CLEVELAND -- They left Jacobs Field without boasting or gloating, but the Yankees knew they had just delivered a powerful message to the Indians. After a 6-5 win on Wednesday, completing a three-game sweep of their rivals from the Central Division, the Bombers served notice that their five-year golden era isn't anywhere close to ending.
In fact, the prospects for a Yankee decline in 2000 seem more remote than ever, considering they're last in the East in hitting and fielding -- yet have the best record in the American League.
|  | | Mark Whiten misplayed Shane Spencer's drive, leading to the Yankees' winning rally in the ninth. |
How? Why? Don't ask the Indians, who watched in disbelief as the Bombers scored five runs in the last three innings, fattening their record to 18-8. The Yankees were trailing 5-1 with only nine outs to go, but as Shane Spencer put it, "We never think we're down, no matter how late it is in the game."
That's the bi-product of three World Series rings in the last four years. That, and the steady, dignified leadership that flows directly from the manager's office. Joe Torre said Wednesday's comeback "didn't surprise me at all, because we've turned around a lot of games that've seemed hopeless."
Still, the Indians must be wondering if the Yankees are blessed -- or even possessed. In the first game of the series on Monday, the Bombers triumphed 2-1 on a night when Mariano Rivera had runners on second and third and no outs in the ninth.
All Rivera did was strike out Richie Sexson, then wriggled free altogether when Travis Fryman hit a bullet line drive to left field. Spencer caught the ball on the run -- and looked up in amazement to see pinch-runner Alex Ramirez, who'd been on second, standing on third, having failed to wait for the ball to drop before running.
Spencer quickly threw to Derek Jeter, who stepped on second for the game-ending double play. The Yankees mobbed each other afterward, and Rivera sheepishly admitted he had no idea why the Yankees seemed so charmed.
"I don't know, man. I can't explain it, except that we're good people," Rivera said.
David Cone seemed just as amazed.
"There's something about this team that goes beyond the numbers," said the right-hander, who allowed five runs in six innings on Wednesday. "We win a lot of games in the late innings because we have so many clutch players."
Cone was, in part, referring to the Yankee bullpen, which is easily the AL's best. Propelled by Rivera -- last year's AL leader in saves, save percentage and relief ERA -- the Bombers' relief corps is a perfect 8-0 this year, the only bullpen in the big leagues still undefeated.
Yankee relievers have given up the fewest home runs in the majors (two) and the AL's fewest hits (67), and made history by becoming the big leagues' first bullpen crew to go through the entire month of April without being charged with a loss.
No wonder Paul O'Neill says, "When we get into the late innings, we feel that we're going to win every single game. Our relievers are better than the other team's. It's as simple as that."
The bullpen was instrumental in the Yankees' 4-2 win over Cleveland on Tuesday -- another unlikely victory considering Chuck Knoblauch and Jorge Posada were both out of the starting lineup, and Andy Pettitte was facing an assembly of Indians hitters that'd beaten him five times in his career, more than any other club in the AL.
In fact, the Yankees learned that Knoblauch is probably headed for the disabled list with a sprained left hand. Torre's solution? He batted Ricky Ledee in the leadoff spot, despite his 0-for-13 slump, and leaned on the little-used Wilson Delgado at second base.
Both of Torre's gambles paid overwhelming dividends. Ledee smacked a two-run homer off Steve Reed, although it was Delgado who broke the Indians' spirits with a two-run double in the fifth inning. It was only the fifth extra-base hit of Delgado's young career -- one that could become important to the Yankees if Knoblauch is out for an extended period of time.
By Wednesday, then, the Yankees were primed for the sweep, although Cone allowed the Indians to run out to that 5-1 lead. The Bombers played their worst game of the series in the field, as both Posada and Gold Glove winner Scott Brosius misplayed throws from the outfield which eventually cost Cone runs.
Yet, the Yankee bullpen again prevailed -- this time as Jason Grimsley pitched two scoreless innings as the Bombers closed to within 5-4. Incredibly, though, the Yankees were only two outs away from a defeat, as Steve Karsay started the ninth by striking out Posada. But then came hurricane of Yankee-karma:
Spencer launched the first triple of his career, helped by Mark Whiten mistiming his leap at the center-field wall. Brosius' RBI single tied the game, and when Ledee rifled a shot to right-center, it was Whiten who once again sabotaged the Indians, dropping what could have been the game's final out.
Instead, Brosius scored all the way from first, giving the Yankees a 6-5 lead. Rivera arrived to -- what else? -- smother the Indians in the bottom half of the inning, picking up his 10th save of the season and third in three nights.
The Yankees shaved, showered and left Jacobs Field as bulletproof as ever. They paid the Indians all the proper respect, and noted that neither Chuck Finley nor Bartolo Colon pitched against them in the series.
Still, no one in the room dared to argue with Jeter when he said, "This team is as hungry for wins as it was (in 1996). No one here gives up, ever."
Bob Klapisch of the Bergen (N.J.) Record will write his "Baseball in the Big Apple" columns periodically throughout the season. | |
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