Few things in life are as a safe as a five-run Yankee lead in the ninth inning during the Mariano Rivera years. Even so, nothing is perfectly safe, as the Anaheim Angels reminded Yankees fans 25 years ago today. Following a strong start by Roger Clemens in which he tried to complete the complete game, Anaheim battled back against the Yankees closer, forcing what was supposed to be an easy victory into an extra-inning affair that, unfortunately, ended with the Bombers going home empty.
August 18: Yankees
8, Angels 9 (box score)
Record: 66-52 (1st in AL East, 3.0 games ahead)
In many ways, we can divide this game into three discrete parts. The first part, a back-and-forth affair, began with the Angels jumping out to an early lead. Darin Erstad and Orlando Palmiero led off the game with a pair of singles off Yankees starter Roger Clemens, with Erstad coming around to score when Mo Vaughn grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.
That one-run deficit didn’t last long, though. Derek Jeter worked a walk to lead off the bottom of the first, then advanced to second on a Jorge Posada groundout, before ultimately scoring on a Paul O’Neill single up the middle to tie the game at one apiece. The second inning began with a Tino Martinez walk; he would be replaced with Luis Sojo two batters later, as the utility infielder grounded into a fielder’s choice. After José Vizcaíno singled to put runners on first and second with two outs, Ramón Ortiz balked them over to second and third; they would both come around to score on a Jeter line drive single up the middle to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead.
After both pitchers traded zeroes in a quiet third inning, the Angels got one run back in the top of the fourth. Tim Salmon led off the inning with a solo home run. It was the 223rd homer of Salmon’s career, surpassing ‘80s masher Brian Downing and giving him sole possession of the Angels’ franchise record (he would reach 299); the Kingfish would hold that record until Mike Trout became the first player with 300 home runs in an Angels uniform on September 5, 2020.
The back-and-forth portion of the game was just beginning, however. The red-hot Glenallen Hill led off the bottom of the inning with a solo shot of his own. Sojo, Vizcaíno, and Jeter followed that up with three singles; just like that, the Bombers found themselves with a 5-2 lead. The Angels then followed that up with two straight singles and an RBI groundout off the bat of Erstad to cut it to a 5-3 lead. The bottom of the fifth saw Hill hit his second homer of the game, this one a two-run shot, to give the Bombers a 7-3 lead.
Hill’s second homer served as a turning point, as for the next several innings, the Yankees definitively held the upper hand. They tacked on another run in the bottom of the sixth, courtesy of an O’Neill double. Meanwhile, although Clemens did not keep traffic off the basepaths completely, he did nonetheless hold the Angels scoreless. He was pitching so well, in fact, that with the win all but in hand, manager Joe Torre gave him the chance to finish what he started.
And then everything came crashing down around the Yankees. Troy Glaus and Bengie Molina led off the inning with a pair of singles, chasing Clemens from the ballgame; he walked off the mound to a standing ovation from the crowd. Jeff Nelson came in, got Adam Kennedy to fly out for the first out of the inning, but then walked Kevin Stocker to load the bases. With the tying run now on deck and not looking to let things get out of hand, Torre went to his closer. He got the first batter he faced, Erstad, to hit a groundball to third; Sojo stepped on the bag for the second out of the inning, and although a run scored, when you’re up five, you trade a run for an out every time. But then Palmiero doubled in Stocker, and suddenly Mo Vaughn, the tying run, came to the dish.
Most of the time, it doesn’t matter. Give Mariano enough time, and he’ll get the job done. Today was not one of those days. The 1995 AL MVP and former division rival in Boston absolutely walloped a pitch that caught too much of the bat.
For the first time since May 16, 1968, the Yankees had blown a five-run lead in the ninth inning. And after the offense went down quietly in the bottom of the ninth, a surefire win was headed to extras.
Rivera kept the Angels quiet in the top of the tenth, giving the Yankees a chance to walk it off in the bottom of the inning. Hill led off the frame with a single, and Sojo bunted Luis Polonia (who pinch-ran) over to second. Polonia then advanced to third on fly out off the bat of José Canseco (pinch-hitting for Vizcaíno), putting the winning run just ninety feet away. After the Angels intentionally walked Jeter, Posada came to the plate. He laced a long fly ball deep into the left-center field gap, and with Erstad in left playing in, it looked off the bat like the Yankees were going to win. But Erstad raced back, tracked the ball down, and made a sensational diving catch in front of the warning track to send the game into the 11th.
Just minutes after robbing the Yankees in the bottom of the 10th, Erstad came to the plate to break their hearts in the top of the 11th. The former No. 1 draft pick was in the middle of a remarkable breakout in what would be the Cornhusker’s career year, ultimately hitting .355/.409/.491 with an MLB-best 240 hits, good for a 8.7-fWAR campaign. Sure enough, the left fielder took a hanging curveball from Mike Stanton and deposited it into the right-field seats to give the Angels their first lead since the top of the first.
And there it would stay. Stanton battled through traffic on the basepaths to keep the Angels from adding on, but the Yankees went down in order in the bottom of the inning. Just one out away from a nice, easy win, Yankee Stadium went home stunned.
Read the full 2000 Yankees Diary series here.
