GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: AL: NY YANKEES (51-46) at KANSAS CITY (43-54)

AL: NY YANKEES at KANSAS CITY

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NY YANKEES (9) AT KANSAS CITY (2) - HOW THEY SCORED
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NY YANKEES 1ST: J Damon grounded out to first. M Cabrera walked. D Jeter
singled to left, M Cabrera to second. A Rodriguez grounded out to third,
M Cabrera to third, D Jeter to second. H Matsui singled to right center,
M Cabrera and D Jeter scored. J Posada flied out to center. (2 Runs, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) NY YANKEES 2, KANSAS CITY 0.

NY YANKEES 2ND: R Cano singled to left center. A Phillips fouled out to
first. S Duncan singled to left, R Cano to second. J Damon doubled to left,
R Cano and S Duncan scored. M Cabrera grounded out to second, J Damon to third.
D Jeter flied out to center. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 4, KANSAS CITY 0.

KANSAS CITY 4TH: M Grudzielanek doubled to left. M Teahen grounded out to
first, M Grudzielanek to third. M Grudzielanek scored on R Clemens' wild
pitch. B Butler grounded out to second. R Gload grounded out to first. (1 Run,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 4, KANSAS CITY 1.

KANSAS CITY 7TH: B Butler flied out to center. R Gload homered to right.
A Gordon grounded out to second. E Brown struck out swinging, E Brown safe at
first on wild pitch by R Clemens. J Buck struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) NY YANKEES 4, KANSAS CITY 2.

NY YANKEES 9TH: J Damon reached on infield single to third. M Cabrera
singled to left, J Damon to second. D Jeter struck out swinging. A Rodriguez
singled to center, J Damon scored, M Cabrera to second. J Gobble relieved
R Braun. H Matsui walked, M Cabrera to third, A Rodriguez to second. J Posada
singled to left, M Cabrera and A Rodriguez scored, H Matsui to second, H Matsui
to third, J Posada to second on throwing error by left fielder E Brown. R Cano
hit sacrifice fly to center, H Matsui scored, J Posada to third. A Phillips
safe at first on error by second baseman M Grudzielanek, J Posada scored.
S Duncan struck out swinging. (5 Runs, 4 Hits, 2 Errors) NY YANKEES 9, KANSAS CITY 2.</div>

 

AL: NY YANKEES at KANSAS CITY

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NY YANKEES (9) AT KANSAS CITY (2) - EVENT LOG
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Ny Yankees Starting Lineups -- J Damon CF, M Cabrera RF, D Jeter SS,
A Rodriguez 3B, H Matsui LF, J Posada C, R Cano 2B, A Phillips 1B, S Duncan DH,
R Clemens RHP.

Kansas City Starting Lineups -- D DeJesus CF, M Grudzielanek 2B, M Teahen RF,
B Butler DH, R Gload 1B, A Gordon 3B, E Brown LF, J Buck C, T Pena Jr SS, O Perez LHP.

Umpires -- Doug Eddings (HP), Dana Demuth (1B), Derryl Cousins (2B), Kerwin Danley (3B).

Gametime Weather: 81 degrees, Partly Cloudy, wind right to left at 6 mph.


NY YANKEES 1ST: J Damon grounded out to first. M Cabrera walked. D Jeter
singled to left, M Cabrera to second. A Rodriguez grounded out to third,
M Cabrera to third, D Jeter to second. H Matsui singled to right center,
M Cabrera and D Jeter scored. J Posada flied out to center. (2 Runs, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) NY YANKEES 2, KANSAS CITY 0.

KANSAS CITY 1ST: D DeJesus grounded out to second. M Grudzielanek fouled
out to right. M Teahen struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
NY YANKEES 2, KANSAS CITY 0.

NY YANKEES 2ND: R Cano singled to left center. A Phillips fouled out to
first. S Duncan singled to left, R Cano to second. J Damon doubled to left,
R Cano and S Duncan scored. M Cabrera grounded out to second, J Damon to third.
D Jeter flied out to center. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 4, KANSAS CITY 0.

