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Friday, Jul. 21 7:05pm ET
Yankees help Gooden beat former team | |||||
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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) -- Dwight Gooden got back at the latest team to give up on him and earned himself another start. Gooden (4-3) gave the New York Yankees exactly what they needed Friday night, pitching effectively for six innings in an 11-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. "He kept the ball down, moved it around and for the most part stayed ahead in the count," manager Joe Torre said. "I'm sure he's happy with it, and we're happy with it." Torre said it's safe to assume that Gooden will get another start, which will be his third since joining the Yankees following his release by the Devil Rays on May 25. Derek Jeter had four hits and Jorge Posada hit a two-run homer on a night when the Yankees' offense was clicking all around. Jose Vizcaino added three hits, David Justice drove in three runs, Bernie Williams scored three times and Tino Martinez had a two-run double for the Yankees, who accumulated 17 hits -- two shy of their season high -- in winning for the fifth time in seven games. Gooden (4-3) gave up a home run to Gerald Williams on his second pitch of the game and yielded six hits in the first three innings. But he got better as the game moved along, repeatedly getting ahead in the count as he retired nine of the final 10 batters he faced, working his only 1-2-3 inning in the sixth. Of Gooden's 96 pitches, 61 were strikes. He gave up eight hits with one walk and two strikeouts. The veteran right-hander, who beat the New York Mets in his previous start, also made one start for Houston and eight for Tampa Bay in April and May. He is 2-0 with a 2.20 ERA since joining the Yankees. "With this team, I'm probably better off in the bullpen as the long guy," Gooden said. "I'm not going to kid myself. Once El Duque (Orlando Hernandez) comes back and (David) Cone gets on track, I'm going to the bullpen." Jeter was 4-for-4 with three runs scored -- all his hits were singles -- before striking out on three pitches in the seventh. It was the 12th four-hit game of his career and second this season. Williams finished 3-for-3 with two walks, and Vizcaino went 3-for-4. Tampa Bay starter Esteban Yan (4-7) didn't make it out of the fourth, facing 20 batters and allowing 10 hits and a walk. "When he gets the ball up in the zone, he's going to get hit a little," Devil Rays manager Larry Rothschild said, "and these guys (the Yankees) are going to have good at-bats." Tampa Bay's relievers didn't fare much better as the Yankees turned it into a rout and sent the Devil Rays to their fourth straight loss. The Devil Rays took a 1-0 lead when Williams hit his 14th homer on Gooden's second pitch, but that was the end of the offensive highlights for Tampa Bay. Jeter and Paul O'Neill singled with one out in the first, and Williams followed with a walk to load the bases before Justice's two-run single. Williams had an RBI double and Justice a run-scoring single in the third, and Vizcaino and Jeter knocked Yan out of the game with RBI singles in the fourth for a 6-1 lead. Posada's homer, his 16th, came in the fifth against reliever Doug Creek for an 8-1 lead. Martinez had a two-run single and Scott Brosius added a run-scoring base hit in the sixth. Game notesIn a trade announced before the game, the Yankees acquired outfielder Glenallen Hill from the Cubs for minor league pitchers Ben Ford and Ozwaldo Mairena. Hill will be used mostly as a designated hitter and pinch-hitter. ... Not all the Yankees had great offensive nights as Chuck Knoblauch went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. ... O'Neill extended his hitting streak to 10 games and Justice extended his to nine. ... Tampa Bay catcher Mike DiFelice threw the ball 15 feet over the head of second baseman Miguel Cairo while attempting to catch Vizcaino stealing. He was charged with an error. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Tampa Bay Clubhouse NY Yankees Clubhouse RECAPS Chi. White Sox 8 Boston 5
NY Yankees 11
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