Jeter, A-Rod lead Yanks past Jays
09/19/2006 1:12 AM ET
Jeter, A-Rod lead Yanks past Jays
Pair of two-run blasts lead way as Bombers hold on for win
By Mark Feinsand / MLB.com
TORONTO -- Life without Mariano Rivera is no picnic. Just ask Joe Torre.
Torre and the Yankees carried a four-run lead into the ninth inning on Monday against the Blue Jays, only to watch four pitchers struggle to record the final three outs.
Troy Glaus hit a three-run home run off Octavio Dotel to cut the lead to one. Two batters later, Toronto had the tying run on base, but Jose Veras retired Aaron Hill to seal the 7-6 victory for New York.
"It's sort of helpless," Torre said. "It makes you hate Mariano Rivera. I told him not to send me a Christmas card."
"He was going nuts," Rivera said of his manager's demeanor in the final frame. "The most important thing is that we won the game."
Derek Jeter furthered his case for the American League's MVP Award on Monday, coming through with a huge two-run home run against A.J. Burnett in the seventh, giving the Yankees their first lead of the game.
Alex Rodriguez also had a two-run home run, helping the Yankees move one step closer to their ninth consecutive division title. New York's magic number now stands at 3.
"You want to take care of that, because we haven't clinched anything yet," Jeter said. "It doesn't matter how we do it, we just want to get it done. It doesn't matter if it's pretty or ugly, we just need wins. We were fortunate to get this one."
"Our job isn't done yet," Johnny Damon said. "We need to win our division -- and we hope to do it soon."
Darrell Rasner, starting in place of Cory Lidle (tendinitis in his right index finger), allowed three runs in six innings. Rasner, who was pitching on three days' rest after throwing 45 pitches over four innings of relief on Thursday, struggled early before settling down.
"It was good; I really didn't throw many pitches in my last outing, so it was really no issue for me," Rasner (3-0) said. "It was a battle from the get-go today, but I got through it."
Following back-to-back day-night doubleheaders against the Red Sox, Torre contemplated giving some of his regulars the night off. After speaking with his coaches and hearing some lively chatter and laughter in his clubhouse before the game, Torre opted to send out his normal lineup.
"It's really not the message we wanted to send," Torre said of resting his regulars. "Guys were having a good time today, so I felt pretty good about that decision. They seemed to be in good spirits."
Unfortunately for New York, Burnett looked virtually unhittable in the first five innings, holding the Yanks to a pair of singles -- both coming with two outs in the second inning -- while striking out five.
"We were dead," Rodriguez said. "He was dominating us as much as we've been dominated all year."
Rasner, meanwhile, needed 28 pitches to get through the first inning after loading the bases before recording an out. The right-hander managed to pull a Houdini act, getting Lyle Overbay and Glaus to pop out before striking out Bengie Molina to end the inning.
"One pitch at a time," Rasner said of his approach. "Damage control."
Rasner wasn't as lucky in the second, as the Jays touched him for a run. Toronto added two more in the fourth to take a 3-0 lead.
Damon was ejected by home plate umpire Bill Miller for arguing a call against Hideki Matsui, who was called out on a questionable check swing that Miller ruled a swinging strike.
"The only thing I wanted out of it was for him to get help; there's a third-base ump out there for a reason," Damon said. "I'm not going to say I was right, I'm not going to say I was wrong, but there are four umpires out there for a reason."
A-Rod cut the lead to one in the sixth with a two-run blast to center field, his 34th of the season. The homer was No. 463 of Rodriguez's career, moving him past Jose Canseco for sole possession of 29th place on the all-time list. He stands one homer behind Dave Winfield for 28th place.
"Alex left a wake-up call for us with the two-run homer," Torre said. "It looked like we were being dominated, but it was only 3-2."
The next inning, Burnett was one out away from completing the seventh, but Aaron Guiel -- who entered the game for Damon -- doubled to left, setting up Jeter's two-run homer to left-center.
"It's not like that's the first time we saw Jeter get the big hit," Jays manager John Gibbons said. "That's why he's one of the top players in the game -- he does those things."
The homer came on a 3-0 pitch, marking the second time in two days that Jeter has put the ball in play with a 3-0 count. Before Sunday, Jeter hadn't done that since 2002.
"I got the green light; you have to get the OK before you can swing at it," Jeter said. "If you get ahead in the count, you have to be selective with the pitch you swing at. I didn't try to hit a home run, but fortunately, it went out."
Brian Bruney pitched a scoreless seventh, while Scott Proctor did the same in the eighth. Guiel and Bobby Abreu singled in runs in the ninth, then Andy Phillips drew a bases-loaded walk, pushing the lead to 7-3 and giving Ron Villone a nice cushion to close out the game.
But Villone gave up a pair of one-out singles, prompting Torre to pull the left-hander in favor of Dotel, who opened with three straight balls against Glaus. Dotel threw a strike to make the count 3-1, but Glaus blasted the next pitch over the wall in right-center, cutting the lead to make it a 7-6 game.
"It's so unfair to rely on him," Torre said of Dotel, who is still trying to find his groove after returning from Tommy John surgery. "You bring him in there based on the fact that he's done this before, even though he's not at full strength."
Mike Myers took over for Dotel with one out, retiring John Hattig for the second out. Jason Phillips singled off Myers to put the tying run on base, as Torre called on Veras -- who got Hill for the final out, earning the first save of his career.
"It got interesting at the end there," Jeter said. "There's only one Mo; you get spoiled with him pitching the end of the game here. You have to tip your hat to them, because they never gave up. They battled, but Veras got that big out."
