Yankees move into first with consecutive victories
Published 12:00 am Saturday, June 3, 2000
The Yankees entered last week in third place in the Dixie Majors standings, but a convincing win over the previously undefeated Red Sox propelled them into second place as they beat the division leaders, 8-2.
The Yankee defense held the Red Sox scoreless through four innings.
The Yankees took the lead in the first inning as Josh Beverly earned a walk and scored on a couple of Red Sox errors to take a 1-0 lead.
The Red Sox put two men on base in the bottom of the first, but were unable to move the runners along
as Justin Kimbro struck out the final two batters of the inning.
With one out in the top of the second inning, the Yankees' Josh Till lined a base hit to left field. He made the score 2-0 when he scored on a hit by T.J. Gerrard.
Once again, the Sox put two men on in the bottom of the second. But two strikeouts led the way for Kimbro to escape the inning without allowing a run.
In the top of the third, the Yankees took control of the game. Kimbro led off the inning with a walk and David Albert followed suit one out later. With two outs, William Phillips hit a single to drive in Kimbro. Josh Till kept the inning alive with a two-run double, scoring Albert and Phillips. Garrard added one more in the inning as he hit a single to bring Till home to give the Yankees a 6-0 lead.
The Red Sox had an opportunity in the third to get back into the game. With two outs, Tony Norris lined a triple with Chris Moses on second. However, Moses was called out as he was tagged at third base.
The Yanks added another run in the top of the fourth as Kimbro earned a one-out walk. With two outs, David Albert and Michael Cautham were hit by pitches to load the bases. Kimbro scored on a passed ball, but the inning would end without any further damage as the next batter grounded out. After the inning the Yankees held a 7-0 lead.
The Red Sox got their lead-off batter aboard in the bottom of the inning as Jon Wright lined a single to right field. But he only got as far as second as the next three batters were unable to get on base.
The Yankees were held scoreless in the fifth; but it was not easy. Till led off with a double. The Red Sox were able to get the lead runner at third on a grounder hit by Garrard and was able to hold the Yanks with no runs.
The bats came to life in the bottom of the inning as Adam Moore and Clint Philpot hit back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. With no outs, Ashley Lakes nailed a double to right field to bring both runners home. But with the man in scoring position the string of hits ended as the following three batters were unable to get on base. The Red Sox were able to cut the lead to 7-2.
The Yanks added one more in the top of the sixth inning when Beverly came around to score on a base hit by Eel Phelps to make the score 8-2.
The game ended quietly as the Red Sox went down in order in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Kimbro earned the win for the Yankees, striking out eight batters.
Red Sox 18, Rockies 10
The Red Sox did not stay down. They maintained a one-game lead over the Yankees by defeating the Rockies by a final score of 18-10.
The Red Sox jumped into the lead in the top of the first inning as leadoff batter Adam Moore earned a walk. After a walk to Jon Wright moved Moore into scoring position, he scored on a single to left field by Chris Moses.
Neither team was able to get anything going in the second inning as the Red Sox held on to a 1-0 lead.
They were able to add to that lead in the top of the third as nine runs came in to score. Moore began the inning with a single and Ashley Lakes scored an RBI with a double. Wright followed with an RBI single and Moses earned a walk to put runners at first and second. Tony Norris made the score 4-0 with an RBI single. After two outs were recorded, Thomas Wright hit an RBI single, followed by another off the bat of Joseph Ryan. Kraig Jones loaded the bases with a walk. In his second at-bat of the inning, Moore lined a double to bring in two runs and Ashley Lakes did one better with a triple. Lakes also scored on a base hit by Wright to give the Sox a 10-0 lead.
But the Rockies' bats also warmed up in the bottom of the third. Stephen Sorrells and Drew Gafford earned back-to-back walks to lead off the inning and Ryan Duke loaded the bases on an error. With one out, Mike Holleyfield and Brian Owens earned walks to bring in two runs. Marshall Watts came through with a single to score Holleyfield. Bo Tucker and Jason Shaw also had RBI hits in the inning. But, Jon Wright, pitcher for the Red Sox, ended the scoring spree with two strike outs. The Rockies were able to cut the lead to 10-6.
The Sox added one in the top of the fourth as T. Wright scored on a hit by Kraig Jones.
Two strikeouts helped the Red Sox hold their 11-6 advantage in the bottom of the fourth inning.
In the top of the fifth, the Red Sox got hot again. Moses led off the inning with a walk and Norris followed with a double to give the Sox a 12-6 lead.
A single by Bryan Little scored Norris and Ryan earned a walk to put two runners on with no outs. Consecutive singles by Moore and Lakes scored two more runs and they both scored on hits by Moses and Norris to give the Sox an 18-6 lead.
With only one at-bat to go, the Rockies tried to come back. Brian Owens got them off to a good start with a lead off double. Watts followed with a walk. A basehit by Tucker, drove in Owens and another by Jason Shaw brought Watts home. Another single, this one of the bat of Drew Gafford scored Owens and Shaw. But, Wright closed the door on the Rockies as he struck out the next three batters to preserve the win.
Wright struck out eleven Rockies on the way to earning the win on the mound.
Yankees 9, White Sox 6
The Red Sox and White Sox were scheduled to play on Thursday, but the game ended in the third due to lightning (the Red Sox were leading the game 6-0 when it was called). With that, the Yankees needed a win over the White Sox on Tuesday to tie the division leaders with a record of 3-1. The Yanks were able to secure the win, 9-6.
The Yanks scored an early lead as Jerome Viers led off the game with a walk. Justin Kimbro drove in the first run of the
game with a double and Josh Beverly followed with another RBI double. David Albert earned a walk to put two men on base and Josh Till hit a single to bring one run home. He also scored on a basehit by William Phillips. The Yankees scored five runs in the inning.
They added another to their lead in the top of the second as Viers earned another walk to lead off the inning. He scored on a groundball by Albert to make the score 6-0.
After being held scoreless through the first two innings, the White Sox got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third. Bill Cates started the fireworks with a leadoff homerun to left field. With one out, Elijah Freeman hit a single, Dustin Holt earned a walk and Adam Robertson hit an RBI single. A groundball by Greg Gallenger drove in one run and Evan Brook lined a single to bring Robertson home. The Rockies cut the lead to 6-4.
In the fifth, the Yanks added one more to their lead as Josh Beverly scored on an interference call by the umpire to make the score 7-4.
While the White Sox were unable to add to their score, the Yanks added two insurance runs in the top of the inning. Kimbro and Beverly both scored on fielder's choice groundballs.
The three runs the Yanks scored late in the game proved to be big ones as Adam Robertson sent a ball out of the park for a two-run homerun that made the score 9-6.
William Phillips earned the win for the Yanks, striking out three batters.