Cone, Working Quickly, Gives Yankees a Respite

After taking five minutes short of 10 hours to win two games in Baltimore, the New York Yankees had a night of relative rest Thursday at New York.

David Cone, back in circulation for the Yankees, made short work of the Chicago White Sox, beating them, 5-1, in 2 hours 11 minutes in the Yankees’ first complete game of the season.

“That’s probably as quick a game as I’ve had in a while,” Cone said.

It was Cone’s first game back after missing the first start of his career, and he pitched a five-hitter and got two homers from Ruben Sierra.

Cone (4-1) pitched for the first time since April 22 after being sidelined because of a circulation problem in his right ring finger. He had been having trouble gripping the ball because of numbness, but a blood thinner helped him regain his touch.

“I just didn’t know what I’d have until I warmed up,” he said. “I bounced a few in the first inning. You could tell people were holding their breath, wondering if I’d make it.”

Manager Joe Torre was holding his breath, wondering if any of his pitchers would make it.

“You talk about the right time for something, especially as overworked as our bullpen has been,” he said. “It was much more than I could’ve hoped for.”

Sierra, dropped from the cleanup spot to sixth because he wasn’t making enough contact to satisfy Torre, began the day in a four-for-25 slump. But, wearing contact lenses for the first time, he broke loose for his 10th multi-homer game.

Detroit 5, Texas 2--Felipe Lira (2-3) gave up four hits in seven innings at Detroit for the Tigers, who won for only the second time in 15 games.

Toronto 7, Milwaukee 5--Alex Gonzalez singled home Robert Perez with the deciding run in the sixth inning for the Blue Jays, who finished their three-game sweep of the Brewers at Toronto.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Philadelphia 2, Florida 0--Unbeaten Phillie rookie Mike Grace gave up five hits over eight innings at Miami for his fifth victory.

Grace, 25, had seven of his eight strikeouts in the final 3 1/3 innings and has the best record in the major leagues at 5-0. Atlanta’s John Smoltz and San Diego’s Joey Hamilton are 5-1.