2000 Diary, July 30: Bombers best Twins in Metrodome

The end of July every year on the baseball calendar also bring upon us the Trade Deadline. However among the cavalcade of rumors that comes along with that every season, players have to keep on playing.

The 2000 Yankees especially had to deal with a ton of rumors, having struggled mightily throughout much of May and June. By the time the end of July came around, they had already likely done their big work with the acquisitions of David Justice, Denny Neagle, José Vizcaíno, and Glenallen Hill, but

you could still never be 100-percent sure. And you just have to keep playing.

On this day 25 years ago, the Yankees did a pretty decent job of just playing.

July 30: Yankees 7, Twins 4 (box score)

Record: 56-44 (3.5 GA in AL East)

As was often the case over the years, the Metrodome proved to be a happy hunting ground for the Yankees on this day. Facing Minnesota starter Joe Mays, the Yankees’ offense got off to a very fast start.

Chuck Knoblauch led off the game with a walk and moved up two bases when Derek Jeter followed that with a single. While Paul O’Neill then grounded out, it was enough to Knoblauch to score on the play, with Jeter being forced out at second. After a single and walk from Bernie Williams and David Justice respectively, Tino Martinez cleared the bases with a double, as the Yankees put up a four spot to start off the game.

Yankees starter Andy Pettitte had to work around some baserunners, but didn’t suffer the same fate as Mays. With Mays having already thrown 70 pitches in three innings, the Twins went to their bullpen and brought in a 21-year old rookie named Johan Santana. While Santana would famously go on to become an ace and a two-time Cy Young winner, at this point he was still a fresh-faced rookie and recent Rule 5 pick with an ERA over six, as he came in for his first career appearance against the Yankees. Santana retired the first Yankees’ batter he faced, but a walk and two singles in the fourth led to Clay Bellinger scoring on an O’Neill hit.

The Twins finally made good on one of their chances to strike against Pettitte in the fifth. With Jason Maxwell on second after a double, he came around to score when Chad Moeller singled him home. However, that was then immediately erased when the Yankees struck again in the sixth.

In the process of getting the first two outs of the sixth, Santana walked Vizcaíno and allowed a single to Knoblauch. That allowed the Yankees to keep the line moving and pick up another pair of runs. O’Neill added another RBI single and a Santana wild pitch with a runner on third.

Minnesota answered back in the bottom half of the inning. Ron Coomer and David Ortiz hit two one-out singles, with an O’Neill throwing error on the second allowing both runners to move up an extra base. I say “throwing error” but it was more that “throw” is a generous way to describe what happened.

The play was of bemusement to several of O’Neill’s Yankees’ teammates ... just maybe not O’Neill himself.

One run then scored on a Torii Hunter groundout, and another on a Jay Canizaro single to get the Twins somewhat back in it.

Pettitte ended up getting another couple outs before exiting in the seventh. While he allowed seven hits and four walks on the day, the Yankee starter was only gotten for the three runs, which is not as bad as things could’ve been.

Jeff Nelson immediately replaced Pettitte, but was pulled after walking the first batter he faced. Mike Stanton came in for him and got through the next 1.1 innings without incident. Joe Torre turned to Mariano Rivera for the ninth, but things briefly got scary when the first two batters of the inning singled. A run did score in the process, but Rivera got the next three batters out to keep things from getting into a genuinely dangerous spot.

The victory took the Yankees’ lead in the AL East to 3.5 games, which was the highest it had been since May, before they had gone into a slump. Another slump was coming, but with an 18-8 July fully behind them thanks to a July 31st offday, the 2000 Yankees had righted the ship.

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Read the full 2000 Yankees Diary series here.

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