On the heels of a successful interleague matchup with the Phillies, the Yankees remained at home for a three-game dance with the middling Tigers. With a division lead still in their grasp, albeit a minimal one, these were the kinds of games they needed to win. Thanks to some early noise from the bats, and a vintage performance from Roger Clemens, the Bombers won an easy one, as they inched closer to the 50-win mark on the season.
July 19: Yankees 9, Tigers 1 (box score)
Record: 49-40 (1.5 GA in AL
East)
The Rocket notched a pair of strikeouts to start things on a good note in the first, and Paul O’Neill backed him up in the bottom half when he belted a two-run shot deep into the right field seats. Armed with a 2-0 lead now, Clemens worked around a couple of singles in the second, thanks to an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play.
In the third inning, against Hideo Nomo, the Yankees loaded the bases thanks to hits from Scott Brosius and José Vizcaíno, and a free pass to Chuck Knoblauch. With two outs already in the inning, Derek Jeter cashed in big time when he sliced a ball past the dive of center fielder Juan Encarnación. It was a classic Jeter swing, which cleared the bases, and saw him sliding into third base. The three-run triple put them up, 5-0.
Clemens was perfect again in the third, and Jorge Posada tacked on another run with an RBI knock in the bottom half of the inning. The Tigers’ lone offense for the evening came in the fourth, when Bobby Higginson tagged Clemens with a solo homer, though New York still held a five run advantage.
In their half of the fourth, the Yankees continued to make noise. After a couple of singles from Knoblauch and Jeter started the frame, they scored a run on a double play ball, before David Justice slugged a booming two-run homer into right field, his fourth with the Yankees and 25th overall. From that point on, with a 9-1 lead in tow, Clemens went into cruise control against this Tigers lineup.
Clemens was perfect in the fifth, tallying another K, and was spotless once again in the sixth as he racked up another pair of strikeouts. The Tigers did manage a pair of baserunners in the seventh, but he escaped unscathed with a flyout to center ending the inning. He came back out for the eighth, and although he allowed another single, the Rocket fittingly ended the inning with a swinging strikeout, the 11th of his stellar start. He finished after those eight innings, giving up just the one run on six hits while racking up those 11 K’s on a 118-pitch workload.
With an eight-run lead already in the bag, the Yankees threatened for more in the eighth when they loaded the bases, but they were unable to make anything of the insurance opportunity. It would not be necessary, however, as Darrell Einertson came on to mop things up in the ninth. The Yankee reliever induced a pair of grounders and a fly ball to center to put a cap on this ballgame.
It was win number 49 for the Yankees, 25 years ago today. It was about as easy as they come, as Clemens was electric in his eight strong innings, while nine runs in the first four innings usually lays a nice foundation for a win. The Yanks were back on top in the East, as they continued trying to put the trying start to the summer months behind them.
Read the full 2000 Yankees Diary series here.
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