Wells Is All Business in Victory

David Wells was probably destined to pitch this game, for one team or the other.

Working in front of the owner he snubbed last December, Wells got heavy home-run support and helped the New York Yankees defeat Arizona, 6-4, Tuesday night.

A crowd of 44,374 that included Arizona owner Jerry Colangelo watched Wells (7-3) pitch into the eighth inning.

During the off-season when he was a free agent, Wells visited Colangelo in Phoenix. By the time Wells left, they had a handshake agreement on a deal with the Diamondbacks.

“Sure, they had to be thinking, ‘We came that close to him,’ ” Yankee Manager Joe Torre said. “Obviously, they thought they had him.”

But before a contract could be finalized, Yankee owner George Steinbrenner met with Wells and lured the popular pitcher back into pinstripes.

Luis Gonzalez’s three-run homer into the upper deck in right field chased Wells in the eighth. He got a standing ovation from most of the crowd--Colangelo remained seated in his box next to the Arizona dugout.

“I didn’t even know where he was sitting,” Wells said. “I was not worried about that. I’ve got to worry about what’s in front of me.

“I appreciate everything he did for me at that time. I do feel bad. It’s tough. He went out of his way to make it right.”

Said Diamondback General Manager Joe Garagiola Jr.: “It’s in the past. He’s where he wanted to be. End of story.”

Colangelo briefly visited Manager Bob Brenly after the game.

Nick Johnson hit a three-run homer, and Jason Giambi and Robin Ventura had solo shots as the Yankees won their third consecutive interleague game. They are a season-high 19 games over .500.

Gonzalez homered, doubled and drove in four runs, but the Diamondbacks remained winless at Yankee Stadium. They lost all three games in the Bronx during the World Series, and are 0-2 in this three-game series.

It was 87 degrees with high humidity at gametime, but that did not trouble Wells. He retired 15 of the first 16 batters, players who might otherwise have been his teammates.

“I pushed that all aside,” he said. “I can’t let that bother me. It’s just another ballclub.”

Ramiro Mendoza relieved and finished for his first save.

Left-hander Brian Anderson (1-6) fell to 0-8 in his last 18 starts, including a 2-1 loss to Roger Clemens in Game 3 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium.

“You know what? Warming up tonight, I felt great. I felt as locked in as I have been in any start this year,” Anderson said.

Giambi hit his 17th homer in the first inning. Ventura hit a run-scoring double in the fourth and Johnson connected with two out later in the inning.

Ventura’s 15th homer finished Anderson in the sixth. Giambi, Johnson and Ventura were the only left-handed hitters in the lineup against Anderson.

Gonzalez hit an RBI double in the sixth, giving him an RBI in eight consecutive games. That hit came right after third-base coach Eddie Rodriguez made a poor decision that resulted in Tony Womack being thrown out at the plate by left fielder Shane Spencer.