an infield single in the seventh and scored to tie the score, 2-2.
His leadoff walk in the ninth led to nothing when Gary Sheffield and Travis Lee didn’t come through with a runner in scoring position. With runners on first and third, two outs in the 10th and a 2-0 count on A-Rod, he was walked intentionally.
Kevin Brown held the Red Sox hitless in 13 at-bats with runners in scoring position through seven frames when the visitors stranded eight runners. In seven innings he gave up two runs (one earned) and four hits. His two throwing errors in the second led to an unearned run.
After A-Rod’s one-out homer in the fourth, Bronson Arroyo retired the next eight batters until A-Rod stopped the streak with an infield hit leading off the seventh. Jason Giambi lined a single to beat the shift. When Millar bobbled the ball, A-Rod raced to third to put runners at the corners with no outs for Gary Sheffield. It was the Yankees’ first at-bat with runners in scoring position since the first inning Friday night – a span of 14 innings. Sheffield came through with a solid single to left that scored A-Rod and tied the score, 2-2.
Red Sox manager Terry Francona replaced Arroyo with righty Scott Williamson after orre ran Bubba Crosby for Giambi at second. Jorge Posada’s grounder to the right side moved the runners up and when Williamson fell behind Lee, 3-0, Francona ordered the fourth ball be intentional.
Bernie Williams’ struggles continued when his broken-bat grounder to second started an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play. Williams’ average in the clutch fell to .143 (2-for-14).
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LUMBER SLUMBER
After 18 games, Yankee bats are still in the deep freeze.
Here’s a look at their big guns:
AB H HR RBI BB SO AVG.
Derek Jeter 76 14 0 5 6 12 .184
Alex Rodriguez 70 17 3 5 9 14 .243
Jason Giambi 50 11 3 7 16 7 .220
Gary Sheffield 64 17 1 10 11 6 .266
Bernie Williams 56 10 0 2 9 11 .179
