Yankees Are Getting That Familiar Feeling

The New York Yankees have spent all season deflecting comparisons to last year’s record-setting performance. The way they’ve played lately, it feels like it’s 1998 all over again.

Scott Brosius hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning to give the Yankees a 6-5 victory Saturday at New York and send the Baltimore Orioles to their 10th consecutive loss.

“Sometimes it seems like magic comes into the act,” Yankee Manager Joe Torre said. “When you play a good game and pitch well, you expect to win. When you hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth, there’s a little luck involved. It’s nice to see it on our side again.”

This was the sort of game the Yankees always seemed to win last year, when they won an AL-record 114 games and swept the San Diego Padres in the World Series.

That same magic has been missing until recently. New York has won 10 of 11 to move a season-high 20 games over .500.

They Orioles have blown a major league-leading 19 save chances, including three in the last five games. Baltimore relievers have a 10.43 earned-run average in their last 20 1/3 innings.

“The most sickening thing in the world is to sit in the dugout and watch my guys walk off the field like that,” Oriole Manager Ray Miller said. “We can’t defend walks and we can’t put somebody in the stands to catch the ball.”

Trailing, 5-3, Chili Davis led off the ninth with a single off Arthur Rhodes. Jorge Posada then walked and one-out later Brosius hit his eighth homer, a drive down the line deep into the left-field lower deck.

Brosius thrust his arms in the air and rounded the bases as his teammates rushed out of the dugout to greet him at home plate. It was the first time since July 28, 1996 that the Yankees won a game on a homer in the bottom of the ninth or later when they were trailing.

“Those are fun, no question about it,” Brosius said. “Those are the things you dream about doing in the backyard. It is an exciting thing to do.”

The Yankees have won 20 of 25 against the Orioles and are 19-4 in the AL East. Baltimore is on its longest skid since losing 10 in a row Aug. 23-Sept. 2 last year and is 4-22 against division opponents.

“I have had losing streaks with other teams, but nothing like this where nothing goes right,” Miller said. “There is just no one closing it out. Certainly they have all gotten their chances.”

Baltimore’s Harold Baines hit a solo homer off Orlando Hernandez in the fourth.

Baines has 1,538 RBIs, moving past Joe DiMaggio into 33rd place on the career list.

Minnesota 7, Detroit 2--Mike Lincoln won for the first time in almost a month and fellow rookie Jacque Jones hit his first major league homer at Minneapolis.

Brent Gates had two hits and two RBIs and Terry Steinbach went three for four for Minnesota, which won its second in a row and improved to 6-2 against Detroit.

Dean Palmer had two hits and drove in two runs for the Tigers, who lost their third in a row and fell to 1-4 on their trip.

Lincoln (3-8) gave up two runs and five hits in seven innings--his longest outing. He walked one and struck out five for his first victory since defeating Cincinnati on June 7. Since that victory, Lincoln had four no-decisions.

Toronto 5, Tampa Bay 0--Chris Carpenter pitched a three-hitter for his third career shutout and Tony Fernandez hit a three-run double at Toronto.

Craig Grebeck went four for four for the Blue Jays, who are 14-6 in their last 20 games. Fernandez went one for three with a walk to maintain his major league-leading .385 average.

Carpenter, making his second start since coming off the disabled list after elbow inflammation, struck out four and walked two in his second complete game. He is 4-0 against Tampa Bay with two shutouts, giving up three runs in 32 innings.

Bobby Witt, who had won seven consecutive decisions against Toronto, pitched four scoreless innings before giving up four runs in the fifth on Grebeck’s RBI single and Fernandez’s two-out double that barely landed in fair territory in the left-field corner.

Chicago 11, Boston 2--Rookie Carlos Lee drove in four runs to support Mike Sirotka and power the White Sox at Chicago.

Lee hit two two-run doubles for Chicago. Magglio Ordonez had three RBIs, and Frank Thomas and Craig Wilson drove in two runs each.

Sirotka (7-8) won for the fifth time in seven decisions, giving up eight hits in eight innings.

He lowered his earned-run average to 3.24, fourth in the AL behind Pedro Martinez of Boston (2.02), David Cone of the Yankees (2.54) and Jose Rosado of Kansas City (2.90).

Brian Rose (4-1) lost for the first time in nine starts, giving up a season-high nine runs and 12 hits in four innings, his shortest outing this season.