A first-place team took the field to start the game at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night, and although that had once been a regular occurrence on September nights in the Bronx, the home fans finally enjoyed celebrating something unusual in the atypical 2005 season.
There was a buzz in a large, loud crowd savoring the Yankees' new status atop the American League East standings, but it turned to unease when the game entered the bottom of the sixth inning with the score tied. Would the Yankees' sole possession of first place be as fleeting as before? Twice this season, on April 3 and on July 18, the Yankees held first place for just one day.
Nine Yankees batters and several runs later, the Yankee Stadium stands, home to some of the most experienced front-runners in sports, were full of rejoicing fans again. After a long march to the top, the Yankees did not squander the chance to gain a meager foothold on first place, outlasting the Baltimore Orioles, 7-6, behind two home runs by Jorge Posada.
There was another reason to celebrate for Yankees fans. On Thursday, they welcomed back starter Mike Mussina, who had not pitched in more than three weeks because of an inflamed elbow. Mussina (13-8) was extraordinarily precise and commanding in earning the victory, giving up four hits, no walks and one unearned run in six strong innings.
"It was magnificent," Yankees manager Joe Torre said of Mussina's performance, which also included six strikeouts. "It was a sensational job."
The victory, earned despite some shaky relief work by Al Leiter, extended the Yankees' lead over the Boston Red Sox, who were idle Thursday, to one game. The Yankees swept the four-game series with Baltimore and have won 10 of their last 11 games.
With Mussina's return deemed pivotal to the Yankees' run to a postseason berth and beyond, his outing Thursday provided some extra resolve to an already confident Yankees clubhouse.
"He looked so relaxed and smooth," Posada said. "It seemed like he'd never left. It seemed like he was doing what he wanted to do, throwing the pitches he wanted to throw, most of the time."
Mussina, ever the perfectionist, agreed -- almost.
"I could get the fastball inside on people and the curveball came back," Mussina said. "The changeup was better than it had been in awhile. I had to learn whether I could do this or whether I could not. And if I didn't go out there soon, there wasn't going to any reason to go out there at all.
"So to that extent, I feel good. I feel like I can help the team."
When Mussina left the game after six innings, the score was tied, 1-1. But the Yankees' Robinson Cano began the bottom of the sixth with a scorching one-hop ground ball at Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada that bounced off Tejada's chest for an error.
Gary Sheffield added an opposite-field single and Hideki Matsui then laced a single to right field against Baltimore starter Bruce Chen (12-10), scoring Cano. Posada, who came into the game 3 for 12 in his career against Chen, then hit a 3-2 pitch into the left-field grandstand for his 19th home run of the season and a 5-1 Yankees lead. Posada had tied the score at 1-1 with a solo homer in the fifth inning.
The Yankees added two runs in the seventh inning when Cano tripled and scored on an infield groundout, and Sheffield hit his 30th home run of the season.
The Orioles mounted a comeback with four runs in the eighth inning off Leiter, who had relieved Mussina to begin the seventh. After Leiter pitched one scoreless inning, he walked two to begin the eighth, and Tejada, Jay Gibbons and Javy Lopez each had a run batted in. Tanyon Sturtze completed the inning for Leiter. Tom Gordon came on to close the game in the ninth inning, yielding a solo homer to Melvin Mora on his way to preserving the Yankees lead.
ahead of the hitters
The Orioles' comeback could not overshadow one of Mussina's most polished performances of the season. With good control of his fastball, Mussina was ahead of most hitters, throwing first-pitch strikes to 19 of the 24 batters he faced. Once ahead in the count, Mussina coaxed several Orioles to chase breaking balls out of the strike zone for easy outs. In the second inning, Mussina threw just nine pitches.
By the third inning, Mussina was still getting ahead of hitters, but Derek Jeter bungled a potential double-play ball for an error that led to a 1-0 Baltimore lead.
Mussina continued to dominate the Orioles, striking out the side in the fourth inning. Mussina's time on the mound in the fifth was also brief, helped by Alex Rodriguez's diving stab of a hard ground ball off the bat of Bernie Castro to end the inning.
The Yankees, meanwhile, were struggling against Chen, who had retired 12 consecutive until Posada's fifth-inning homer.
INDIANS 11, ROYALS 6
Travis Hafner hit his sixth home run in five games and Coco Crisp added a two-run shot to lead Cleveland past Kansas City 11-6 on Thursday, moving the Indians within 1.5 games of first-place Chicago in the American League Central.
Cliff Lee (18-4) won his ninth straight decision and the Indians won for the 15th time in 17 games. The White Sox, who were 15 games ahead of the Indians on Aug. 1, lost 4-1 to Minnesota in 11 innings, their 10th loss in 14 games.
Lee allowed six runs and a season-high 10 hits in 6 2-3 innings, including light-hitting Mark Teahen's grand slam that tied it at 5 in the fourth. His winning percentage of .818 leads the AL.
The loss was the 100th for the Royals, who have reached that figure three of the past four seasons.
Hafner connected off Runelvys Hernandez for a three-run shot in the third, his 31st of the year that put the Indians ahead 4-1. He picked up a fourth RBI when he walked with the bases loaded in the eighth.
After Grady Sizemore's RBI double put Cleveland ahead 5-1 in the fourth, Teahen tied it in the bottom of the inning with his first career grand slam.
Sizemore, who was 5-for-6, greeted Andrew Sisco (2-4) with a leadoff single in the seventh. Crisp then hit a 3-2 pitch over the wall in center to make it 7-6.
