| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) -- Glenallen Hill isn't just hitting home runs,
he's crushing the ball with Mark McGwire-like proficiency.
|  | | Glenallen Hill has hit .429 since joining the Yankees on July 20, including a dozen home runs in 68 at-bats. |
Just weeks after joining the New York Yankees, he's become their
biggest attraction, no easy feat on a team that's won three of the
last four World Series. Even teammates have altered their routines.
"Everybody's looking at his at-bats. They don't want to miss
them." catcher Jorge Posada said after Hill homered for the 12th
time in 68 at-bats since joining the Yankees, a two-run drive that
helped New York beat the Texas Rangers 8-7 Thursday.
With 10 homers in August, Hill leads the American League. Not
bad for a guy who got just 233 at-bats with the Chicago Cubs before
the July 20 trade that sent him to the Yankees.
"He's incredible. It doesn't matter if it's a fastball,
changeup or whatever," said Andy Pettitte, who won his seventh
straight start. "He's making this ballpark look like Enron Field
with the Astros, or Coors Field."
Hill, who went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and extended his hitting
streak to 13 games, is hitting .429 since joining the Yankees and
has driven in 23 runs in 21 games.
Hill crushed a changeup from Matt Perisho (2-7) in the fourth
inning, and it ricocheted like a pool ball off the black front of
the bleachers.
"If I keep talking about it, I'm sure I'll go 0-for-30," Hill
said very quietly in the Yankees clubhouse as players dressed for a
six-game road trip. "I come to the ballpark every day and the ball
flies off my bat -- but most of the time, it's in batting practice."
Pettitte (16-6), second to Toronto's David Wells (18-5) in wins
among AL pitchers, is also living a charmed life. He allowed a
season-high seven runs (five earned) and 10 hits in six-plus
innings, but New York has backed him with seven or more runs in 15
of 25 starts, including seven in a row.
"You don't get too many wins when you give up seven runs,"
said Pettitte, seeking his first 20-win season since 1996. "A
couple of years ago, I think I was down to the bottom of the league
in run support."
Because of injuries and the quick turnaround from Wednesday
night, the Yankees fielded a stripped down lineup missing center
fielder Bernie Williams (strained right rib cage), right fielder
Paul O'Neill (sore right hip), second baseman Chuck Knoblauch
(right elbow tendinitis) and first baseman Tino Martinez (day off).
Posada played first base until the ninth inning, Jose Vizcaino
was at second, David Justice in right, Clay Bellinger in center and
Chris Turner behind the plate.
New York committed a pair of errors and a run-scoring passed
ball, yet overcame a 4-1 deficit and maintained their domination of
the Rangers, beating them for the 10th time in 12 meetings this
year. New York is 29-10 against Texas since losing the opener of
the 1996 AL playoffs.
Perisho got hammered for eight runs -- his season high -- and
eight hits in three-plus innings, losing to Pettitte for the second
time in an 11-day span.
"I make a good pitch, I give up a single," Perisho said. "I
make a bad pitch, I give up a home run.
Down by three, New York took a 6-4 lead in an ugly five-run
third. Hill, Jose Canseco and Posada hit consecutive run-scoring
singles to tie it, and Perisho made a bad decision, throwing too
late to third on Chris Turner's sacrifice, leaving the bases loaded.
Scott Brosius, in a 3-for-31 slump, struck out and Bellinger hit
a bouncer to third baseman Scott Sheldon, who threw home. Canseco,
thinking there wasn't a play, didn't slide. Catcher B.J. Waszgis,
needing just to catch the ball for a forceout, also appeared
surprised by the throw. He straddled the plate as Canseco scored
the go-ahead run. Vizcaino's RBI grounder then made it 6-4.
"He was as surprised as I was," Canseco said.
Rafael Palmeiro, 4-for-5 with three RBIs, hit run-scoring
singles in the fourth and seventh, and Turner's passed ball on
Jason Grimsley's pitch in the seventh allowed the Rangers to close
within a run.
Mariano Rivera came in for the third straight day and got three
outs for his 27th save in 32 chances, moving New York (70-54) a
season-high 16 games over .500.
Rivera caught Chad Curtis' hard liner back to the mound to start
the ninth. After Palmeiro singled, pinch-runner Scarborough Green
was caught stealing by Posada, who moved behind the play in the
ninth. Gabe Kapler then took a called third strike.
Texas, which finished a 2-6 road trip, went ahead in the first
on Palmeiro's run-scoring single and Kapler's RBI grounder.
Bellinger hit a sacrifice fly in the second, but the Rangers
went ahead 4-1 in the third on an RBI single by former-Yankee Ricky
Ledee and a run-scoring throwing error by Vizcaino.
"It was," Pettitte said, "an ugly game."
Game notes
The Rangers sent Ryan Glynn, on the 15-day disabled list
since fainting after coming out of a game on Aug. 11, to Triple-A
Oklahoma on a rehabilitation assignment. ... Knoblauch is to start
a rehab assignment Friday. ... Pettitte is 7-3 against Texas. ...
Derek Jeter's streak of 10 straight games with a walk ended. ...
Palmeiro has reached in 11 of his last 12 plate appearances.
| |
ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Texas Clubhouse
NY Yankees Clubhouse
RECAPS
NY Yankees 8
Texas 7
Detroit 10
Seattle 3
Baltimore 8
Chi. White Sox 5
Oakland 11
Cleveland 7
Boston 9
Kansas City 7
Cincinnati 8
Philadelphia 3
Los Angeles 7
Montreal 0
St. Louis 12
Atlanta 5
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Joe Torre knows playing the best teams in the AL West will be a difficult task.
wav: 146 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
|
