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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
BALTIMORE (AP) – Roger Clemens knew from the moment he walked
onto the mound that it was going to be a difficult night.
|  | | Paul O'Neill fouls off a pitch delivered by the Orioles' Pat Hentgen. |
The right-hander knew he didn't have his best stuff, so he set
out merely to keep the New York Yankees within striking distance.
In that regard, he got the job done.
Scott Brosius hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning as
the Yankees rallied against the Baltimore bullpen for a 6-5 victory
Friday night.
Paul O'Neill had a single, double and triple for the Yankees,
who have won six of eight. Batting in the eighth inning with a
chance to hit for the cycle, O'Neill flied out to the warning track
in dead center.
Clemens allowed five runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings,
numbers not usually associated with the future Hall of Famer. But
he left with New York still in striking distance, which was enough
on this night.
"It was difficult," Clemens said. "I think one time in spring
training I felt like this coming out of the bullpen. It's just a
situation where I had to be as stingy as I could. I was fortunate
to make enough good pitches to keep us in it.
"That's a game where, earlier in my career, I might have blown
up a little bit or got frustrated. In that situation, you can
either throw the towel in or buckle down. I was able to keep it
close, and our hitters were able to push across the winning run."
The Yankees trailed 5-3 before scoring twice in the seventh, and
Brosius capped the comeback with his fourth homer of the season and
second in two nights.
Jeff Conine hit his second homer in two games for the Orioles,
and Jerry Hairston and Brook Fordyce both had three hits. But it
wasn't enough to prevent the Orioles from losing their third
straight.
"Coming in against a guy like Roger Clemens, it's easy to be
intimidated, especially if you're a young, inexperienced team,"
manager Mike Hargrove said. "But our guys came out from the first
pitch. A break here and there, and we would have won the game."
Effective bullpen work also would have helped.
Baltimore starter Pat Hentgen, who came in 13-3 lifetime against
New York, left after six innings with a 5-3 lead. But relievers
Buddy Groom and Chad Paronto quickly blew the advantage.
In the seventh, O'Neill tripled off Groom and scored on a single
by Bernie Williams. Jorge Posada then tied it with a two-out RBI
double.
Brosius led off the eighth by hitting the fourth pitch from
Paronto (1-2) over the left-field wall. The Yankees then loaded the
bases before pinch-hitter Alfonso Soriano flied out.
Clemens walked one and struck out six. Mike Stanton (2-1)
followed with two innings of hitless relief and Mariano Rivera got
four outs for his eighth save.
Derek Jeter, who entered in a 1-for-15 skid, had two hits and
two walks for the Yankees. His steal in the eighth enabled New York
to become the first AL team since the 1976 Oakland A's to have at
least one stolen base in 15 straight games.
Baltimore took a 4-2 lead in the fourth, putting runners on
first and third before Melvin Mora hit a sacrifice fly and Fordyce
snapped a 4-for-43 slide with a two-out RBI single.
Hentgen retired the first two Yankees in the sixth before Luis
Sojo and Brosius singled. Chuck Knoblauch then broke a 1-for-23
drought with an RBI double before Jeter looked at a third strike.
Hairston chased Clemens in the bottom half with a two-out RBI
single for a 5-3 lead.
Tino Martinez hit an RBI single in the first inning. Conine's
two-run shot in the Orioles' half marked the first time in 29
starts that Clemens yielded a first-inning homer.
"It was a slider down the middle. That's inexcusable," Clemens
said.
New York made it 2-2 in the third on successive doubles by Jeter
and O'Neill.
Game notes
The last NL team to have steals in 15 straight games was
the 1997 Cincinnati Reds. ... New York's David Justice went 0-for-4
to extend his skid to 4-for-39. ... Baltimore RHP Sidney Ponson,
who threw four shutout innings in a rehabilitation assignment with
Double-A Bowie, will likely come off the 15-day disabled list
Wednesday. ... Soriano, nursing a sore hamstring, missed his first
start of the season. He was the only rookie in the majors -- and
lone Yankee -- to play in every inning this season.
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OTHER GAMES
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RECAPS
NY Yankees 6
Baltimore 5
Cleveland 8
Tampa Bay 6
Minnesota 6
Kansas City 2
Chi. White Sox 0
Texas 0
Anaheim 7
Detroit 5
Oakland 7
Boston 3
Toronto 8
Seattle 3
Chicago Cubs 4
Los Angeles 0
San Diego 11
Cincinnati 5
Florida 9
Milwaukee 6
Houston 8
Montreal 4
San Francisco 4
Philadelphia 2
Colorado 9
Pittsburgh 3
NY Mets 4
Arizona 2
St. Louis 4
Atlanta 2
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