Game 126: Aug 23, 1999 (L: 21-3)
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My Commentary

Oh dear god!  That's about all I have to say.  Except the Rangers up there should be replaced by "Palmeiro" who had all 3 RBI's.

-- Joe Siegler

Game Recap

ARLINGTON, TEXAS (TICKER) -- One week after sending a message to a fellow postseason contender, the Texas Rangers received one from the New York Yankees.

Joe Girardi and Scott Brosius broke out of extended slumps by combining for eight hits and 13 RBI as the Yankees cooled off the Rangers with a 21-3 rout in a battle of division leaders.

Tino Martinez went 4-for-6 with his 19th home run and four RBI to fuel New York's season-high 23-hit attack. The Yankees won for the eighth time in their last 10 games at The Ballpark at Arlington.

Girardi and Brosius had combined for only two hits in their previous 54 at-bats before exploding against John Burkett (4-7) and five relievers. Girardi, whose wife is expecting the couple's first child, had four hits and a career-high seven RBI to raise his average from .209 to .226.

"Obviously it's exciting to have this type of game," Girardi said. "It was the best game of my career offensively. Tonight, I was just very fortunate."

Brosius also was 4-for-6 with a career-best six RBI and four runs scored.

"These type of games don't come along often. When they do, you just try to let them steamroll," he said. "We just tried to ride the wave and enjoy the game. Every ball that was hit hard found a hole. These games just happen sometimes. We know we still have two games left in this series."

Staked to a 6-0 lead before he took the mound, Andy Pettitte (11-9) won for the first time in his native Texas. He improved to 4-1 since manager Joe Torre convinced owner George Steinbrenner not to part with the lefthander at the July 31 trade deadline.

"It was a great night for him," Torre said of Pettitte. "He gave up a home run to the league's hottest hitter. Just throwing strikes is the most important thing for him."

Pettitte allowed three runs and 10 hits over eight innings, raising his career mark in Arlington to 1-3.

"It only took 21 runs and five years to get a win here," he joked. "When the team is scoring runs, I just have to focus. When it was 6-0, you know you still have a game, especially against them."

The Rangers took three of four in Cleveland last week, outscoring the first-place Indians, 39-15, in a possible postseason preview. Tonight, the Yankees fired the first shot in a matchup of likely playoff participants.

The carnage started early against Burkett, who was coming off eight strong innings at Cleveland on Wednesday.

Chuck Knoblauch drew a leadoff walk and Paul O'Neill and Bernie Williams followed with one-out singles to load the bases. Martinez delivered a two-run single, but Jim Leyritz became Burkett's second strikeout victim. After Ricky Ledee walked to reload the bases, Brosius had a two-run single and Girardi came through with a two-run double.

Girardi added an RBI double in the third, a run-scoring single in the fifth and a bases-loaded triple to cap a five-run seventh.

Brosius doubled and scored in the fifth, hit a three-run homer in the sixth and plated another run with an infield single in the seventh.

Both players had shots at the cycle, but Girardi grounded out in the ninth needing a home run and Brosius also bounced out in the ninth needing a triple.

"I thought about the cycle," Girardi admitted. "I probably won't get that chance again."

The bottom five players in the Yankees' lineup -- Martinez, Leyritz, Ledee, Brosius and Girardi -- combined to go 16-for-27 with 20 RBI and 13 runs scored.

Burkett lasted only 2 2/3 innings and was reached for eight runs and eight hits. Rookie Danny Kolb pitched effectively for 2 1/3 innings, but Mike Venafro and Danny Patterson each surrendered five runs and five hits in one inning.

"If I don't have a pretty good fastball, you can pretty much bag it. Tonight it was all over the place," Burkett said. "It all depends on the fastball. If I don't have command with it, a lot of times it gets hit pretty hard."

The Rangers had a three-game winning streak stopped and lost for only the second time in nine games.

The 21 runs were the most allowed in Texas history, eclipsing the mark set in a 20-4 loss to California on June 29, 1995.

"Obviously, I'll be asleep in an hour," Rangers manager Johnny Oates said. "We've played good baseball this year. Sometimes when you lose a game late or by one or two runs, you go back and try to replay it. Tonight I don't have an answer. We threw a lot of bad pitches, and they took a lot of good swings. That's not a good combination."

