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Jeter bails out Rivera in Yankees win over Orioles

Aug 14, 2007 - 4:06 AM By Larry Fleisher PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BRONX, New York (Ticker) - Since the All-Star break the New York Yankees have led the majors in many categories. Blown saves and game-winning infield hits were not among them.

After Mariano Rivera blew his first save in nearly four months, Derek Jeter's infield single with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning scored Melky Cabrera as the Yankees opened a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles with a dramatic 7-6 victory on Monday night.

The Yankees won for the ninth time in their last 10 games and also improved to a major league-best 24-8 since reaching the All-Star break at 43-43.

A majority of those wins have seen the formula of power hitting and reliable performances from Rivera but the opener against the Orioles, who posted two victories over Boston in their final at-bat was anything but easy.

"That's why it's important to win yesterday," Yankees manager Joe Torre said after his team's fifth walk-off win. "You just carry that over. We've been on the balls of our feet, we're not waiting for something to happen. We're making things happen."

The Orioles opened a 3-0 lead in the first inning only to see it erased. They twice made it a one-run game, getting within 6-5 on a pair of wild pitches by Ron Villone in the seventh.

"It just goes to show you, we're not going to give the game away," Baltimore manager Dave Tremblay said. "We're not going to give at-bats away."

That set the stage for their meeting with Rivera, who had been virtually automatic in converting his last 19 save opportunities dating to April 20.

Rivera ran into trouble instantly as Melvin Mora singled to right-center field and took second on a groundout. Tike Redman, who had scored in the seventh, came up and lined a single Cabrera, who threw a perfect relay throw from center field to catcher Jorge Posada.

"Everybody knows he throws a cutter," Redman said. "I've never faced him, just seen him a lot on TV. That's the best cutter I've ever seen. It just got in on me."

"I coached third base for a long time," said Tremblay, whose team is 10-23 in one-run contests. "It's easy to second-guess the play. I think you play to win the game when you're on the road."

Cabrera's outstanding throw prevented the game from being tied, but Brian Roberts singled to shallow right center and right fielder Bobby Abreu's throw was off-target as Redman scored.

The Orioles failed to scored another run when Corey Patterson flied out and Chad Bradford (1-5) came in to get the game into extra innings. He got the first out but coincidentally as the scoreboard showed that Kyle Farnsworth was warming up, the Yankees began their rally.

Cabrera started the rally when he was plunked by Bradford and went to third on pinch hitter Jason Giambi's single to right. Moments later, he scored when Jeter hit a squibber that went off Bradford's glove.

"My approach (was) to get a strike and hit it," said Jeter, whose infield hit also defeated Pittsburgh in the 10th inning on June 8. "It wasn't a strike and I didn't hit too well. You're not always going to hit it hard but just hit it in the right spot."

"It's great," Rivera said. "Today I wasn't able to hold the lead, so the guys came back and scored."

Not only did Jeter's hit extend New York's latest winning streak to four games, it gave Rivera (3-3) the victory and showed that the Yankees can win one-run games. They improved to a season-high 16 games over .500 (67-51) and have won six of their last eight games decided by a run.

"That's good," Abreu said. "I think with no matter what we're trying to win the game and how we ended it today was a little emotional for everybody. I think no matter what we showed (the resiliency) to just win the games.

Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie, who beat New York on July 27 when he outpitched Andy Pettitte and limited them to two runs and six hits in six innings of a 4-2 victory, was not nearly as effective in this one.

In his subsequent two starts, Guthrie allowed nine runs and 17 hits in 9 1/3 innings against Boston and Seattle and early on, he was not sharp.

Staked to a 3-0 lead, Guthrie gave up a two-run home run to Abreu with one out in the first and a two-run shot to newly acquired Wilson Betemit with one out in the second.

That put the Yankees in front 4-3 and they added to their lead when Cabrera extended his career-high hitting streak to 18 games with a two-out double in the fourth.

The Yankees added another run in the fifth when Posada's RBI single knocked out Guthrie, who allowed six runs and nine hits in just 4 2/3 innings.

Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang, who allowed eight runs and nine hits in 2 2/3 innings last Wednesday in Toronto, gave up five runs and seven hits in six-plus frames.

The righthander opened the game by allowing the first four Orioles to reach and faced a 2-0 deficit on Miguel Tejada's RBI single. Wang gave up another run when Kevin Millar bounced into a double play but that began a stretch in which he recorded nine of the next 14 outs on the ground.

That stretch ended when Corey Patterson homered in the fifth to cut the Yankees lead to 5-4, and the lead appeared to be in jeopardy when Nick Markakis walked on four straight pitches. But Wang retired Tejada on inning-ending groundout and worked around a one-out single to Aubrey Huff in the sixth.

Wang's night ended when Redman opened the seventh with a base hit. Villone recorded the first out but threw a pair of wild pitches that allowed Redman to score.

After allowing Redman to make it a one-run game, Villone needed one pitch to retire Markakis on a groundout to second.

Before Rivera blew his third save, rookie Joba Chamberlain made his Yankee Stadium debut and struck out two in the eighth.