10 INNINGS: Yankees 2 – Angels 1
ANAHEIM – With his back to the wall at the end of the Yankees’ dugout, David Wells put his left foot up on the bench and tried to stretch his cranky back during the eighth inning of last night’s Yankees-Angels game at Edison Field.
Wells had limited the Angels to one run through seven but his back was bothering him enough for the veteran lefty to grimace in discomfort. Or the wincing could have been the product of watching the Yankee hitters strand an ocean of base runners.
Thankfully for Wells, that frustrating habit ended when Nick Johnson stroked a run-scoring single to left off Troy Percival which lifted the Yankees to a 2-1 victory in 10 innings as 43,871 watched at Edison Field.
Johnson took a 95-mph heater the other way into left-center to score Bernie Williams from second and break a 1-1 tie. Percival created problems by walking Williams and Matsui on consecutive 3-2 pitches with one out.
The victory was the Yankees’ third straight and coupled with Boston’s 7-3 loss to Texas hiked the Yankees’ AL East lead to 3½ games.
Armando Benitez, who escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the eighth posted his first Yankee victory with 12/3 scoreless innings. Mariano Rivera recorded the final three outs for his 20th save.
In seven-plus innings Wells allowed one run and six hits. He was solid pitching in the clutch through seven when he faced nine batters with runners in scoring position and didn’t give up a hit. That was in line with the way Wells has pitched in the clutch all season since opposing hitters were batting .205 (24-for-117) with runners in scoring position against him.
David Eckstein’s leadoff single in the eighth was Wells’ final batter and Joe Torre brought in Jesse Orosco to face Darin Erstad, who bunted Eckstein to second. Torre had Orosco intentionally walk the left-handed hitting Garret Anderson and then brought in Benitez. Mike Scioscia countered with the right-handed hitting Jeff DaVanon and Benitez walked him with a borderline, 3-2 pitch that was clocked at 97 mph.
Would Benitez melt like he had so many times with the Orioles and Mets? Or would he instill confidence in his new mates? At 2-2, he fed pinch-hitter Scott Spiezio a 90-mph splitter that Spiezio flailed at and then needed one pitch to pop up Bengie Molina to leave the bases juiced and the score tied.
The Yankees averaged a walk an inning through the first eight frames but scored only once. Angels starter Aaron Sele issued five walks in six innings but was only hurt in the third when his leadoff pass to Dellucci resulted in a run. Sele, who is 5-10 against the Yankees, allowed three hits.