Rafael Palmeiro was a lone bright spot for the Rangers. His two-run shot in the second inning was his 13th this month, breaking Juan Gonzalez's year-old club mark for August. It also was his 352nd career blast, moving him past Dick Allen into 53rd place on the all-time list.

With 120 RBI, he established a single-season team record for lefthanded batters. Al Oliver drove in 118 runs in 1980.

Recap #2

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- When it comes to division leaders, the New York Yankees' magic number is 21.

Joe Girardi had seven RBI and Scott Brosius drove in six -- both career highs -- as the Yankees broke out of a batting slump routed the Texas Rangers 21-3 Monday night.

"It was one of those games when everything falls and everything steamrolls," Brosius said. "You've got to enjoy it because you're not going to do it again tomorrow. A game like that just happens every once in a while."

The Yankees beat Cleveland, the AL Central leader, 21-1 at Yankee Stadium on July 24, but had been slumping at the plate of late, scoring just 29 runs in nine games.

They snapped out of it with 23 hits against the first-place team in the AL West, the most for the Yankees since a 14-1 win over Seattle on Aug. 25, 1984.

Before this year, the Yankees hadn't scored 20 runs since a 21-7 rout at Kansas City on Aug. 19, 1962. It was the most runs ever scored against the Rangers, topping a 20-4 loss to California on June 9, 1995.

"I've been on the other side," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "We weren't trying to rub it in. You can't stand at the plate and not swing. You just hope you've saved something for tomorrow."

Girardi, who was in an 0-for-17 slump and had just 13 RBI in 158 at-bats coming in, was 4-for-6. He had a two-run double in the six-run first, an RBI double in the third, an RBI single in the fifth and a three-run triple in the five-run seventh.

Girardi needed a homer in the ninth to hit for the cycle, but grounded out.

"It's a strange game," he said. "I've been struggling the whole month of August. You just don't know when it's going to click in."

Brosius, in a 2-for-37 slide, also was 4-for-6, getting a two-run single in the first, a three-run homer in the sixth and a RBI single in the seventh. Needing a homer in the ninth for the cycle, Brosius also grounded out.

Tino Martinez, in a 3-for-21 slump, was 4-for-6 with four RBIs and a homer. Paul O'Neill, in a 3-for-22 slide, was 3-for-5 as New York snapped the Rangers' three-game winning streak.

Andy Pettitte (11-9) won for the fourth time in five decisions since the July 31 trade deadline, allowing three runs and 10 hits in eight innings. Pettitte has lowered his ERA from 5.65 to 4.46 in his last five starts.

Pettitte started the night 0-3 with a 16.05 ERA in three previous starts at Texas. He attributed his past struggles at Arlington to the his family and friends, who come to the games from the Houston suburbs and Louisiana.

"It only took 21 runs and five years to get a win here," Pettitte said. "Obviously the run support was huge. I needed to focus and was prepared tonight."

John Burkett (4-7) was tagged for eight runs and eight hits in 2 2/3 innings.

"I'll be asleep in an hour," Rangers manager Johnny Oates said. "We've played good baseball this year. Tonight I don't have an answer. We threw a lot of bad pitches and they took a lot of good swings."

New York's Nos. 5-9 hitters went 16-for-27 with 13 runs and 20 RBI. The Yankees had been hitting just .259 in August.

Rafael Palmeiro hit his eighth homer in an eight-game span, a Rangers' record, connecting in the second for his 38th. Palmeiro, who also hit an RBI grounder in the eighth, has 13 homers in August, a team record.

New York, which swept Texas in the first round of last year's playoffs and is 7-3 against the Rangers this year, took a 6-0 lead in the first as Martinez and Brosius hit two-run singles and Girardi had a two-run double.

Ricky Ledee's RBI single and Girardi's RBI double made it 8-2 in the third and Girardi singled in a run in the fifth off Danny Kolb.

New York, which tied the Indians for the best record in the AL at 76-48, made it 14-2 in the sixth against Mike Venafro on run-scoring singles by Jim Leyritz and Ledee and Brosius' 14th homer.

Bernie Williams and Brosius hit RBI singles in the seventh off Danny Patterson, and Girardi's triple increased the lead to 19-2. Martinez added his 19th homer, a two-run shot in the eighth off Tim Crabtree.

