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Rain haults possible Yankees win

Jun 29, 2007 - 4:42 AM BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- The New York Yankees will have to wait until another day to snap their four-game slide.

The Yankees had an 8-6 lead when the second rain delay of the night forced their contest against the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday to be suspended in the top of the eighth inning.

Derek Jeter had just put New York ahead with a two-run single when a rain delay of 1 hour, 25 minutes led to the suspension. The game will be continued on July 27 before a regularly scheduled contest between the clubs.

"It's not the ideal conditions, but we didn't give up," Jeter said. "We have been stressing going hard for nine innings."

The Yankees attacked the Orioles' suspect bullpen in the eighth, when lefthander John Parrish walked the first two batters he faced before Melky Cabrera doubled to left, scoring Jorge Posada.

After Robinson Cano's groundout tied the game at 6-6, Baltimore called upon its closer, Chris Ray. The embattled righthander force Andy Phillips to ground to third for the second out but yielded a single to Johnny Damon, who then stole second to put two runners in scoring position.

That's where Jeter came in, sending a single into center to give the Yankees a two-run cushion.

"It was nice to come back after being down," Jeter said. "We had the lead and were confident in (starter Chien-Ming) Wang, especially the way he's been pitching, but the Orioles rallied. We came right back."

"To have the lead and lose it, and then to bounce back the way we did does a lot for our personality," Yankee manager Joe Torre said. "The road trip was horrible, but the last thing we did, and hopefully are still doing, helped us get our personality back."

The night started out great for Baltimore, with starter Daniel Cabrera retiring the first eight batters he faced before Phillips opened the scoring. The No. 9 hitter lifted the eighth pitch he saw into the left field seats for a solo homer. Phillips fouled off six pitches in the at-bat before connecting.

The Orioles countered in the bottom of the third, when Wang issued a one-out walk to Paul Bako, who moved to second on Jay Payton's sacrifice. Brian Roberts put Baltimore on top, 2-1, when he clubbed his fifth homer of the season.

Alex Rodriguez - as he has done so many times this year - got the Yankees back into the game the next inning. Jeter led off with a single and moved to third when Hideki Matsui followed with a base hit to right.

Rodriguez tied the game at 2-2, lifting a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Jeter.

As has been the case throughout his career, Daniel Cabrera got wild as soon as he sensed trouble, walking the next two batters. That loaded the bases for Melky Cabrera, whose groundout to first plated Matsui.

Daniel Cabrera entered Thursday's game tied for the American League lead in walks allowed this season and ranked third in the AL in wild pitches.

The big righthander yielded one more run in the sixth on Damon's RBI single before being replaced by Paul Shuey. Daniel Cabrera allowed four runs and six hits while issuing two walks and striking out a pair in 6 1/3 frames.

Baltimore fought back with a four-run seventh to knock Wang out of the game and take a 6-4 lead. Kevin Millar halved the deficit with an RBI triple that Yankees' right fielder Bobby Abreu misplayed in the corner.

Jay Gibbons doubled home a pair with a drive to right-center, and Corey Patterson - who ran for Gibbons - stole third and came home on catcher Posada's throwing error.

That ended a forgettable outing for Wang, who allowed six runs and nine hits in 6 1/3 innings.

"He had a strange outing," Torre said. "His pitch count was wonderful. He had 57 pitches in the seventh inning. It was incredible."