Yankees Drop Cone, Sox (5/23/01)

In a series that could possibly pay dividends in the future, the Boston Red Sox laid an egg in the first game against the New York Yankees in the Bronx. David Cone (0-1, 5.63 ERA) was not ready for primetime against his old team as he was rocked for 3 runs in 5 innings. Meanwhile Andy Pettitte damn near came within an eyelash of a complete game for the Yankees, holding the Sox to just three runs. The true story was after Cone was out, the Yankees feasted on Tim Wakefield and Rod Beck coming out of the bullpen for four runs. Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada all homered for New York while a ninth inning rally fell short against Mike Stanton. It all added up the Yankees taking the game 7-3 at Yankee Stadium.

                                                  Watching first place start to slip away

Pettitte got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jose Offerman led off with an inside out flyball to right. John Valentin followed with a pop up to right and Carl Everett flied out to left to end the inning. Cone got the ball in the bottom of the first inning amidst a chorus of boos and Chuck Knoblauch struck out swinging on a nasty splitter to start. Derek Jeter doubled just out of the reach of Dante Bichette but Paul O'Neill struck out looking on a pitch on the inside corner. Bernie Williams was hit in the knee with a slider but Tino Martinez was retired on a squibber in front of the plate to end the inning.

The Sox struck first in the top of the second as Manny Ramirez hit a broken bat bloop single to center to start. A wild pitch moved Manny to second and Bichette drew a walk. Bichette broke up a double play at second to allow Shea Hillenbrand to reach first and Jason Varitek hit a fly ball to left. Ramirez scored but Hillenbrand was foolishly thrown out in a run-down to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.

                                                               Bichette helps the cause

David Justice grounded out to short to start the bottom of the second but Jorge Posada was hit with a pitch that grazed his uniform. Scott Brosius struck out swinging and Alfonso Soriano flied out to center to end the inning.

The Sox blew a rally in the top of the third as Mike Lansing dropped a base hit to right to start. Darren Lewis dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Lansing to second but Offerman struck out swinging. Valentin walked but Everett forced him at second to end the inning. The Yankees struck back in the bottom of the third as Knoblauch flied out to right to start. Jeter dropped a base hit just over the head of Valentin but O'Neill flied out to center. Williams then hit a home run all the way to Shea Stadium to put the Yankees on top. Martinez ripped a base hit to center but Justice took strike three to end the inning with the Yankees up 2-1.

                                                              Williams goes yard

The Sox failed to respond in the top of the fourth as Ramirez flied out to center to start on the first pitch. Bichette flied out to left and Hillenbrand took strike three to end the inning. Cone settled down in the bottom of the fourth as Posada grounded out to second to start. Brosius hit one up the elevator shaft and Soriano struck out swinging to end the inning.

Pettitte cruised in the top of the fifth as Varitek struck out swinging to start. Lansing took strike three and Lewis grounded out to second to end the inning. The Yankees finished off Cone in the bottom of the fifth although Knoblauch flied out to center to start. Jeter blooped a single to center and O'Neill singled him to third before Derek scored on the force at second by Williams. Bernie stole second base but Martinez flied out to left to end the inning with the Yankees ahead 3-1. That was it for Cone who was mediocre against his old team after 5 innings.

                                                           Cone doesn't last very long

The Sox did nothing in the top of the sixth as Offerman flied out to right to start. Valentin flied out to center and Everett struck out swinging to end the inning. Tim Wakefield was supposed to start yesterday's game that got rained out and took the mound for the bottom of the sixth. Justice struck out swinging but Posada walked and Lansing whiffed on a throw by Hillenbrand on a grounder by Brosius to put runners at the corners. The error was charged to Hillenbrand instead of Lansing and Soriano hit a sac fly to left to score Posada. Knoblauch popped up to right to end the inning with the Yankees ahead 4-1.

                                                   Nice catch Mike

Ramirez dropped a base hit into the right field corner to start the top of the seventh but Bichette hit into a double play. Hillenbrand grounded out to third to end the inning. The Yankees struck again in the bottom of the seventh as Jeter led off with a home run to Jupiter to ice the game. O'Neill grounded out to second, Williams struck out swinging and Martinez grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Yankees ahead 5-1.

                                                          Jeter goes yard

The Sox did nothing in the top of the eighth although Varitek grounded a single up the middle to begin. Lansing grounded into a double play and Lewis flied out to center to end the inning. Rod Beck came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and the Yankees tagged him too. Justice singled to right and Posada hit a one handed home run just over the wall in right. Brosius took strike three but Soriano singled to left. Knoblauch lined to Everett but Jeter beat out a roller to third for his fifth hit of the game. Henry Rodriguez pinch hit for O'Neill and lined out to second to end the inning with the Yankees up 7-1.

                                                        Posada barely hits one out

Somehow the Sox rallied against Pettitte in the top of the ninth as Offerman drew a walk to start. Valentin flied out to center but Everett singled into the gap in center to move Jose to third. Ramirez doubled into the centerfield gap to clear the bases and chase Pettitte. Old friend Mike Stanton came in to pitch and Ramirez moved to third on the grounder to second by Bichette. Brosius made a great play to throw out Hillenbrand at first to end the game. The Yankees had won it 7-3.

                                                        Yankees win

Jackass of the Night is Tim Wakefield. He turned a 3-1 game into 5-1 to put the Sox in a hole they couldn't climb out of.

                                              Jackass Wakefield.

The Good:

Manny Ramirez was 3 for 4 with 2 rbis and a run scored.

Jason Varitek was 1 for 2 with an rbi.

Mike Lansing was 1 for 3.

The Bad:

Shea Hillenbrand was 0 for 4 with a strikeout and an error.

Darren Lewis was 0 for 2.

David Cone allowed 3 runs in 5 innings to take the loss.

Rod Beck allowed 2 runs in an inning of work.

The Ugly:

Joe Offerman was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked and scored a run.

John Valentin was 0 for 3 but walked.

Carl Everett was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.

Dante Bichette was 0 for 3 but walked.

Final Thoughts:

This game was a microcosm of how everything goes New York's way no matter what. David Cone pitches against his former team and craps out meanwhile Pettitte damn near goes the distance. Jeter gets 5 hits including a home run while Nomar Garciaparra is out with a bad wrist. The Sox make an error and the Yankees capitalize and the Sox do nothing after the second inning offensively. The key to the game was Wakefield and Beck failing to keep the Yankees off the board after Cone left. The Yankees have had the best lock-down bullpen in baseball the last 5 years and you can't give up 4 runs in 3 innings. Ramirez seemed to be the only one capable of driving someone in and that wasn't until the ninth inning. The less said of this game, the better. The loss dropped the Sox to 25-19, 0.5 games ahead of the Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox turn to Pedro Martinez (6-0) to keep the Sox in first against Mike Mussina of the Yankees. The game begins at 1:05 PM at Yankee Stadium.