Boston’s Consolation Prize Is End of Jeter’s Streak
September 18, 2006
Red Sox 6, Yankees 3 Red Sox 5, Yankees 4
Boston’s Consolation Prize Is End of Jeter’s Streak
By TYLER KEPNER
The Boston Red Sox never recovered from a five-game sweep by the Yankees at Fenway Park in August. The Yankees’ lead was too wide, and the Red Sox’ luck was too bad. But if this is the month for moral victories, the Red Sox scored one at Yankee Stadium this weekend.
The Yankees could have eliminated Boston from the playoff race by winning three of four games over the last two days. Instead, it was the Red Sox who took three of four, including both games yesterday.
In the process, they put an end to Derek Jeter’s 25-game hitting streak, the longest by a Yankee in 64 years. In his fourth and final at-bat last night, Jeter swung at a 3-0 pitch for the first time since 2002, grounding out to first in the seventh inning to finish 0 for 4.
The Red Sox scored twice with Mike Myers pitching to tie the score in the top of the eighth last night. In the bottom of the inning, Coco Crisp stretched his glove over the center-field wall to pull back a two-run homer by Jorge Posada.
Mark Loretta’s sacrifice fly off Kyle Farnsworth put the Red Sox ahead to stay in the ninth, and they held on for a 5-4 victory. The Red Sox won the opener, 6-3, and avoided the indignity of watching the Yankees celebrate by beating them.
“We have work to do,” Manager Joe Torre said. “We still have to win a couple of ballgames and get this thing settled. But this isn’t going to linger.”
Jeter was on deck when Mike Timlin, who saved both games, retired Melky Cabrera on a fly ball to left to end the doubleheader with a runner on first.
With one out and a runner on second in the seventh, Jeter took three balls from reliever Craig Hansen. According to Stats, Inc., Jeter had taken 3-0 pitches 118 times in a row from the start of the 2003 season until last night.
This time, Jeter swung and grounded out to first base. In his other at-bats, he grounded to the pitcher, flied to right and reached on an obvious throwing error by shortstop Dustin Pedroia.
Jeter’s hitting streak was the Yankees’ longest since Joe Gordon hit safely in 29 consecutive games in 1942. Torre said he told Jeter to swing on 3-0 but was not trying to preserve the streak.
“I wanted him to swing on 3-0 because I trust him as much as anybody with runners in scoring position,” Torre said. “It had nothing to do with the hitting streak, either. It’s a matter of knocking in a run. He’s had the ‘hit’ on 3-0 before, but he didn’t have pitches to swing at.”
Jeter said Torre had given him the green light against Hansen on Saturday. “If he wants you to swing, he’ll let you swing 3-0,” Jeter said of Torre.
The Yankees now head to Toronto for a three-game series starting tonight. Any combination of three Yankees victories and Blue Jays losses will eliminate Toronto. Any combination of four Yankees victories and Red Sox losses will eliminate Boston.
Despite the losses, the Yankees upheld a tradition of rookie hazing. As they dressed for the flight to Canada, the rookies slipped into costumes mimicking the principal owner George Steinbrenner: blue blazer, white turtleneck, gray wig, dark sunglasses.
“All I want to know is, where’s my golf cart to the bus?” reliever T. J. Beam said.
Cabrera, the left fielder, was another costumed rookie. He was the only Yankee to start all four games of the doubleheaders, and he is in an awkward spot as the playoffs approach. Torre has said Hideki Matsui will return to left field during the final homestand, and Gary Sheffield is expected to play on the road this week.
Where does that leave Cabrera? Or, for that matter, the veteran Bernie Williams, baseball’s career postseason leader in runs, homers and runs batted in?
“We don’t have any egos here,” Johnny Damon said. “Hopefully, everybody gets hot at the same time and gives Joe a tough decision. But we’ll find a way. Melky will definitely play. Bernie will definitely be playing. It’s a great situation Joe’s in.”
Cabrera made a lunging, snow-cone catch of a blooper by Eric Hinske in the first game, and Damon praised his arm and range. Matsui is an earnest defender, but Cabrera is more skilled. Torre seems inclined to use him at least as a defensive replacement in October.
“Melky will be valuable, whether it’s going out there to pick Matsui up or whether he plays and we do something else with Matsui,” Torre said. “We’ve got to see how much Sheffield is going to be involved in the whole thing.”
Torre said Cabrera had given the Yankees far more than they expected, adding, “If he doesn’t start in the playoffs, it’s certainly not a failure in any way.”
Another issue for the Yankees is the status of reliever Ron Villone, who allowed four runs in the seventh inning to lose the first game.
Torre leaned heavily on Villone around midseason, but backed off this month after Villone’s performance suffered. Villone had pitched only once in 11 days before Saturday, and he said he is physically fine.
“I already had my rest,” Villone said. “I’m feeling pretty strong now. The results aren’t there, but I’ve got to keep chugging away.”
Villone (3-3) has been scored on in 11 of his last 12 outings. He has a 15.53 earned run average in that span, with 17 walks in 13 1/3 innings. Outwardly, at least, Torre was not concerned.
“We’ll get him back,” Torre said. “We’ve got time to get him back.”
The Yankees’ problems — finding roles for Cabrera and Williams, and getting Villone on track — hardly compare to the questions the Red Sox must ponder this winter. After reaching the playoffs for three memorable seasons, the Red Sox must regroup.
Kevin Youkilis, a bit player on the 2004 champions and a major contributor now, took no satisfaction in delaying the Yankees’ celebration.
“There is no glory here — they are still in the driver’s seat to win it and it doesn’t make us happy at all,” Youkilis said. “Our goal this year was to win the division, and we didn’t accomplish that.”
