TRABER'S FIRST WIN IS 1-HIT COMPLETE GAME
Yanks Find Tables Turned After 3-Game Shutout
Streak
CLEVELAND, July 8 (AP) - Billy Traber entered his eighth start of the 2003
season with a record of 0-5 and the prospect of facing a team that had just
posted three consecutive shutouts against the top-scoring team in the major
leagues. So naturally he tossed the fifth complete game one-hitter in the
big leagues this year, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 10-0 pasting of the
New York Yankees at Jacobs Field. The New York lineup wasn't at full
strength as manager Joe Torre sat regulars Derek Jeter, Alfonso Soriano and Raul
Mondesi in the immediate aftermath of the team's tense four-game sweep over the
Boston Red Sox. But full strength or not, Traber completely handcuffed the
Yankees, carrying a no-hitter into the eighth inning before settling for the
one-hit shutout.
Traber's teammates removed any pressure the left-hander might have felt by
running out to a 7-0 lead in the first three innings, pounding New York starter
Jeff Weaver who was unable to record a single out in the third inning before
being removed from the game.
In the bottom of the first, Coco Crisp and Matt Lawton swatted back-to-back
singles to open the frame and Crisp scored when Milton Bradley grounded a single
into right field, with Lawton taking third. Lawton then scored when Jody
Gerut rolled into a double play.
The Indians doubled their lead with two more runs in the second. Ben
Broussard led off with a triple and scored on Victor Martinez's base hit.
Ricky Gutierrez bounced a tailor made double play ball to short but Erik Almonte--Jeter's
replacement--booted it for an error, leaving all hands safe. After Brandon
Phillips popped out, Crisp grounded to Jason Giambi at first who threw to second
to force Gutierrez, but Almonte's return throw was wild, resulting in the
shortstop's second error of the inning. Martinez scored on the play and
Cleveland led 4-0.
In the bottom of the third, Bradley walked and advanced to second on Gerut's
single to center. Casey Blake then singled through the box, scoring
Bradley. On the play, Gerut advanced to third and Blake to second when
center fielder Hideki Matsui overran the ball for an error. That was it
for Weaver; he was replaced by Sterling Hitchcock, who struck out Broussard but
yielded a single to Martinez, scoring both baserunners and increasing the lead
to 7-0.
The Indians capped the scoring when Bradley belted a three-run home run in the
sixth off reliever Dan Miceli.
But by this time, all of the attention was on Traber, who had issued a two-out
walk to Giambi back in the first inning and a lead-off free pass to Matsui in
the second. Neither runner advanced as far as second base. After the
walk to Matsui, Traber retired 13 consecutive batters before Enrique Wilson
reached on a Blake two-base error with two outs in the sixth. Todd Zeile
grounded to short to end that inning. Ruben Sierra drew Traber's third and
final walk leading off the eighth. John Flaherty flied to center and Karim
Garcia forced Sierra at second but Almonte broke up the no-hitter by grounding a
single through the middle. It was the tenth time a major league pitcher
had lost a no-hitter in the eighth inning or later this season. Traber,
after a visit to the mound by manager Eric Wedge, retired Wilson on a shallow
fly to center.
In the ninth, Traber easily retired Zeile, Giambi and Jorge Posada to finish off
the game. It was the first one-hitter in the major leagues in more than a
month. Darrell May of the Kansas City Royals was the most recent pitcher
to accomplish the feat when he defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 5.
The loss snapped New York's five-game winning streak.
7/8/2003, NYY03-Cle03, Jacobs Field 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Yankees 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 4 2 2003 Indians 2 2 3 0 0 3 0 0 x 10 11 1 4 1 Yankees AB R H BI AVG Indians AB R H BI AVG Wilson,E 2b 4 0 0 0 .224 Crisp lf 4 2 2 0 .266 Zeile 3b 4 0 0 0 .237 Lawton rf 3 2 2 0 .235 Giambi,Ja 1b 3 0 0 0 .290 Spencer rf 1 0 0 0 .278 Posada dh 4 0 0 0 .237 Bradley cf 3 2 2 4 .335 Matsui cf 2 0 0 0 .328 Gerut dh 4 1 1 0 .340 Sierra rf 2 0 0 0 .317 Blake 3b 4 1 1 1 .275 Flaherty c 3 0 0 0 .179 Broussard 1b 4 1 1 0 .289 Garcia,K lf 3 0 0 0 .246 Martinez,V c 4 1 2 3 .324 Almonte,Er ss 3 0 1 0 .300 Gutierrez ss 4 0 0 0 .273 28 0 1 0 Phillips,B 2b 4 0 0 0 .207 Sorensen 2b 0 0 0 0 .190 35 10 11 8 Yankees INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Weaver L 2-8 2.0 7 7 5 1 0 48 28 7.07 Hitchcock 3.2 2 2 2 2 5 63 37 5.20 Miceli 0.2 1 1 1 0 0 5 3 3.27 Hammond 1.2 1 0 0 0 3 23 18 3.60 8.0 11 10 8 3 8 139 86 Indians INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Traber W 1-5 9.0 1 0 0 3 8 124 76 3.86 9.0 1 0 0 3 8 124 76 Cle: Spencer inserted at rf in the 8th Sorensen inserted at 2b in the 9th E-Matsui, Almonte,Er 2, Hitchcock, Blake. 2B-Lawton(17). 3B-Broussard(2). HR-Bradley(10). RBI-Bradley 4(48), Blake(57), Martinez,V 3(10). K-Giambi,Ja 3, Matsui 2, Garcia,K 2, Almonte,Er, Blake, Broussard, Martinez,V 2, Gutierrez, Phillips,B 2, Spencer. BB-Giambi,Ja, Matsui, Sierra, Crisp, Lawton, Bradley. GWRBI: Bradley Temperature: 87, Sky: clear, Wind: left to right at 9 MPH. Attendance: 28,234 Game Time: 2:46