Twins 4, White Sox 1, 11 innings
At Chicago, Matthew LeCroy hit a go-ahead RBI single in a three-run 11th inning and Minnesota sent Chicago to another crushing defeat.
The White Sox's lead in the AL Central over Cleveland dropped to 1.5 games. The Indians beat Kansas City 11-6.
Chicago loaded the bases in the ninth and had runners on first and second in the 10th, but couldn't score.
Lew Ford got a leadoff double in the 11th off Bobby Jenks (1-1). After Joe Mauer was intentionally walked with one out, LeCroy singled to break a 1-1 tie. Jacque Jones, who had homered earlier, then drove a two-run double to right-center.
Jesse Crain (11-5), who got out of the 10th-inning jam by getting Tadahito Iguchi to hit into a double play, picked up the win. Joe Nathan pitched the 11th for his 39th save.
Minnesota ace Johan Santana and Chicago rookie Brandon McCarthy dueled for eight innings, each allowing one run and four hits.
Angels 7, Rangers 4
At Anaheim, California, Adam Kennedy singled in the go-ahead run with the bases loaded and Chone Figgins added a two-run single later in the sixth inning to help Los Angeles to its sixth straight victory.
The Angels increased their lead in the AL West to three games over idle Oakland with their 40th comeback win.
Ervin Santana (10-8) allowed three runs and six hits, striking out three and walking two in six innings. The right-hander became the first Angels' rookie to win 10 games since Jason Dickson won 13 in 1997.
Kelvim Escobar pitched three innings to record his first save of the season.
Edison Volquez (0-4) gave up three runs and four hits in six innings.
The Angels scored all their runs with two outs.
Jon Lieber pitched eight scoreless innings and the Philadelphia Phillies scored four runs off Tim Hudson in the ninth to take another series from Atlanta, beating the Braves 4-0 on Thursday.
Jimmy Rollins led off with a single, extending his hitting streak to a post-1900 franchise-record 27 games, and Philadelphia wound up winning two of three at Turner Field, closing within four games of Atlanta in the National League East division with nine left.
Philadelphia remained two games behind Houston in the wild-card race, after the Astros completed a sweep in Pittsburgh.
Hudson (13-9) got two outs in the ninth, only to get tagged by two straight pinch-hitters. Michael Tucker singled in the game's first run and Shane Victorino followed with his first career homer, a three-run shot that knocked out Hudson.
The Braves didn't do much against Lieber (16-12), who had beaten them three times this season. Lieber struck out seven and didn't walk anyone.
Astros 2, Pirates 1
At Pittsburgh, Brandon Backe made his second successive strong start to help Houston hold its lead in the NL wild-card race with an eighth win in nine games.
The Astros lead Philadelphia by two games in the race for the NL's fourth playoff spot.
Backe (10-8) limited the Pirates to one run and two hits over seven innings and Brad Lidge earned his 38th save in 41 opportunities. Lance Berkman drove in two early runs against Zach Duke (6-2), and the Astros made them stand up.
Backe struck out six and walked none, allowing only Craig Wilson's solo homer in the fifth and Daryle Ward's harmless single in the second. Backe has allowed one run in 13 2-3 innings.
Marlins 2, Mets 1
At New York, Dontrelle Willis won his major league-leading 22nd game and kept Florida's flickering NL wild-card hopes alive, allowing five hits over eight innings.
Florida, which lost the first two games of this series, remained four games behind Houston and two behind Philadelphia in the wild-card race. All three teams have nine games to play.
Willis (22-9) ran his record to 8-1 since Aug. 1. He walked two and struck out seven. Todd Jones pitched the ninth for his 38th save.
Willis, hitting .250 this season (22-for-88) batted seventh in a Marlins lineup that was missing three regulars and singled in the fourth inning. He hit eighth in his previous start.
Mets starter Pedro Martinez (15-8) allowed two runs in five innings as he was held to 75 pitches.
Ramon Castro homered for the Mets.
Rockies 4, Padres 2
At Denver, Aaron Cook took a shutout into the ninth inning and Todd Helton hit a two-run homer in a Colorado win which dropped the NL West-leading San Diego Padres back to .500.
Cook (6-1) allowed 10 hits and two runs in eight-plus inning. He won his sixth straight decision, which set a career high and a franchise record. Brian Fuentes got three outs for his 30th save.
Helton's two-run homer to right field off Adam Eaton in the seventh inning gave the Rockies its 4-0 lead. Eaton (10-5) then was pulled after allowing four runs and seven hits over 6 1-3 innings.
Clint Barmes and Cory Sullivan also had RBI hits. Joe Randa had three hits for the Padres.
Cubs 3, Brewers 0
At Milwaukee, Greg Maddux kept up his bid for another season with 15 wins, mixing efficient work on the mound with a quick glove to lead Chicago.
Maddux (13-13) has posted at least 15 victories in a record 17 seasons. The Cubs have nine games left this year, and manager Dusty Baker had said he would give Maddux every opportunity to keep the string going.
Maddux earned his 318th career win, tying him with Phil Niekro for 15th on the all-time list.
Throwing only 78 pitches, Maddux held Milwaukee to four hits in eight innings while striking out four and walking none. Ryan Dempster pitched the ninth for his 29th save in 31 opportunities
Rick Helling (2-1) gave up Neifi Perez's RBI double in the third, and two innings later conceded a run on a wild pitch, then Todd Walker's sacrifice fly gave Chicago a 3-0 lead.
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