The Yankees began a series with the Red Sox this evening, and dropped the opener by a score of 4-2. Tim Wakefield came away with the victory and reliever Dale Polley took the loss.
The Yankees had a 2-0 lead going into the sixth when starter Dwight Gooden gave up an RBI single to Jose Valentin. He was replaced by Brian Boehringer, who allowed an RBI single to Nomar Garciaparra. The run was Gooden’s responsibility. Overall, Gooden went 5.1 innings and allowed six hits while walking three and striking out two.
In the seventh, Polley recorded one out before being replaced by David Weathers. With the bases loaded, Weathers induced a groundball off the bat of Troy O’Leary. Mariano Duncan flipped to Derek Jeter at second, who made an errant throw allowing two runs to score. The Red Sox had a 4-2 lead and never looked back.
With Baltimore’s loss, the Yankees’ division lead remains at four games. Jimmy Key starts against Mike Maddux tomorrow.
Line score:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Red Sox 0 0 0 1 5 2 3 0 0 0 11 14 1
Yankees 0 0 1 0 3 3 3 1 0 1 12 20 0