Mark Feinsand is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
© 2001-2006 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Jeter, A-Rod lead Yanks past Jays
Pair of two-run blasts lead way as Bombers hold on for win
By Mark Feinsand / MLB.com
TORONTO -- Life without Mariano Rivera is no picnic. Just ask Joe Torre.
Torre and the Yankees carried a four-run lead into the ninth inning on Monday against the Blue Jays, only to watch four pitchers struggle to record the final three outs.
Troy Glaus hit a three-run home run off Octavio Dotel to cut the lead to one. Two batters later, Toronto had the tying run on base, but Jose Veras retired Aaron Hill to seal the 7-6 victory for New York.
"It's sort of helpless," Torre said. "It makes you hate Mariano Rivera. I told him not to send me a Christmas card."
"He was going nuts," Rivera said of his manager's demeanor in the final frame. "The most important thing is that we won the game."
Derek Jeter furthered his case for the American League's MVP Award on Monday, coming through with a huge two-run home run against A.J. Burnett in the seventh, giving the Yankees their first lead of the game.
Alex Rodriguez also had a two-run home run, helping the Yankees move one step closer to their ninth consecutive division title. New York's magic number now stands at 3.
"You want to take care of that, because we haven't clinched anything yet," Jeter said. "It doesn't matter how we do it, we just want to get it done. It doesn't matter if it's pretty or ugly, we just need wins. We were fortunate to get this one."
"Our job isn't done yet," Johnny Damon said. "We need to win our division -- and we hope to do it soon."
Darrell Rasner, starting in place of Cory Lidle (tendinitis in his right index finger), allowed three runs in six innings. Rasner, who was pitching on three days' rest after throwing 45 pitches over four innings of relief on Thursday, struggled early before settling down.
"It was good; I really didn't throw many pitches in my last outing, so it was really no issue for me," Rasner (3-0) said. "It was a battle from the get-go today, but I got through it."
Following back-to-back day-night doubleheaders against the Red Sox, Torre contemplated giving some of his regulars the night off. After speaking with his coaches and hearing some lively chatter and laughter in his clubhouse before the game, Torre opted to send out his normal lineup.
"It's really not the message we wanted to send," Torre said of resting his regulars. "Guys were having a good time today, so I felt pretty good about that decision. They seemed to be in good spirits."
Unfortunately for New York, Burnett looked virtually unhittable in the first five innings, holding the Yanks to a pair of singles -- both coming with two outs in the second inning -- while striking out five.
"We were dead," Rodriguez said. "He was dominating us as much as we've been dominated all year."
Rasner, meanwhile, needed 28 pitches to get through the first inning after loading the bases before recording an out. The right-hander managed to pull a Houdini act, getting Lyle Overbay and Glaus to pop out before striking out Bengie Molina to end the inning.
"One pitch at a time," Rasner said of his approach. "Damage control."
Rasner wasn't as lucky in the second, as the Jays touched him for a run. Toronto added two more in the fourth to take a 3-0 lead.
Damon was ejected by home plate umpire Bill Miller for arguing a call against Hideki Matsui, who was called out on a questionable check swing that Miller ruled a swinging strike.
"The only thing I wanted out of it was for him to get help; there's a third-base ump out there for a reason," Damon said. "I'm not going to say I was right, I'm not going to say I was wrong, but there are four umpires out there for a reason."
A-Rod cut the lead to one in the sixth with a two-run blast to center field, his 34th of the season. The homer was No. 463 of Rodriguez's career, moving him past Jose Canseco for sole possession of 29th place on the all-time list. He stands one homer behind Dave Winfield for 28th place.
"Alex left a wake-up call for us with the two-run homer," Torre said. "It looked like we were being dominated, but it was only 3-2."
The next inning, Burnett was one out away from completing the seventh, but Aaron Guiel -- who entered the game for Damon -- doubled to left, setting up Jeter's two-run homer to left-center.
"It's not like that's the first time we saw Jeter get the big hit," Jays manager John Gibbons said. "That's why he's one of the top players in the game -- he does those things."
The homer came on a 3-0 pitch, marking the second time in two days that Jeter has put the ball in play with a 3-0 count. Before Sunday, Jeter hadn't done that since 2002.
"I got the green light; you have to get the OK before you can swing at it," Jeter said. "If you get ahead in the count, you have to be selective with the pitch you swing at. I didn't try to hit a home run, but fortunately, it went out."
Brian Bruney pitched a scoreless seventh, while Scott Proctor did the same in the eighth. Guiel and Bobby Abreu singled in runs in the ninth, then Andy Phillips drew a bases-loaded walk, pushing the lead to 7-3 and giving Ron Villone a nice cushion to close out the game.
But Villone gave up a pair of one-out singles, prompting Torre to pull the left-hander in favor of Dotel, who opened with three straight balls against Glaus. Dotel threw a strike to make the count 3-1, but Glaus blasted the next pitch over the wall in right-center, cutting the lead to make it a 7-6 game.
"It's so unfair to rely on him," Torre said of Dotel, who is still trying to find his groove after returning from Tommy John surgery. "You bring him in there based on the fact that he's done this before, even though he's not at full strength."
Mike Myers took over for Dotel with one out, retiring John Hattig for the second out. Jason Phillips singled off Myers to put the tying run on base, as Torre called on Veras -- who got Hill for the final out, earning the first save of his career.
"It got interesting at the end there," Jeter said. "There's only one Mo; you get spoiled with him pitching the end of the game here. You have to tip your hat to them, because they never gave up. They battled, but Veras got that big out."
Mark Feinsand is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
© 2001-2006 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
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