Yankees Pay for Grissom's 'Mistake'

L.A. Times Archives

July 15, 1997 12 AM PT

From Associated Press

Cleveland’s Marquis Grissom insists that when he hits a home run, it’s a mistake. His blunder gave the Indians a victory Tuesday.

Grissom homered on an 0-2 pitch from Mariano Rivera with one out in the 10th inning to send the Indians to a 3-2 victory over the New York Yankees.

Grissom took two pitches for strikes before fouling off a third. He then went the opposite way with Rivera’s next pitch, driving it over the wall in right for his fourth homer this season and second in four games.

“When a guy is throwing that hard,” Grissom said, “you don’t have to worry about hitting the ball that hard. . . . I knew I hit it pretty good.”

It was the fourth homer Rivera (2-3) has given up this season. The hard-throwing right-hander, who leads the AL with 29 saves, gave up one last year.

“I was feeling great tonight,” Rivera said. “He put the bat on the ball and it just took off.”

Grissom had three hits and Matt Williams homered and tripled for the Indians, who won their fourth in a row.

Mike Jackson (2-1) pitched two innings of relief for the victory.

The Yankees’ offensive woes continued as they managed just two extra-base hits. New York has hit only three homers in its last 11 games and has no multi-homer games in the span.

With his pitching staff beset by injuries all season, most notably to starters Jack McDowell and Chad Ogea, Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove once again had to recall a minor leaguer to fill out his rotation.

Terry Clark’s contract was purchased earlier in the day from triple-A Buffalo, where he won seven consecutive starts before his promotion. Clark, 36, hasn’t won as a starter since Aug. 27, 1988, when he beat the Yankees, 12-0, while pitching for the Angels. It’s the only shutout of his career.

Seattle 6, Oakland 2--Rich Amaral and Jay Buhner hit first-inning homers and Bob Wolcott pitched seven strong innings as the Mariners handed the Athletics their fifth consecutive loss at Oakland.

Amaral hit his first homer of the year on the fourth pitch of the game from Steve Wojciechowski, making his first major league appearance of the season. Buhner hit a two-run homer, his 24th, two outs later.

Oakland’s Mark McGwire and Seattle’s Ken Griffey Jr., both attempting to make a run at Roger Maris’ record of 61 homers in a season, have not homered since the All-Star break.

McGwire, who leads the majors with 31 homers, went one for four with a double in the eighth, and is two for 15 since the break.

Griffey was two for five, ending an 0-for-17 drought with a seventh-inning double and a ninth-inning single. He has 30 homers.

Minnesota 5, Chicago 3--Ron Coomer hit the go-ahead double in the sixth inning and the Twins overcame Albert Belle’s 20th homer to beat the White Sox in Minneapolis.

With the score tied, 3-3, in the sixth, Scott Stahoviak and Coomer hit consecutive doubles that chased Doug Drabek (6-7), who gave up four runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Minnesota’s Frankie Rodriguez (2-3) gave up one hit in two innings of shutout relief and is 1-0 with a 1.29 earned-run average in his last 12 relief appearances. Rick Aguilera pitched the ninth for his 17th save.

Baltimore 9, Toronto 5--One hit led to another, and another. And another.

By the time the seventh inning ended in Baltimore, the Orioles had broken out of their batting slump and were well on the way to ending their six-game losing streak.

Pinch-hitter Tony Tarasco broke a 3-3 tie with a two-run single in the seventh, and the Orioles went on to score six runs in the inning.

“I think once Tony got the hit, it seemed like everyone felt a little better,” Baltimore Manager Davey Johnson said. “This club wants to win so badly, sometimes it puts undue pressure on itself.”

Kansas City 2, Milwaukee 1--The Royals stopped their longest losing streak at 12 when Scott Cooper singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 14th.

The streak, which began June 28 with a loss to the Brewers, broke the previous Royal record of 11.

Doug Jones (3-4), the sixth Milwaukee pitcher, hit Mike Macfarlane with a pitch with one out in the 14th and Johnny Damon advanced Macfarlane to second with a single.

Cooper then singled up the middle through the legs of shortstop Jose Valentin.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

Player: Brady Anderson

Team: Baltimore

Performance: 3 for 4, 2 RBI, 3 runs

Team’s Result: Win

Player: Matt Stairs

Team: Oakland

Performance: 3 for 3, 2 homers, two RBIs

Team’s Result: Loss