Every game matters, but sometimes, the final score is less important than the events that occur within. With a six-game lead in the American League East, the 2000 Yankees were in the driver’s seat; barring a late-season collapse, their fourth division title in five years was all but assured. Because of this, despite beating the Kansas City Royals 4-3, the Bronx held its collective breath on September 4th, as star center fielder Bernie Williams left early after straining his rib cage for the second
time in less than three weeks.
September 4: Yankees 4, Royals 3 (box score)
Record: 77-57 (1st in AL East, 6.0 games ahead)
Derek Jeter worked a five-pitch walk to lead off the top of the first, and Jorge Posada followed that up with a single to give the Yankees first and second with nobody out to start the game against Royals starter Mac Suzuki. Paul O’Neill grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, however, and Bernie struck out swinging — straining his rib cage in the process — as the Bombers came up empty after such a promising start. Meanwhile, in the bottom half of the inning, Mike Sweeney grounded a two-out single up the middle off Yankee starter Andy Pettitte, only to be thrown out at home on a Jermaine Dye double to left field to end the inning. Although both teams threatened early, both pitchers emerged unscathed.
Such happenings would become the trend for the evening. Despite combining for 26 baserunners, the Yankees and Royals managed a total of seven runs, thanks to a combination of good defense and solid situational pitching by both teams’ starters.
The Yankees managed to strike first with a rally in the top of the fourth. Posada led off the inning with a double, advancing to third on a wild pitch. After O’Neill struck out swinging, Clay Bellinger (who took over in center) worked a walk, momentarily easing concerns about losing Bernie from the heart of the order. A David Justice single scored Posada and sent Bellinger to third, and a Tino Martinez 6-3 groundout plated Bellinger. Just like that, the Yankees had a 2-0 lead.
Kansas City struck back immediately, however. Sweeney singled up the middle with one out in the bottom of the fourth, and this time, he did not attempt to score on a two-bagger from Dye, but remained at third. After Mark Quinn popped out to Tino for out number two, Joe Randa lined a single to center that drove in both runners and tied the game at two apiece.
The Bombers recaptured the lead in the next half-inning, courtesy of a Jeter single and a Posada RBI double, both of which came with two outs. Two innings later, in the bottom of the seventh, the Captain added an insurance run, driving in Luis Sojo on a sacrifice fly, extending the Yankees’ lead to 4-2.
As it turned out, that insurance run would matter. After successfully navigating baserunners across the first seven innings — thanks in part to a 1-3 double play on a line drive off the bat of Carlos Febles to end the seventh — Pettitte reached the end of his rope in the bottom of the eighth. Future teammate Johnny Damon led off the inning with a double, and after Pettitte fanned a pinch-hitting Carlos Beltrán, Joe Torre called on Jeff Nelson (despite Pettitte’s attempt to persuade his manager to keep him in). With Sweeney at the plate, Damon stole third, allowing him to score when the designated hitter reached on a rare error by Martinez. While Nelson escaped without surrendering another run, the Yankees’ lead had shrunk to just one run.
After the Yankees failed to add another insurance run in the top of the ninth, and that almost came back to bite them in the end. The oh-so-reliable Mariano Rivera looked very mortal, as he loaded the bases on a Dave McCarty leadoff single, a two-out walk from Damon, and a Wilson Delgado single up the middle. Fortunately, Sweeney lined out to Bellinger in center, and the Yankees let out a sigh of relief — for the ballgame, at least, as everyone began to worry about Bernie’s availability for the rest of September … and beyond.
Read the full 2000 Yankees Diary series here.
