Yankee Rookie Comes Through

On a wild night when the Yankees’ pitching deserted them, Ryan Bradley came through with a victory in his first major league game.

Scott Brosius hit a three-run homer off former Yankee John Wetteland in the eighth inning, and New York overcame five runs batted in from Juan Gonzalez to defeat the Texas Rangers, 12-9.

New York (94-32), which is trying to become the first team to win 100 games before September, wasted leads of 2-0, 4-3, and 8-6, while Texas blew 3-2 and 9-8 advantages. The Yankees have won 14 of their last 17 games, including five of six over Texas.

David Cone, who is 18-4 and leads the major leagues in victories, was tagged for six runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Bradley, a 22-year-old right-hander called up from Columbus on Friday, came through with 1 2/3 hitless innings after Cone and Mike Stanton failed. Mariano Rivera then got the last four outs for his 33rd save.

Gonzalez hit a three-run homer off Cone in the third inning, then tied the score with a two-run shot off Stanton in the seventh. Will Clark homered on the following pitch for a 9-8 lead.

But Tino Martinez and Chad Curtis singled off Xavier Hernandez (5-3) in the eighth and Brosius hit an opposite-field homer with two out, his 15th of the season. Bernie Williams added an RBI double in the ninth, making him four for five and lifting his league-leading average to .353.

Wetteland, the MVP for the Yankees in the 1996 World Series, blew a save for the fifth time in 38 chances.

Gonzalez leads the majors with 126 RBIs.