11 INNINGS Blue Jays 3 Yankees 2
A wonderful pitching duel staged between Andy Pettitte and David Wells last night at Yankee Stadium was decided by Jose Cruz’s two run-homer off Randy Choate in extra innings.
When Cruz lofted a homer just out of the reach of a leaping Luis Polonia in left field and lifted the Blue Jays to a 3-2 victory in 11 innings as a crowd of 35,040 looked on, Pettitte and Wells were long gone.
Wells and Pettitte lived up to the advanced billing of pitchers chasing their 20th and 19th victories, respectively. Wells, who was making his third stab at win No. 20, went eight innings, allowed one run and eight hits. He gave up a two-out homer to Derek Jeter in the eighth that tied the score, 1-1. Pettitte, who hurt himself with a throwing error on a bunt play in the eighth, allowed an unearned run and four hits in 7 1/3 innings.
The game was decided in the 11th when Cruz, who narrowly missed a homer two pitches before, hit a 2-2 pitch over the left-field wall for his 30th homer. Carlos Delgado, who opened the inning with a bloop single to center, scored ahead of the switch-hitting Cruz, who has five homers from the right side.
Ryan Thompson’s one-out opposite-field homer to right in the 11th off Kelvim Escobar cut the Blue Jays’ lead to 3-2 but Tino Martinez grounded out and Jorge Posada ended the game by striking out.
Billy Koch was the winner and 8-3. Choate is 0-1.
The loss combined with the Red Sox winning in Cleveland cut the Yankees’ AL East lead over the second-place Bosox to eight games and left their magic number at 11. The Blue Jays picked up a game on the Indians in the AL wild-card race and trail the Tribe by three games. They are nine games behind the Yankees.
Jeter, who went 4-for-5, atoned for a tough fielding error in the top of the first and a baserunning mistake in the home half off of the frame when he smoked a 3-1 pitch from Wells over the center field fence with two out that tied the score, 1-1. It was Jeter’s 14th homer of the year.
Throwing to the plate, Pettitte was almost flawless. The same couldn’t be said about his aim chucking to third or fielding bunts.
Craig Grebeck stroked a 2-2 pitch to right-center and watched it bounce on the warning track and over the wall for a leadoff double in the eighth. With Dewayne Wise running for Grebeck, Jim Fregosi gave No. 9 hitter Alberto Castillo the bunt sign. His bunt was hard enough to give Pettitte a chance for a play at third. However, Pettitte threw way wide of Scott Brosius and allowed Wise to score the game’s first run and Castillo to reach second.
Staying with the bunt, Fregosi flashed the sign to Shannon Stewart and again Pettitte struggled. After two stabs with his bare hand didn’t control the ball, he got it and fired to first. The ball appeared to beat Stewart but umpire Marty Foster called Stewart safe.
The botched call brought Joe Torre out of the dugout running and his animated conversation with Foster earned Torre his second ejection of the season.
Castillo didn’t advance on the play but Castillo and Stewart moved up a base on Alex Gonzalez’ bunt.
That was the end of Pettitte. Mike Stanton surfaced from the bullpen to keep the deficit at one run. Dave Martinez grounded to Chuck Knoblauch and his throw home caught Castillo trying to score. With runners on the corners, Stanton threw a 1-2 fastball by Triple Crown threat Carlos Delgado to end the frame.
Through seven, baserunners advancing beyond first base were rare since Pettitte didn’t face a hitter with a runner in scoring position and Wells only had to work to two batters with runners on second.
The Yankees dodged what looked like trouble in the fourth when Tony Batista’s backswing, after fouling a ball back, struck Posada in the left shoulder. The catcher crumpled to the ground as the Yankees’ medical staff rushed to the plate. Posada stayed in the game and doubled in the fifth and singled in the seventh.
A sign hanging from the upper deck behind home plate read, “Fat Guys Look Better In Pinstripes.”
It was a plea for George Steinbrenner to being back Wells. However, Wells looked very good in the visiting Blue Jays gray since he matched Pettitte zero for zero across five innings.
Derek Jeter helped Wells out in the first when he was caught attempting to swipe third with David Justice on first and Jose Canseco at the plate. Jeter reached on a one-out check-swing single and went to second when Justice bunted his way on base.