Mendoza Has Almost Perfect Performance

Perfect games are rare, but New York Yankee fans nearly saw their third perfect game in less than three years on Saturday.

Ramiro Mendoza took a perfect game into the seventh inning before a single off a glove ended it. Mendoza’s performance was more than enough for the Yankees, who defeated the Kansas City Royals, 7-1, at Yankee Stadium.

Last year it was David Cone who threw a perfect game against Montreal. In 1998 it was David Wells against Minnesota. But it wasn’t to be Saturday.

Carlos Febles lined a single off the glove of diving third baseman Clay Bellinger, who was playing for injured Scott Brosius, with one out in the seventh inning.

“I was on pace to do something special,” Mendoza said through a translator. “I just hope in the future, I have an opportunity to do something special.”

On a drizzly, misty afternoon, Mendoza went to three balls only once, going to 3-0 on Carlos Beltran in the first before striking him out. He went 2-0 on Febles in the fourth and struck him out too.

Starting with the final out of the fifth, the crowd of 34,056 roared on every one of Mendoza’s pitches. By then a blister started forming on the middle finger of his right hand.

“By the sixth inning, it started to bother me,” he said. “By the seventh, I couldn’t grip it.”

But Yankee Manager Joe Torre decided to leave him in until there was a hit.

Mendoza went 6 2/3 innings, giving up only two hits, striking out five and walking none.

Tampa Bay 7, Detroit 0--Dwight Gooden, debuting for his hometown team, pitched six shutout innings at Detroit for his first victory since last July 28.

Gooden, a Tampa native, was obtained Thursday in a trade with Houston. He gave up four hits before Jim Mecir and Jeff Sparks finished the six-hitter.

Texas 6, Cleveland 4--The Rangers scored five runs against Bartolo Colon in the first inning, then survived an Indian rally highlighted by Jim Thome’s 200th home run at Cleveland.

Ivan Rodriguez went three for five with a double and two runs batted in to lead the Rangers.

Seattle 17, Toronto 6--Edgar Martinez hit a grand slam at Toronto for his 200th home run as the Mariners beat the Blue Jays for the seventh consecutive time.

Martinez, who drove in five runs Friday, homered against Pedro Borbon to give Seattle a 10-4 lead in the sixth inning.

Boston 14, Oakland 2--Pedro Martinez avenged his last loss with the help of four RBIs from Carl Everett and four errors by the A’s at Boston.

Martinez gave up two runs, five hits and struck out nine in seven innings to defeat Tim Hudson, who outdueled him on Aug. 19, 1999.

Hudson gave up seven runs, five hits and four walks in 1 2/3 innings in the shortest start of his career.