KANSAS CITY 2ND: B Butler grounded out to pitcher. R Gload lined out to
left. A Gordon flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 4,
KANSAS CITY 0.

NY YANKEES 3RD: A Rodriguez walked. H Matsui grounded out to second,
A Rodriguez to second. J Posada grounded out to pitcher, A Rodriguez to third.
R Cano fouled out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 4, KANSAS CITY 0.

KANSAS CITY 3RD: E Brown grounded out to second. J Buck flied out to
right. T Pena Jr singled to center. D DeJesus grounded out to second.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 4, KANSAS CITY 0.

NY YANKEES 4TH: A Phillips singled to left. S Duncan flied out to right.
J Damon singled to right, A Phillips to second. M Cabrera popped out to first.
D Jeter flied out to center. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 4, KANSAS CITY 0.

KANSAS CITY 4TH: M Grudzielanek doubled to left. M Teahen grounded out to
first, M Grudzielanek to third. M Grudzielanek scored on R Clemens' wild
pitch. B Butler grounded out to second. R Gload grounded out to first.
(1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 4, KANSAS CITY 1.

NY YANKEES 5TH: A Rodriguez grounded out to shortstop. H Matsui struck out
looking. J Posada tripled to deep right. R Cano grounded out to first.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 4, KANSAS CITY 1.

KANSAS CITY 5TH: A Gordon grounded out to pitcher. E Brown flied out to
center. J Buck grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
NY YANKEES 4, KANSAS CITY 1.

NY YANKEES 6TH: A Phillips flied out to right. S Duncan flied out to
right. J Damon safe at first on throwing error by shortstop T Pena Jr.
J Damon caught stealing second, pitcher to second to first.(0 Runs, 0 Hits,
1 Error) NY YANKEES 4, KANSAS CITY 1.

KANSAS CITY 6TH: T Pena Jr hit by pitch. D DeJesus reached on infield
single to catcher, T Pena Jr to second. M Grudzielanek grounded into double
play, third to second to first, D DeJesus out at second, T Pena Jr to third.
M Teahen grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 4, KANSAS CITY 1.

NY YANKEES 7TH: M Cabrera grounded out to shortstop. D Jeter grounded out
to second. A Rodriguez walked. H Matsui grounded out to first. (0 Runs,
0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 4, KANSAS CITY 1.

KANSAS CITY 7TH: B Butler flied out to center. R Gload homered to right.
A Gordon grounded out to second. E Brown struck out swinging, E Brown safe at
first on wild pitch by R Clemens. J Buck struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) NY YANKEES 4, KANSAS CITY 2.

NY YANKEES 8TH: R Braun relieved O Perez. J Posada struck out looking.
R Cano singled to left. A Phillips struck out swinging. S Duncan grounded out
to second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 4, KANSAS CITY 2.

KANSAS CITY 8TH: L Vizcaino relieved R Clemens. T Pena Jr lined out to
second. D DeJesus struck out looking. M Grudzielanek struck out swinging.
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 4, KANSAS CITY 2.

NY YANKEES 9TH: J Damon reached on infield single to third. M Cabrera
singled to left, J Damon to second. D Jeter struck out swinging. A Rodriguez
singled to center, J Damon scored, M Cabrera to second. J Gobble relieved
R Braun. H Matsui walked, M Cabrera to third, A Rodriguez to second. J Posada
singled to left, M Cabrera and A Rodriguez scored, H Matsui to second, H Matsui
to third, J Posada to second on throwing error by left fielder E Brown. R Cano
hit sacrifice fly to center, H Matsui scored, J Posada to third. A Phillips
safe at first on error by second baseman M Grudzielanek, J Posada scored.
S Duncan struck out swinging. (5 Runs, 4 Hits, 2 Errors) NY YANKEES 9, KANSAS CITY 2.

KANSAS CITY 9TH: R Villone relieved L Vizcaino. M Teahen singled to right.
B Butler struck out swinging. R Gload grounded into fielder's choice to first,
M Teahen out at second. A Gordon flied out to left. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
NY YANKEES 9, KANSAS CITY 2.</div>

 

Clemens gets 351st win as Yankees crush Royals

<h3>NY YANKEES 9, KANSAS CITY 2</h3>KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Rogers Clemens pitched seveneffective innings en route to recording his 351st career win andthe New York Yankees' offense continued to churn out runs,posting a 9-2 triumph over the Kansas City Royals on Monday inthe opener of a four-game series.


Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon and Jorge Posada all drove in tworuns for the Yankees, who have won nine of their last 11contests.


Clemens (3-4), who was making his ninth start of the season,surrendered just two runs and four hits with no walks and threestrikeouts.


"Give Roger a four-run lead and he knows what to do with it,"Torre said.


"From that point on, I just tried to go out and throw strikesand try to stay away from walking anybody," Clemens said. "Theguys got it done and we added to it late."


The 44-year-old righthander retired the first eight hitters hefaced before Tony Pena Jr., whose father is the New York firstbase coach, singled with two outs in the third inning.

"He was throwing a lot of sinkers, maybe it was a splitter, butthe ball was sinking a lot," said Royals rookie third basemanAlex Gordon, who went 0-for-4. "It was nothing toooverpowering. He was just hitting his spots and pitching well."

The Royals threatened in the sixth inning after the first twobatters reached base, but Clemens got Mark Grudzielanek toground into a double play.


"Double plays are good," Clemens said. "Every game you're outthere, you know you're going to be caught in a spot where you'regoing to have to pitch a little bit. Fortunately, tonight itworked out for me to get out of somewhat of a jam."

Clemens improved to 25-12 against the Royals in his career,including a 6-0 record in seven starts as a Yankee.

The Yankees got on the scoreboard early when Matsui delivered asingle into right field off Odalis Perez (5-9) to plate MelkyCabrera and Derek Jeter in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead.Matsui has 65 RBI this season and nine over his last fourgames.


"I think Matsui's hit in the first inning was the key for us toget on the board quick and Roger could go out there and relax,"Damon said.


Damon, who had three hits, extended New York's advantage to 4-0in the second by belting a two-run double to left.

"I haven't felt decent at the plate all year except for a coupleof games here or there," Damon said. "Hopefully, I will getmore playing time and stay in the lineup. Things run a lot moresmoother when I am doing something. I'm always hard on myself.I always feel like if I go, the team is going to go."

"That was the ball game," Perez said. "They are the Yankees.If you make any mistakes, you're going to pay for it."

Posada provided more breathing room in the ninth as his two-runsingle highlighted a five-run inning. The All-Star catcher senta base hit into left-center field to give the Yankees a 7-2lead.


New York added two more runs in the inning on a sacrifice fly byRobinson Cano and Grudzielanek's fielding error, which allowedPosada to score.


"It is always frightening when you score a couple in the firstand a couple in the second and then stop scoring," Yankeesmanager Joe Torre said.


Alex Rodriguez drove in his 100th run in the ninth, becoming thefirst Yankee since Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio in 1937 to have100 RBIs before 100 games.


"That is pretty incredible what he's done," Torre said.

"100 or 500 (he has 498 career home runs) never came to my mindonce," Rodriguez said. "I never thought about it. It (100 RBIsin 99 games) is pretty cool, but I'm focused on the team. I'mproud of it, but the biggest key for us is to score some runsand play good defense to stop them from scoring runs."

The Yankees have scored 54 runs on their current winning streak.

Perez pitched seven innings and hurled a season-high 111pitches, giving up four runs and eight hits with three walks andone strikeout. It was just the third time in 21 starts thisseason that the 30-year-old Dominican has pitched beyond sixinnings.


"We've been using our bullpen a lot, so we needed some inningsfrom Odalis," Royals manager Buddy Bell said. "He kept us inthe game, but we just couldn't do anything with Roger."

Grudzielanek, who had two four-hit games over the weekend atDetroit, doubled to leadoff the fourth and later scored on aClemens' wild pitch, cutting the deficit to 4-1.


Ross Gload blasted Clemens' 1-0 offering into the Royals bullpenin the seventh for his third home run of the season, reducingthe Yankees' advantage to 4-2.


The Royals, who were playing their first home game since July 8,had won four of their last five contests.