Michael S. Schmidt and David Pickercontributed reporting.
Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company
Red Sox 6, Yankees 3 Red Sox 5, Yankees 4
Boston’s Consolation Prize Is End of Jeter’s Streak
By TYLER KEPNER
The Boston Red Sox never recovered from a five-game sweep by the Yankees at Fenway Park in August. The Yankees’ lead was too wide, and the Red Sox’ luck was too bad. But if this is the month for moral victories, the Red Sox scored one at Yankee Stadium this weekend.
The Yankees could have eliminated Boston from the playoff race by winning three of four games over the last two days. Instead, it was the Red Sox who took three of four, including both games yesterday.
In the process, they put an end to Derek Jeter’s 25-game hitting streak, the longest by a Yankee in 64 years. In his fourth and final at-bat last night, Jeter swung at a 3-0 pitch for the first time since 2002, grounding out to first in the seventh inning to finish 0 for 4.
The Red Sox scored twice with Mike Myers pitching to tie the score in the top of the eighth last night. In the bottom of the inning, Coco Crisp stretched his glove over the center-field wall to pull back a two-run homer by Jorge Posada.
Mark Loretta’s sacrifice fly off Kyle Farnsworth put the Red Sox ahead to stay in the ninth, and they held on for a 5-4 victory. The Red Sox won the opener, 6-3, and avoided the indignity of watching the Yankees celebrate by beating them.
“We have work to do,” Manager Joe Torre said. “We still have to win a couple of ballgames and get this thing settled. But this isn’t going to linger.”
Jeter was on deck when Mike Timlin, who saved both games, retired Melky Cabrera on a fly ball to left to end the doubleheader with a runner on first.
With one out and a runner on second in the seventh, Jeter took three balls from reliever Craig Hansen. According to Stats, Inc., Jeter had taken 3-0 pitches 118 times in a row from the start of the 2003 season until last night.
This time, Jeter swung and grounded out to first base. In his other at-bats, he grounded to the pitcher, flied to right and reached on an obvious throwing error by shortstop Dustin Pedroia.
Jeter’s hitting streak was the Yankees’ longest since Joe Gordon hit safely in 29 consecutive games in 1942. Torre said he told Jeter to swing on 3-0 but was not trying to preserve the streak.
“I wanted him to swing on 3-0 because I trust him as much as anybody with runners in scoring position,” Torre said. “It had nothing to do with the hitting streak, either. It’s a matter of knocking in a run. He’s had the ‘hit’ on 3-0 before, but he didn’t have pitches to swing at.”
Jeter said Torre had given him the green light against Hansen on Saturday. “If he wants you to swing, he’ll let you swing 3-0,” Jeter said of Torre.
The Yankees now head to Toronto for a three-game series starting tonight. Any combination of three Yankees victories and Blue Jays losses will eliminate Toronto. Any combination of four Yankees victories and Red Sox losses will eliminate Boston.
Despite the losses, the Yankees upheld a tradition of rookie hazing. As they dressed for the flight to Canada, the rookies slipped into costumes mimicking the principal owner George Steinbrenner: blue blazer, white turtleneck, gray wig, dark sunglasses.
“All I want to know is, where’s my golf cart to the bus?” reliever T. J. Beam said.
Cabrera, the left fielder, was another costumed rookie. He was the only Yankee to start all four games of the doubleheaders, and he is in an awkward spot as the playoffs approach. Torre has said Hideki Matsui will return to left field during the final homestand, and Gary Sheffield is expected to play on the road this week.
Where does that leave Cabrera? Or, for that matter, the veteran Bernie Williams, baseball’s career postseason leader in runs, homers and runs batted in?
“We don’t have any egos here,” Johnny Damon said. “Hopefully, everybody gets hot at the same time and gives Joe a tough decision. But we’ll find a way. Melky will definitely play. Bernie will definitely be playing. It’s a great situation Joe’s in.”
Cabrera made a lunging, snow-cone catch of a blooper by Eric Hinske in the first game, and Damon praised his arm and range. Matsui is an earnest defender, but Cabrera is more skilled. Torre seems inclined to use him at least as a defensive replacement in October.
“Melky will be valuable, whether it’s going out there to pick Matsui up or whether he plays and we do something else with Matsui,” Torre said. “We’ve got to see how much Sheffield is going to be involved in the whole thing.”
Torre said Cabrera had given the Yankees far more than they expected, adding, “If he doesn’t start in the playoffs, it’s certainly not a failure in any way.”
Another issue for the Yankees is the status of reliever Ron Villone, who allowed four runs in the seventh inning to lose the first game.
Torre leaned heavily on Villone around midseason, but backed off this month after Villone’s performance suffered. Villone had pitched only once in 11 days before Saturday, and he said he is physically fine.
“I already had my rest,” Villone said. “I’m feeling pretty strong now. The results aren’t there, but I’ve got to keep chugging away.”
Villone (3-3) has been scored on in 11 of his last 12 outings. He has a 15.53 earned run average in that span, with 17 walks in 13 1/3 innings. Outwardly, at least, Torre was not concerned.
“We’ll get him back,” Torre said. “We’ve got time to get him back.”
The Yankees’ problems — finding roles for Cabrera and Williams, and getting Villone on track — hardly compare to the questions the Red Sox must ponder this winter. After reaching the playoffs for three memorable seasons, the Red Sox must regroup.
Kevin Youkilis, a bit player on the 2004 champions and a major contributor now, took no satisfaction in delaying the Yankees’ celebration.
“There is no glory here — they are still in the driver’s seat to win it and it doesn’t make us happy at all,” Youkilis said. “Our goal this year was to win the division, and we didn’t accomplish that.”
Michael S. Schmidt and David Pickercontributed reporting.
Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company
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