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GAME LOG
NEW YORK -- Scott Brosius was able to walk away satisfied.
Brosius, having a tough time at the plate, homered to lead off
the eighth inning and the New York Yankees beat the Kansas City
Royals 5-4 Tuesday night.
|  | | Scott Brosius struggled all night, until the game was on the line and he delivered the game-winning homer. |
Brosius, back in the lineup after missing two games because of
tightness in his right calf, hit the second pitch from reliever
Ricky Bottalico (7-3) far over the left-field wall for his 10th
homer.
In his previous at-bat, Brosius struck out with the bases
loaded. Earlier, he flied out to leave runners at second and third,
and struck out with a runner on.
"I had a lot of chances to get a hit with two outs, and I
didn't," he said. "It was a nice way to end it."
Manager Joe Torre liked what he saw.
"I was happy for him. It was nice to see him smile when he got
back to the dugout. He's been struggling lately," he said.
The Royals, playing without injured All-Star first baseman Mike
Sweeney, lost their fifth in a row. They fell a season-worst 11
games below .500.
New York stole six bases -- and was caught once -- for its most
steals since April 11, 1998, against Oakland.
Bernie Williams hit a two-run double and David Justice followed
with a run-scoring double as the Yankees rallied for a 4-2 lead in the
seventh.
Johnny Damon tied it with a two-run double in the Royals' eighth
off Mike Stanton. Jeff Nelson (7-2) struck out Joe Randa with the
bases loaded to end the inning.
Mariano Rivera worked the ninth for his 25th save.
Yankees starter Dwight Gooden pitched seven sharp innings -- his
most since 1997 -- and gave up one earned run and four hits. He has
a 1.86 ERA in five games, four of them starts, since signing with
New York in June.
"It feels good. But obviously, it's no time to start relaxing
around here," he said.
Kansas City starter Dan Reichert took a 2-1 edge into the
seventh, but walked Chuck Knoblauch and Derek Jeter to start the
inning.
"When you walk the first two batters with a one-run lead,
that's the kiss of death," Royals manager Tony Muser said. "He
sort of handed himself his fate right there."
Reliever Tim Byrdak struck out Paul O'Neill, then threw a wild
pitch in the dirt with Williams batting. The ball stayed at
Williams' feet, and catcher Gregg Zaun couldn't find it.
With Byrdak pointing and shouting, the ball remained loose for
several seconds before Knoblauch took off and reached third without
a throw. Jeter remained at first.
Williams followed with a hard grounder between third baseman Joe
Randa and the bag. The ball appeared to nick umpire Jim Reynolds
and slow down as it rolled to the corner.
Without a fast carom, left fielder Mark Quinn needed extra time
to retrieve the ball, and that allowed Jeter to beat the relay
home.
An error by Jeter at shortstop let the Royals take a 1-0 lead in
the fourth, but they ran themselves out of a big inning. Quinn was
thrown out trying to stretch a single, Rey Sanchez was trapped off
third on a grounder to Jeter and Randa was nailed trying to stretch
his run-scoring double.
"It's a game of inches, and all those things you covered in
spring training, they start popping later, even if it's August
1," Muser said.
Dave McCarty, subbing for Sweeney, doubled and scored on Zaun's
sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead in the fifth. Jorge Posada had a run-scoring grounder in the Yankees sixth.
Game notes
Sweeney sustained a bruised right hand when hit by a pitch
Sunday from Tampa Bay's Esteban Yan. Sweeney had been the only
Royals player to start every game this season. Muser does not
expect Sweeney to play Wednesday afternoon, and hopes he can return
Thursday. ... Model Tyra Banks sat in the front row behind the
Royals dugout. No surprise, she was picked as "Fan of the Game"
on the video board during the seventh-inning stretch. ... Yankees
right-handed pitcher Orlando Hernandez, out since July 14 because of elbow and back
trouble, pitched four scoreless innings for Class A Tampa. ...
Brosius made a nifty pickup at third base on McCarty's grounder and
made a long, backhanded flip to get a forceout at second. ...
Yankees left fielder Ryan Thompson fell down, but recovered to
catch Quinn's liner with two on in the seventh. ... At 13 games
over .500, the Yankees matched a season high.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Kansas City Clubhouse
NY Yankees Clubhouse
RECAPS
Oakland 3
Toronto 1
NY Yankees 5
Kansas City 4
Tampa Bay 6
Cleveland 5
Baltimore 10
Minnesota 0
Chi. White Sox 4
Texas 3
Detroit 6
Anaheim 3
Seattle 5
Boston 4
Colorado 2
Chicago Cubs 1
Pittsburgh 6
Los Angeles 0
Los Angeles 5
Pittsburgh 3
(2nd game)
Houston 4
Florida 3
Montreal 4
St. Louis 0
NY Mets 3
Cincinnati 2
San Francisco 13
Milwaukee 8
Atlanta 4
Arizona 2
San Diego 10
Philadelphia 9
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Dwight Gooden feels his arm is getting stronger.
wav: 184 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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