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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) -- Rookie Matt Kinney and boyhood idol Roger
Clemens both pitched well enough to win. Instead, Torii Hunter stole
it with his legs -- and help from reliever Mariano Rivera.
|  | | Torii Hunter scores the deciding run for the Twins in the 10th inning on Denny Hocking's single. |
Hunter drew a two-out walk, swiped second on Rivera's mental
lapse and scored on pinch-hitter Denny Hocking's single in the 10th
inning to lift the Minnesota Twins to a 2-1 victory over the New York Yankees on Sunday.
"We beat ourselves with that play," Yankees manager Joe Torre
said.
The Twins stopped a four-game losing streak and ended New York's
three-game winning string. The Yankees had five hits, the Twins
four, and there was a 54-minute rain delay in the middle of the
eighth.
After Hunter walked, he broke for second with Rivera (7-4) still
in the set position. But Rivera did not notice until it was too
late, and then threw to first baseman Tino Martinez, who had no
play.
"There was a lot of crowd noise, the dirt on the mound was
muddy and I decided I was going," Hunter said. "I was counting -- one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three -- and going
on three no matter what.
"When I started, I could hear Tino yelling for him to throw the
ball. But he was just holding it. I don't know what he was
thinking," he said. "After I got three or four steps, I knew I
had it stolen."
It was only Hunter's third stolen base in five tries.
"No, I didn't see him. I take my eyes off him," Rivera said.
"Tino yell for me to throw. I was on my way to first, I couldn't
do anything. If I go to second, it's a balk."
After an intentional walk to Jacque Jones, Hocking delivered his
team-high seventh pinch-hit in 20 tries.
"Being a bench player, I had been preparing myself since the
fifth inning for an at-bat," Hocking said. "Trying to go up there
and do it against Rivera, that's tough."
Eddie Guardado (5-3) pitched 2 1/3 innings and LaTroy Hawkins
got two outs for his 10th save.
Hunter, who made two sensational catches in center field during
Saturday's 13-4 loss, tracked down Bernie Williams' fly with
runners on first and second to end it.
Martinez homered in the Yankees' second and almost won it in the
ninth, lining a drive off the top of the right-field wall for a
single.
Clemens pitched himself in position to earn his 259th career
victory and Kinney could have picked up his first major league win.
Instead, they both wound up with no-decisions.
Clemens allowed three hits in eight innings, striking out eight
and walking one. His 3.53 ERA puts him second in the AL to Pedro
Martinez (1.68).
A home run by Ron Coomer in a drizzle to open the seventh was
Clemens' only blemish, and he left after the rain delay.
"I wasn't slipping then, but my hands and glove were getting
wet," Clemens said.
Clemens exited with his seven-game winning streak intact. He has
not lost in 13 starts since June 9.
Kinney, who grew up in Maine following Clemens, nearly matched
his hero -- in statistics and style -- in his third major league
start.
"Early on, I had some butterflies," Kinney, a 23-year-old right-hander, admitted.
Kinney gave up just two hits in six innings. He
worked around five walks without rattling and struck out four.
Kinney stood on the rubber in close fashion to Clemens, with
both feet square to the plate. The 6-foot-5 rookie's drop-and-drive
release made him look like the Rocket, too.
Kinney was drafted by Boston in 1995 and traded to the Twins on
July 31, 1998, in a package for Greg Swindell.
"I grew up as a die-hard Red Sox fan and saw Roger all the
time," Kinney said. "I never really got to talk to him when I was
in the Boston system, but you pick up things watching a guy your
whole life."
Game notes
Yankees 2B Chuck Knoblauch briefly tested his ailing right
elbow during infield practice, making throws to first base. "I
only let it go once or twice," he said. It's still uncertain when
he'll be able to play in a game. ... Kinney was a combined 11-3 at
Double-A and Triple-A this season before losing his big league
debut Aug. 18 at Toronto.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Minnesota Clubhouse
NY Yankees Clubhouse
Steinbrenner's comments anger injured Knoblauch
RECAPS
Cleveland 12
Baltimore 11
Texas 4
Detroit 1
Minnesota 2
NY Yankees 1
Oakland 4
Toronto 3
Kansas City 8
Tampa Bay 2
Chi. White Sox 13
Anaheim 12
Seattle 5
Boston 0
Cincinnati 8
Montreal 1
St. Louis 4
NY Mets 3
Milwaukee 6
Colorado 4
Houston 9
Atlanta 3
Pittsburgh 8
San Diego 6
San Francisco 5
Chicago Cubs 2
Arizona 10
Florida 5
Los Angeles 6
Philadelphia 1
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