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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- It was a wild night for the New York
Yankees.
Their pitchers walked 11 batters, Tampa Bay's new artificial
fooled All-Star shortstop Derek Jeter on a bad-hop grounder, and
then he and third baseman Scott Brosius lost a crucial popup in the
roof in a 6-4 loss to the Devil Rays.
|  | | Dave Justice started his brave new world in New York Friday night by going 0-for-3 and scoring a run as the DH. |
The two-time defending World Series champions haven't had a lot
of trouble winning at Tropicana Field in the past. But lately,
they've been faltering just about everywhere.
"We just didn't play well," manager Joe Torre said. "We
hadn't played on this surface before ... but there's no excuse for
this."
Russ Johnson, who had a two-run single and walked four times,
got the game-winning RBI when Jeff Nelson (6-2) walked him on four
pitches with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the
eighth.
It was the third walk of the inning issued by Nelson, and the
10th by a New York pitcher. Todd Erdos replaced Nelson and walked
Felix Martinez to force in another run to make it 6-4. The eighth
and ninth hitters in Tampa Bay's order walked seven times.
"We saw two different Nelsons there," Torre said. "He got the
first man out with no problem. And then he got (Fred) McGriff to
pop up. There should have been two out after that. Then, all of the
sudden he can't get people out."
Jeter and Brosius lost sight of the pop fly and the ball dropped
just beyond the infield for a double. Four of the next five batters
walked to give the Devil Rays the lead and an insurance run.
"I think the harder he tried to throw a strike, the worse it
became," Torre said of Nelson. "Then it was just out of control
... It was disappointing to lose it the way we did. we gave it away
basically."
Bryan Rekar limited the Yankees to four hits over seven innings
before Jim Mecir (6-1) gave up a two-run homer to Bernie Williams
that tied it 4-4.
Johnson broke a 2-2 tie in the third, singling off Jason
Grimsley with the bases loaded in the third. Felix Martinez and
Randy Winn hit RBI singles off the Yankees starter in the second as
Tampa Bay wiped out a 2-0 deficit.
The victory enabled the Devil Rays to finish June with a 15-11
record and the club's best-ever winning percentage (.577) for a
month. Roberto Hernandez got the last three outs for his 11th save.
"I guess you have to walk before you can run," Tampa Bay
manager Larry Rothschild said of his team's recent success. "It's
a start, especially after all the injuries we've had. The injuries
didn't stop in June, but some guys have stepped up. What it says to
me is we've played well despite the injuries. We've just got to
build on that."
The Yankees lost for the sixth time in eight games, closing June
with a 10-15 mark that snapped a streak of 23 consecutive
non-losing months -- second longest in team history and the longest
in the majors since Baltimore went 25 straight non-losing months
from 1969 to 1972.
Tino Martinez drove in a run on a force play and Shane Spencer
had a sacrifice fly, both in the second, for the Yankees.
David Justice, acquired Thursday from Cleveland for Ricky Ledee
and two players to be named, went 0-for-3, but scored a run in his
first game for New York.
Jorge Posada had two of the four hits off Rekar, singling in the
second and seventh. Scott Brosius doubled in the fifth, and
Williams singled in the sixth. Meanwhile, the Devil Rays stranded
13 runners through seven innings, and a lack of timely hitting
finally caught up with them when Williams homered.
Justice made his debut as the Yankees designated hitter, moving
into the fifth spot in the batting order and dropping the
struggling Martinez to seventh. On his initial plate appearance, he
was awarded first base when Mike DiFelice was called for catcher's
interference and later scored on Spencer's sacrifice fly.
Rekar settled down after falling behind 2-0 in the second
inning. He retired eight of nine batters before Brosius doubled for
New York's second hit. Posada was the only Yankees baserunner
during the stretch, reaching on a two-out walk in the fourth.
Williams singled with one out in the sixth, but Justice grounded
into an inning-ending double play.
Game notes
The Yankees were 19-5 against the Devil Rays the past two
seasons, including 11-3 at Tropicana Field ... Chuck Knoblauch and
Jeter, the first two batters in the Yankees order, went 0-for-3
against Rekar. They are 0-for-23 lifetime against the right-hander
... Williams has an 11-game hitting streak ... Felix Martinez
snapped an 0-for-10 slump with his RBI single for Tampa Bay ... The
Devil Rays' club-record streak of nine consecutive games with a
home run ended.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
NY Yankees Clubhouse
Tampa Bay Clubhouse
On day after, no Justice: Tribe falls to Twins
Justice just wants to help, not save, Yankees
Over the shock, Ledee set to help Tribe
Justice served: Yanks give Indians Ledee, 2 more
RECAPS
Minnesota 7
Cleveland 2
Tampa Bay 6
NY Yankees 4
Baltimore 8
Toronto 3
Chi. White Sox 10
Boston 4
Detroit 3
Kansas City 1
Texas 13
Seattle 3
Anaheim 7
Oakland 0
Florida 5
Montreal 4
Pittsburgh 8
Philadelphia 3
NY Mets 11
Atlanta 8
Chicago Cubs 7
Milwaukee 4
St. Louis 5
Houston 4
Cincinnati 5
Arizona 4
Colorado 5
San Diego 4
Los Angeles 9
San Francisco 2
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