GAME NOTES: Palmeiro's homer was the first allowed by the Yankees since Aug. 14, ending a streak of 79 innings. ... Williams has 29 RBI in August, the most in any month for his career. ... Palmeiro set a team record for RBIs by a left-handed hitter with 120, three more than Al Oliver in 1980. ... Juan Gonzalez hit 12 homers in August 1992.

Photos
(Click on any of them for a larger image)

Jim Leyritz & Ricky Ledee in the dugout	Mr. Twinkie gets back to first base.	Scott Brosius hits a single...	...and then scores in the inning.	Pudge is out, or he left something at the plate that the Yankee catcher and the umpire are having a hard time with.  :)

Gregg Zaun flips backwards to catch a foul	Gregg Zaun & Joe Girardi wait for a pitch	Mr. Twinkie hugs Jose Cardenal after the win.	Another shot of the scoreboard.

Box Score

Line Score
AL  FINAL
                    1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9     R  H  E
                    -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -     -  -  -
NY YANKEES          6  0  2   0  1  5   5  2  0    21 23  0
TEXAS               0  2  0   0  0  0   0  1  0     3 10  0   (FINAL)

BATTERIES:  NYY - ANDY PETTITTE, JASON GRIMSLEY (9TH) AND JOE
                  GIRARDI
            TEX - JOHN BURKETT, DANNY KOLB (3RD), MIKE VENAFRO
                  (6TH), DANNY PATTERSON (7TH), MIKE MUNOZ
                  (8TH), TIM CRABTREE (9TH) AND IVAN RODRIGUEZ,
                  GREGG ZAUN (7TH)

             WP - ANDY PETTITTE (11-9)
             LP - JOHN BURKETT (4-7)
           SAVE - NONE

HOME RUNS:  NYY - SCOTT BROSIUS (14) OFF VENAFRO IN THE 6TH, 2 ON
                  TINO MARTINEZ (19) OFF M MUNOZ IN THE 8TH, 1 ON
            TEX - RAFAEL PALMEIRO (38) OFF PETTITTE IN THE 2ND, 1 ON

     TIME:  3:14     ATT:  38,024

PROBABLES:  NYY - DAVID CONE (11-7, 2.73)
            TEX - MIKE MORGAN (12-8, 5.87)

Box Score
NY YANKEES (21) AT TEXAS (3) - FINAL

NY YANKEES             ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Knoblauch 2b            5  1  0  0   2  0   3  .288
Jeter ss                5  0  1  0   0  1   4  .348
 Sojo pr-ss             1  2  1  0   0  0   0  .274
Oneill rf               5  1  3  0   0  1   0  .292
 Spencer pr-rf          1  1  0  0   0  0   1  .232
B Williams cf           5  3  2  1   0  1   1  .344
 a-Curtis ph-cf         1  0  0  0   0  0   1  .237
T Martinez 1b           6  3  4  4   0  0   2  .263
Leyritz dh              4  3  2  1   2  1   3  .345
Ledee lf                5  3  2  2   1  1   4  .313
Brosius 3b              6  4  4  6   0  1   1  .259
Girardi c               6  0  4  7   0  0   0  .226

Totals                 50 21 23 21   5  6  20

a-grounded to shortstop for B Williams in the 8th.

BATTING: 2B - Girardi 2 (12, Burkett 2); Leyritz (3, Burkett);
Brosius (23, Kolb); Jeter (28, D Patterson); B Williams (21,
D Patterson); Sojo (5, M Munoz). 3B - Girardi (1, D Patterson).
HR - Brosius (14, 6th inning off Venafro 2 on, 1 out); T Martinez
(19, 8th inning off M Munoz 1 on, 2 out). RBI - T Martinez 4 (77),
Brosius 6 (62), Girardi 7 (20), Ledee 2 (27), Leyritz (1),
B Williams (92). 2-out RBI - Brosius 3, Girardi 6, T Martinez 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Knoblauch 2, Jeter 1.
Team LOB - 7.

BASERUNNING: SB - Ledee (3, 2nd base off Burkett/I Rodriguez).

FIELDING: DP: 2 (Knoblauch-Jeter-T Martinez, Jeter-Knoblauch-T Martinez).

