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  Thursday, Jul. 6 12:05pm ET
Yankees have won four of five
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

NEW YORK (AP) -- Mike Stanton usually isn't called on to hold a lead until at least the seventh inning.

Yet on a day when 15 runs were scored in the first two innings, Yankees manager Joe Torre turned to his set-up man early.

Derek Jeter
Derek Jeter watches his three-run home run against the Orioles during the second inning at Yankee Stadium.

Stanton pitched 3 2-3 scoreless innings, and homers by Derek Jeter and Paul O'Neill capped an eight-run second inning as New York rallied from seven runs down to beat the Baltimore Orioles 13-9 Thursday.

"We have roles and mine is to pitch later in the game," Stanton said. "But those roles aren't set in stone. We have to be ready to pitch from the first inning on."

Stanton (2-1) wasn't even in the bullpen when the call came for him to warmup. He left the Yankees clubhouse minutes before Jeter tied the game at 7 with a three-run homer off reliever Jason Johnson (0-8).

O'Neill followed with a homer to give the Yankees the lead only moments after they seemed out of the game, trailing 7-0 entering the bottom of the second.

"When you get down 7-0, a lot of teams will fold the tent and go home," Stanton said after the Yankees staged their biggest rally in four years.

The Yankees kept coming.

Bernie Williams and David Justice added back-to-back homers in the fourth inning for New York. The Yankees have won four of five games heading into a four-game Subway Series showdown with the Mets, including a unique, day-night, two stadium doubleheader on Saturday.

"It doesn't matter that it is the Mets," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "We need to win some games and get some consistency heading into the All-Star break."

Stanton's strong relief and New York's big bats took Ed Yarnall off the hook in his first start of the season. Yarnall, recalled from Columbus earlier in the day, allowed five runs and five hits in one-plus innings.

Yarnall, expected to be the No. 5 starter this season, started the year in Triple-A after allowing 25 runs in 9 1-3 innings in spring training. He was little better this time out, retiring only two of 10 batters he faced.

"I wasn't nervous at all," said Yarnall, who made two starts last season. "I just couldn't locate my fastball or make adjustments on it."

Staked to a 7-0 lead in the second, Sidney Ponson couldn't find the strike zone. He gave up a leadoff single to Williams in the second and then walked the next four hitters, making it 7-2.

"It is inexcusable," Baltimore first baseman Will Clark said. "You can't ask your offense to go out and score 12 or 13 runs every day. You have to throw the ball over the plate. If it's not hit we can't catch it."

After an RBI groundout by Jose Vizcaino and a run-scoring single by Chuck Knoblauch, Ponson was replaced.

Johnson, recently demoted to the bullpen, came in and allowed Jeter's ninth homer. Jeter pumped his fist as he rounded first base and the crowd -- many of whom came for the Jeter posters that were being given away -- cheered wildly. O'Neill followed with his 10th homer.

"In that role, your job is to come in and stop the bleeding," Orioles manager Mike Hargrove said. "It just didn't happen."

The Yankees added five more in the fourth on a two-run double by O'Neill, a two-run homer by Williams and Justice's first homer as a Yankee. Justice hit 21 homers in Cleveland before being traded to New York last week.

Baltimore's Brady Anderson led off the game with a towering homer that landed in the first row of the upper deck in right field. Albert Belle added an RBI single in the first to make it 2-0.

Yarnall couldn't retire a batter in the second, leaving with the bases loaded and no outs after walking Luis Matos and Anderson. Ben Ford allowed a two-run double to Mike Bordick and a two-run single to B.J. Surhoff to make it 7-0.

Game notes
The seven-run deficit was the largest the Yankees have overcome since rallying from eight runs down to beat the White Sox 9-8 on May 12, 1996. ... New York's Scott Brosius tied a major league record for the most double plays started by a third baseman (4). ... The Orioles have blown two seven-run leads this season. They also did it June 19 in a 13-12 loss to Oakland. ... Anderson has 40 career leadoff homers, second to Rickey Henderson's 78. ... Williams has 12 multihit games in his 16-game hitting streak. ... Ponson allowed six runs, three hits and four walks in 1 1-3 innings. ... Johnson gave up six runs -- five earned -- and three homers in two innings and is the first Oriole to start the season 0-8 since Mike Boddicker in 1988.
 


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 Joe Torre says big comebacks are no surprise in the majors (Courtesy: MSG).
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