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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) -- David Cone's father pumped his fist from the box
seats and the crowd erupted with a standing ovation.
|  | | David Cone reacts after striking out Ben Grieve of Oakland to end the fifth inning Thursday. |
Pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre returned from chemotherapy to
root from the dugout. Darryl Strawberry inspired him from his
hospital bed.
Jose Canseco helped with his bat, homering into the upper deck
and driving in three runs. The New York Yankees backed their former
ace with big hits.
Showered with so much support, Cone simply could not lose.
Cone won for the first time in 16 starts, proving he could still
be a valuable part of the rotation by pitching the Yankees over the
Oakland Athletics 12-6 Thursday.
"It sure took a long time, too long," Cone said. "Tomorrow I
wake up and I'm 2-10. But for today, it feels good."
Cone stopped his career-high eight-game losing streak, striking
out a season-high eight in six innings. His only mistake was a fat
fastball that Jason Giambi hit for a two-run homer.
Cone gave up eight hits, two runs and one walk in six innings.
"The cloud is not hanging over our heads anymore," Yankees
manager Joe Torre said. "We can concern ourselves with winning
games now."
The Yankees had lost the last 13 times Cone (2-10) had started,
but there was little suspense this time as the two-time World
Series champions took a season-high five-game lead in the AL East.
"It's been a gradual progression. Certainly a part of it is
mental and emotional," Cone said. "I felt like a got a huge
gorilla off my back -- King Kong."
New York finished off a three-game sweep and sent Oakland to its
fifth straight loss, matching its longest skid of the year.
A couple of days ago, many Yankees fans were claiming the
37-year-old Cone was washed up and complaining the team had
acquired the 36-year-old Canseco. There weren't too many critics at
the ballpark on this afternoon.
"You couldn't have written up the script any better," Torre
said.
Canseco, making his first start for New York, went 2-for-2 with
a walk and two sacrifice flies.
"I was nervous, don't kid yourself," he said.
Batting cleanup, he launched his 441st career homer and first
for the Yankees, a shot into the upper deck in left field as New
York gave Cone a 10-2 lead in the fourth inning. Canseco also
doubled.
"It was good to score runs for him early so he could experiment
and he could make a mistake somewhere along the line and still get
the win," Canseco said.
Throughout his streak of 15 starts without a win, the Yankees
had never scored more than four runs when Cone was in the game.
By the second, every Yankees starter had either scored a run or
driven in one against rookie Mark Mulder (6-8). He was tagged for a
season-high 10 earned runs in 3 1/3 innings -- the previous night,
the Yankees roughed up Kevin Appier for a career-worst 10 runs in 3
2/3 innings.
Cone looked a bit antsy at the start, shaking his arms and
looking all around the ballpark. A six-run second inning seemed to
settle him down.
In the fifth, with two on and none out, Cone struck out Randy
Velarde, Giambi and Ben Grieve in succession -- cleverly using slow
breaking balls to set up fastballs -- to earn a standing ovation
from the 41,011 fans.
"It was the best moment I've had all year," he said.
Cone's dad, Ed, in town from Kansas City, flashed a thumbs-up as
his son headed toward his first victory since April 28.
"Some people had given up on him, but I felt he could do it,"
he said.
On Sept. 2, 1996, Ed Cone also was in the stands when his son --
coming back from an aneurysm -- pitched seven no-hit innings to win
at Oakland.
"That's a game you had more concern there than during the
streak because I never doubted him," the older Cone said. "He
seems to relax a bit when I'm around him."
Cone agreed.
"He's always had a calming influence on me," he said. "You
don't want to lose in front of your father. He's the person who
taught me to pitch, way back when."
Stottlemyre must have been pleased, too. He had missed a couple
of games while receiving treatment for cancer, but came back to
watch this one before the Yankees left on a road trip to the West
Coast.
A day earlier, Cone visited Strawberry in a New York hospital.
Strawberry, recovering from cancer surgery, got his 1999 World
Series ring and offered Cone some words of wisdom,
"He told me, 'Forget all of the advice you're getting and just
have fun.' That's about the best advice I've heard," Cone said.
Bernie Williams had a two-run single to highlight the big second
inning. The hit made him 9-for-12 with the bases loaded this
season.
"I was hoping that they wouldn't give him anything to work
with," A's manager Art Howe said of Cone. "Once they got the big
lead, he's a veteran and knows how to pitch with a lead."
Glenallen Hill hit a two-run homer in the Yankees fourth. He had
three hits and drove in three runs.
Terrence Long and Matt Stairs also homered for the A's.
Game
notes
Hill made his first defensive appearance for New York,
playing left field. He had no plays. ... Canseco was 0-for-1 for
the Yankees before starting at DH. ... Mulder has won once in his
last eight starts.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Oakland Clubhouse
NY Yankees Clubhouse
Klapisch: The Boss is back
RECAPS
NY Yankees 12
Oakland 6
Tampa Bay 10
Minnesota 4
Detroit 14
Baltimore 3
Seattle 6
Chi. White Sox 3
Toronto 15
Kansas City 7
St. Louis 5
Colorado 4
NY Mets 10
Houston 3
San Diego 15
Philadelphia 3
AUDIO/VIDEO
 David Cone is glad to get the win.
wav: 178 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Jose Canseco received a good introduction to Yankee fans.
wav: 100 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Joe Torre talks about Cone's pitching performance.
wav: 104 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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