TEXAS                  ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Mclemore 2b-lf          5  0  0  0   0  1   2  .275
I Rodriguez c           3  0  1  0   0  0   0  .329
 Zaun c                 1  0  0  0   0  0   0  .221
Greer lf                3  0  1  0   0  0   1  .296
 Shave 3b               1  1  1  0   0  0   0  .254
J Gonzalez dh           4  1  2  0   0  0   1  .314
R Palmeiro 1b           4  1  2  3   0  0   0  .342
Zeile 3b                3  0  1  0   0  0   3  .300
 Alicea 2b              0  0  0  0   1  0   0  .181
R Kelly rf              4  0  1  0   0  0   1  .314
Clayton ss              4  0  1  0   0  2   2  .264
T Goodwin cf            3  0  0  0   1  0   1  .239

Totals                 35  3 10  3   2  3  11

BATTING: 2B - Zeile (33, Pettitte); Shave (4, Pettitte).
HR - R Palmeiro (38, 2nd inning off Pettitte 1 on, 0 out).
RBI - R Palmeiro 3 (120). Runners left in scoring position,
2 out - Mclemore 1, Zeile 2. GIDP - T Goodwin, Zeile.  Team LOB - 7.

--------------------------------------------------
    Ny Yankees     - 602 015 520  -- 21
    Texas          - 020 000 010  --  3

--------------------------------------------------

NY YANKEES                   ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Pettitte (W, 11-9)            8      10   3   3   2   2   1   4.46
Grimsley                      1       0   0   0   0   1   0   4.19

TEXAS                        ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Burkett (L, 4-7)              2 2/3   8   8   8   2   4   0   6.43
Kolb                          2 1/3   3   1   1   1   1   0   3.92
Venafro                       1       5   5   5   0   0   1   3.36
D Patterson                   1       5   5   5   1   1   0   5.44
M Munoz                       1       2   2   2   1   0   1   3.88
Crabtree                      1       0   0   0   0   0   0   2.90

WP - Kolb.  Pitches-strikes: Burkett 56-35; Kolb 45-30; Venafro 25-13;
D Patterson 38-22; M Munoz 26-13; Crabtree 10-7; Pettitte 124-71;
Grimsley 7-5.  Ground balls-fly balls: Burkett 2-2; Kolb 3-3;
Venafro 2-1; D Patterson 2-0; M Munoz 2-1; Crabtree 3-0; Pettitte 17-5;
Grimsley 2-0.  Batters faced: Burkett 18; Kolb 11; Venafro 8;
D Patterson 9; M Munoz 6; Crabtree 3; Pettitte 34; Grimsley 3.

UMPIRES: HP--Al Clark. 1B--Larry Young. 2B--Tim Tschida.
3B--Rick Reed.
T--3:14.  Att--38,024.   Weather: 93 degrees, cloudy.   Wind: 10 mph,
right to left.

Game Log

Ny Yankees Starting Lineups -- Chuck Knoblauch 2B, Derek Jeter SS, Paul Oneill RF, Bernie Williams CF, Tino Martinez 1B, Jim Leyritz DH, Ricky Ledee LF, Scott Brosius 3B, Joe Girardi C, Andy Pettitte LHP.

Texas Starting Lineups -- Mark Mclemore 2B, Ivan Rodriguez C, Rusty Greer LF, Juan Gonzalez DH, Rafael Palmeiro 1B, Todd Zeile 3B, Roberto Kelly RF, Royce Clayton SS, Tom Goodwin CF, John Burkett RHP.

Umpires -- Clark (HP), Young (1B), Tschida (2B), Reed (3B).

Gametime Weather: 93 degrees, Cloudy, wind right to left at 10 mph.

NY YANKEES 1ST: Knoblauch walked. Jeter struck out swinging. Oneill singled to center, Knoblauch to second. B Williams singled to left, Knoblauch to third, Oneill to second. T Martinez singled to right, Knoblauch and Oneill scored, B Williams to third. T Martinez to second advancing on throw. Leyritz struck out swinging. Ledee walked. Brosius singled to center, B Williams and T Martinez scored, Ledee to third. Girardi doubled to left, Ledee and Brosius scored. Knoblauch grounded out to shortstop. (6 Runs, 5 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 6, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 1ST: Mclemore struck out looking. I Rodriguez flied out to right. Greer grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 6, TEXAS 0.

