Red Sox take out Yanks in extra inningsNEW YORK -- Not even a breakout performance by Alex Rodriguez could stop the Boston Red Sox.
Mark Bellhorn drove in Manny Ramirez in the 12th inning with Boston's third sacrifice fly, and the Red Sox defeated the New York Yankees 3-2 Saturday, their fifth win in six games this against their bitter rival. Scott Williamson, Alan Embree and Keith Foulke (1-0) and Mike Timlin held the struggling Yankees offense without a run for six innings, increasing the bullpen's scoreless streak to 22 2-3 innings and helping Boston drop the New York to 8-10. Boston jumped out to a 2-0 lead with an assist from Yankees starter Kevin Brown, but Rodriguez brought New York to 2-1 with his first homer in pinstripes and helped tie it by sparking a seventh-inning rally with a headfirst into first slide, then scoring on Gary Sheffield's single. Rodriguez also possibly saved two runs in the third with a diving stop deep behind third base of Kevin Millar's sharp grounder. He made the throw from foul territory to retire Millar. A-Rod even got the crowd of 55,195, eerily quiet for much of the game until his slide in the seventh, going when he ran hard into the wall chasing a foul ball behind third base. After failing to score with the bases loaded against Mariano Rivera in the 11th, the Red Sox got to Paul Quantrill (2-1) in the 12th. Ramirez hit a leadoff double off the wall in right-center, advanced to third on a groundout and, after Millar was hit by a pitch, scored on Bellhorn's fly to center. Before Rodriguez led off the seventh with an infield single, the Yankees had just one hit off Bronson Arroyo -- Rodriguez's third homer and first at Yankee Stadium for New York. The Yankees came in hitting .228, next to last in the American League, and looked every bit as bad. They went 4-for-36, and except for three singles in the seventh never really looked comfortable at the plate. Derek Jeter went 0-for-5 and doesn't have a hit in 21 at-bats, the longest hitless streak of his career. Bernie Williams, dropped to eighth in the order, also went hitless in five at-bats and is in a 1-for-31 slide. Boston scored in each of the first two innings on sacrifice flies by Ramirez and Pokey Reese. In the first, Brown walked the first two batters and, after an out, he knocked Manny Ramirez down with a pitch near his head. Ramirez bounced onto his feet and, with his hands on hips, glared at Brown. In Game 3 of the 2003 ALCS, Ramirez touched off the melee that was highlighted by Pedro Martinez throwing Don Zimmer to the turf when Roger Clemens threw high, but not close to his head. This time, Ramirez kept his cool, then hit a fly to center that scored Johnny Damon. In the second, the Red Sox loaded the bases when Brown committed two errors and hit a batter before Reese flied out to center. Brown then settled down and held the Red Sox for seven innings. He gave up just four hits and two runs -- one earned -- but walked four. Arroyo finished up allowing two runs and four hits in six-plus innings, his second solid start against the Yankees a week.
Notes: Reese went 1-for-2 against Brown and is 3-for-18 against him, with all his hits coming this season. ... The Yankees' first three strikeouts were looking. ... Bill Mueller got his 200th career double in the fifth. © Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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