Hernandez straightens out Yankees
The scoreboard was reset to zero, all the runs and hits from the previous day wiped away. Orlando Hernandez and Jorge Posada then went out and restored some order at Yankee Stadium.
A night after Cleveland's offense set records, El Duque limited the Indians to three hits in seven innings and Posada hit a go-ahead, two-run homer that led the New York Yankees over the Indians, 5-3, last night.
When Travis Hafner hit an RBI single in the first inning, the Yankees left the bases loaded in the bottom half, and the Red Sox spurted to a 4-0 lead against Anaheim at Fenway Park, New York's East lead over Boston looked to be in danger of shrinking to 2 1/2 games, down from 10 1/2 on the morning of Aug. 16.
But the Yankees, sent to their most lopsided loss ever in a 22-0 rout Tuesday night, rallied when Posada homered off C.C. Sabathia (10-9) in the fourth. John Olerud added a solo homer later in the inning, and Miguel Cairo hit another in the seventh off David Riske for a 4-1 lead.
Hernandez (6-0), becoming the Yankees' ace at age 38, was just the second New York starter to win in 17 games since Aug. 13. He struck out seven and didn't allow a runner past second base after the first inning.
Tom Gordon allowed a walk, bloop single, run-scoring wild pitch and an RBI bloop double to Victor Martinez in the eighth as Cleveland closed to 4-3, then left the field to boos. Mariano Rivera retired Hafner on an inning-ending grounder.
Derek Jeter then hit a wicked-hop grounder off the glove of third baseman Casey Blake in the bottom half as Ruben Sierra scored on the tough error, and Rivera finished for his major league-leading 46th save in 49 chances.
Twins 4, Rangers 2 -- Terry Tiffee hit a go-ahead two-run double in his major league debut to give Minnesota the victory over Texas in Minneapolis.
Trailing, 2-1, the Twins scored three runs in the eighth with the last two coming on Tiffee's high chopper off Francisco Cordero (3-1) that hopped over first base. Cordero had converted 21 straight save opportunities.
It was the Rangers' third straight loss, dropping them five games behind the Red Sox in the wild-card race.
White Sox 5, Athletics 4 -- Pinch hitter Ross Gload came through with an RBI single in the ninth inning, and host Chicago ended Oakland's eight-game winning streak. Scott Hatteberg and Mark McLemore each had three hits for the A's, who still lead the West by three games.
Blue Jays 4, Mariners 2 -- -- Frank Menechino hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning, and David Bush pitched seven strong innings to help Toronto beat Seattle at SkyDome.
Ichiro Suzuki, chasing George Sisler's major league record for hits in a season, went 2 for 3 and has 214 hits. He has 30 games left to break Sisler's mark of 257 hits set in 1920 with the St. Louis Browns.
Orioles 8, Devil Rays 0 -- Javy Lopez drove in four runs, Daniel Cabrera became the first rookie to win 10 games this season, and Baltimore held Tampa Bay to two hits in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Royals 1, Tigers 0 -- Rookie Zack Greinke pitched three-hit ball for seven innings, leading Kansas City over visiting Detroit.