NY YANKEES 2ND: Jeter popped out to second. Oneill struck out swinging. B Williams flied out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 6, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 2ND: J Gonzalez singled to center. R Palmeiro homered to right, J Gonzalez scored. Zeile doubled to right center. R Kelly grounded out to second, Zeile to third. Clayton struck out swinging. T Goodwin walked. Mclemore grounded out to third. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 6, TEXAS 2.

NY YANKEES 3RD: T Martinez grounded out to third. Leyritz doubled to deep left center. Ledee singled to center, Leyritz scored. Brosius struck out swinging. Ledee stole second. Girardi doubled to left, Ledee scored. Danny Kolb relieved John Burkett. Knoblauch walked. Jeter grounded out to second. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 8, TEXAS 2.

TEXAS 3RD: I Rodriguez singled to right. Greer flied out to left. J Gonzalez singled to center, I Rodriguez to second. R Palmeiro grounded out to third, I Rodriguez to third, J Gonzalez to second. Zeile grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 8, TEXAS 2.

NY YANKEES 4TH: Oneill grounded out to second. B Williams struck out swinging. T Martinez singled to center. Leyritz flied out to right. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 8, TEXAS 2.

TEXAS 4TH: R Kelly grounded out to second. Clayton reached on infield single. T Goodwin grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, Clayton out at second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 8, TEXAS 2.

NY YANKEES 5TH: Ledee flied out to center. Brosius doubled to right center. Brosius to third on Kolb wild pitch. Girardi singled to left, Brosius scored. Knoblauch flied out to right center. Jeter grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Girardi out at second. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 9, TEXAS 2.

TEXAS 5TH: Mclemore grounded out to third. I Rodriguez grounded out to third. Greer singled to center. J Gonzalez grounded into fielder's choice to third, Greer out at second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 9, TEXAS 2.

NY YANKEES 6TH: Mike Venafro relieved Danny Kolb. Oneill singled to center. B Williams grounded into fielder's choice to second, Oneill out at second. T Martinez singled to left, B Williams to third. Leyritz singled to left, B Williams scored, T Martinez to second. Ledee singled to center, T Martinez scored, Leyritz to second. Brosius homered to center, Leyritz and Ledee scored. Girardi flied out to center. Knoblauch grounded out to pitcher. (5 Runs, 5 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 14, TEXAS 2.

TEXAS 6TH: R Palmeiro singled to center. Zeile grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, R Palmeiro out at second. R Kelly singled to left center. Clayton grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 14, TEXAS 2.

NY YANKEES 7TH: Danny Patterson relieved Mike Venafro. Zaun catching. Jeter doubled to left. Sojo ran for Jeter. Oneill singled to center, Sojo to third. Spencer ran for Oneill. B Williams doubled to center, Sojo scored, Spencer to third. T Martinez grounded out to third. Leyritz walked. Ledee struck out swinging. Brosius reached on infield single, Spencer scored, B Williams to third, Leyritz to second. Girardi tripled to right center, B Williams, Leyritz and Brosius scored. Knoblauch grounded out to shortstop. (5 Runs, 5 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 19, TEXAS 2.

TEXAS 7TH: Sojo at short. Spencer in right. T Goodwin flied out to center. Mclemore grounded out to third. Zaun grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 19, TEXAS 2.

NY YANKEES 8TH: Mclemore in left. Mike Munoz relieved Danny Patterson. Shave at third. Alicea at second. Sojo doubled to left. Spencer grounded out to shortstop. Curtis hit for B Williams. Curtis grounded out to shortstop. T Martinez homered to right, Sojo scored. Leyritz walked. Ledee fouled out to catcher. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 21, TEXAS 2.

TEXAS 8TH: Curtis in center. Shave doubled to deep right. J Gonzalez flied out to center, Shave to third. R Palmeiro grounded out to second, Shave scored. Alicea walked. R Kelly flied out to center. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 21, TEXAS 3.

NY YANKEES 9TH: Tim Crabtree relieved Mike Munoz. Brosius grounded out to first. Girardi grounded out to second. Knoblauch grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 21, TEXAS 3.

TEXAS 9TH: Jason Grimsley relieved Andy Pettitte. Clayton struck out looking. T Goodwin grounded out to second. Mclemore grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 21, TEXAS 3.