PETTITTE K'S 15 AS YANKS WIN 6TH STRAIGHT
Williams, Mondesi Key Tie-Breaking 5th Inning Rally
NEW YORK, July 17 (AP) - Andy Pettitte struck out an American League high 15
batters and the New York Yankees bridged the All-Star break with their surge,
defeating the Cleveland Indians, 3-1, at Yankee Stadium. Pettitte baffled
Cleveland with an assortment of off-speed pitches, reaching the 15-strikeout
mark in the seventh inning, and fanning six consecutive batters at one
point. Pettitte's 15-strikeout performance bests the previous league-high
of 14, held jointly by Bartolo Colon of the Chicago White Sox and Pedro Martinez
of the Boston Red Sox. The major league mark for the season is 17, set by
Curt Schilling of the Arizona Diamondbacks in a victory over the Milwaukee
Brewers on April 12 at Bank One Ballpark.
The Yankees had numerous opportunities to break the game open, outhitting the
Indians 11-3, but they hit into a pair of double plays and stranded eight
baserunners. Still, New York took the lead in the bottom of the third with
a two-out rally. Raul Mondesi doubled to right-center off Cleveland
starter Jason Davis (10-6) and scored on Alfonso Soriano's single to
right-center.
The Indians knotted the game in the top of the fifth on Pettitte's lone mistake
of the contest. With two outs and the bases empty Pettitte fell behind
Jhonny Peralta, 2-0, and then tried to sneak a fastball by him. Peralta
was waiting and deposited the ball deep into the lower seats in straight away
left field.
But the Yankees got the run back, plus one, in the bottom of the same
inning. Mondesi led off with his 14th home run of the year, just inside
the left field foul pole. One out later, Derek Jeter doubled past first
baseman Ben Broussard and, after Jason Giambi fanned for the second out, Bernie
Williams roped a double off the base of the wall in right-center field, scoring
Jeter and giving New York a 3-1 lead.
The Yankees had a good chance to add some insurance in the sixth inning when
Jorge Posada led off with a single and Robin Ventura followed with a base on
balls, ending the day for Davis. But Alex Herrera came on and retired
Ruben Sierra and Mondesi and Rafael Betancourt got Soriano to end the inning.
Pettitte, meanwhile, was flummoxing the Indians. After the Peralta homer,
Pettitte retired nine straight batters, including striking out the side in both
the sixth and seventh innings. In the eighth, he retired Jason McDonald on
a fly ball to center and Peralta on a ground ball to third but then allowed just
his third hit of the game, a single to center off the bat of Coco Crisp.
With the potential tying run coming to the plate and Pettitte approaching 120
pitches, Yankees manager Joe Torre summoned just-acquired Armando Benitez from
the bullpen to face Casey Blake. Pettitte received a standing ovation as
he walked to the dugout from the crowd of nearly 36,000. Benitez fell
behind Blake 3-1 but retired him on a routine fly ball to left.
With closer Mariano Rivera under the weather after suffering food poisoning
during the All-Star break, Torre stayed with Benitez in the ninth, and was
rewarded when Milton Bradley and Shane Spencer were retired to open the final
frame. With left-hander Jody Gerut due up, Torre called upon Dan Miceli
and his effective straight change to get the last out of the game. Miceli
kept Gerut off-balance and retired him on a weak ground ball to third.
Coupled with Boston's 13-5 bludgeoning at the hands of Toronto, the Yankees have
pulled to within nine games of the Red Sox in the AL East. It's the first
time any East Division foe has been within 10 games of Boston since May.
Pending the outcome of Seattle's game at Kansas City, New York is 2 1/2 game off
the AL wildcard lead.
7/17/2003, Cle03-NYY03, Yankee Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Indians 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 1 4 2 2003 Yankees 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 x 3 11 0 8 0 Indians AB R H BI AVG Yankees AB R H BI AVG Crisp lf 3 0 2 0 .269 Soriano,A 2b 4 0 1 1 .278 Blake 3b 4 0 0 0 .261 Jeter ss 4 1 1 0 .341 Bradley cf 4 0 0 0 .328 Giambi,Ja 1b 4 0 0 0 .291 Spencer dh 4 0 0 0 .283 Williams,B cf 4 0 2 1 .227 Gerut rf 4 0 0 0 .325 Matsui lf 4 0 1 0 .331 Martinez,V c 2 0 0 0 .320 Posada c 4 0 3 0 .261 Broussard 1b 3 0 0 0 .279 Ventura 3b 3 0 1 0 .285 McDonald 2b 3 0 0 0 .275 Sierra dh 4 0 0 0 .305 Peralta ss 2 1 1 1 .196 Mondesi rf 3 2 2 1 .276 29 1 3 1 34 3 11 3 Indians INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Davis,Ja L 10-6 5.0 9 3 3 1 1 72 51 3.75 Herrera 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 9.53 Betancourt 1.1 1 0 0 0 2 20 15 3.86 Baez 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 17 11 3.12 8.0 11 3 3 1 4 113 80 Yankees INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Pettitte W 9-7 7.2 3 1 1 2 15 118 70 3.39 Benitez H 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 9 4 2.66 Miceli S 1 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 3.24 9.0 3 1 1 2 15 130 76 E-Davis,Ja. 2B-Jeter(15), Williams,B 2(14), Mondesi(24). HR-Peralta(1), Mondesi(14). RBI-Peralta(4), Soriano,A(78), Williams,B(30), Mondesi(50). K-Blake 2, Bradley 3, Spencer 2, Gerut 3, Martinez,V, Broussard 3, McDonald, Jeter, Giambi,Ja 2, Ventura. BB-Martinez,V, Peralta, Ventura. SH-Crisp. WP-Baez. GWRBI: Mondesi Temperature: 94, Sky: clear, Wind: out to left at 16 MPH. Attendance: 35,969 Game Time: 2:33