To this point in the 2000 season, the Yankees had built themselves enough of a cushion to largely coast to the finish, though in this particular stretch, they were not making it easy on themselves. They had just come off of a 1-3 series against Cleveland, which featured a near no-hitter against them, and followed it up with a 13-run blowout loss at the hands of the Blue Jays, who were still alive behind them in the East.
Twenty-five years ago, with a still-scuffling David Cone on the mound, the Yanks
took another beating, as their late-season woes continued north of the border.
September 20: Yankees 2, Blue Jays 7 (box score)
Record: 85-65 (1st in AL East, 5.5 games ahead)
The Jays offense hit the ground running at SkyDome against Cone, as they went ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the first, thanks to a run-scoring double play off the bat of future big-league skipper Dave Martinez — a name we’d be hearing an awful lot in this one.
The Yankees followed up by cashing in on Bernie Williams’ leadoff double in the second, as he eventually scored thanks to an E6 to tie the ballgame at one. Cone, however, continued to struggle against the deep Jays lineup. After a hit-by-pitch started the inning, the Dave-on-Dave crime continued with Martinez roping an RBI triple to put the Jays on top 2-1. He scored in the next at-bat, thanks to a sac fly from Carlos Delgado.
The stormy waters did not subside for Cone in the fourth, as the frame began with two more baserunners for the Jays. The real damage began with Mickey Morandini’s single to the right side, which scored a run. Alex Gonzalez followed later with a two-bagger into left-center that scored another and had the Jays ahead 5-1. That double knocked Cone out of the game in favor of Dwight Gooden, who immediately surrendered a run-scoring double to the red-hot Martinez. The Yankees were falling out of reach in this one, now trailing 7-1.
Those final two runs also went on Cone’s tab for the night, as he was unable to finish four innings of work, giving up seven earned runs on six hits by the Blue Jays. This was the second consecutive outing for Cone in which he allowed at least six runs, and the third in his last five starts. As the regular season was close to wrapping up, the one-time ace was far from in peak form (following a brief resurgence that was halted in its tracks by injury).
While Cone was struggling to find his footing, Esteban Loaiza was seamlessly flowing through the Yankees lineup. Beyond the quiet early run the Yankees scored, the right-hander kept them mostly silent throughout this one. The Yanks had a chance with a couple of runners on in the third, but Loaiza worked out of it, before working a 1-2-3 fourth. The Toronto pitcher ultimately completed seven innings for the Jays, finishing off his outing with the help of a double play ball in the seventh, one of three the Yankees rolled into in this one. He allowed just the single unearned run across his solid outing.
The Yankees finally put another tally in the run column in the ninth, when Luis Polonia singled home Scott Brosius after his double. Still trailing by five runs, however, the RBI knock was a moot point, as Billy Koch finished off the Yanks in the ninth to secure the 7-2 victory.
The Yankees’ fourth loss in as many games was part of a much larger slog that closed out the 2000 regular season. They had built enough of a lead that they were still ahead 5.5 games in the East to this point, but shaky would be a friendly way to describe this stretch for the eventual champs.
Read the full 2000 Yankees Diary series here.
