In one of the wildest games you’ll ever see, the Yankees lost in heartbreaking fashion to the Kansas City Royals tonight in 10 innings.
Starting pitchers Dwight Gooden and Kevin Appier matched zeroes, as both threw complete games. The Yankees were finally able to break the scoreless tie when newly acquired Cecil Fielder connected on a solo home run in the top of the 10th. After a Joe Girardi single, Derek Jeter hit an inside-the-park home run off Jeff Montgomery to give New York a 3-0 lead.
With Mariano Rivera ready to go, the lead seemed insurmountable. Minutes later, the Yankees were walking off the field having lost the game 4-3.
Rivera’s now had two shaking outings in a row – very uncharacteristic for him considering how his season has gone. He allowed four runs on four hits in the bottom of the tenth – the dagger coming on a Keith Lockhart walk-off double.
The Yankees’ record now stands at 64-43, as they still hold a 10 game lead over the Orioles. However, they missed a golden opportunity to gain a game since Baltimore lost 11-1 to Cleveland. The Royals, who are now 50-60, have played the Yankees tough recently.
New York will try to rebound tomorrow afternoon when David Weathers starts against Doug Linton
Box score and current stats
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Yankees 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 8 0
Royals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 8 1
Batting AB R H RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG
Boggs 3B 4 0 1 0 0 0 .315 .393 .398
B.Williams CF 4 0 1 0 0 2 .304 .388 .524
ONeill RF 4 0 0 0 0 0 .303 .424 .453
Fielder DH 4 1 1 1 0 2 .248 .352 .480
Martinez 1B 4 0 0 0 0 2 .293 .353 .453
Strawberry LF 4 0 0 0 0 2 .230 .352 .405
Girardi C 4 1 2 0 0 1 .317 .371 .394
Jeter SS 4 1 1 2 0 0 .295 .360 .407
Fox 2B 4 0 2 0 0 1 .207 .294 .276
HR:Fielder (27);Jeter (6). RBI:Jeter 2 (46);Fielder (81).
Pitching IP H R ER BB SO ERA
Gooden 9 4 0 0 2 3 3.94
Rivera BS (2) L (4-2) 0.2 4 4 4 1 1 2.28
