Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!
Friday July 27, 2001
Yankees 9 @ Blue Jays 1

| Back Home | Stats | Pictures | Collectibles | Profile | Moose Watch | News/Highlights |

TORONTO (AP) -- The New York Yankees gave Mike Mussina a rare show of offensive support.

Alfonso Soriano drove in four runs and Paul O'Neill went 4-for-5 as the Yankees won their sixth straight Friday night with a 9-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

"Joe Torre joked with me that nobody gets any run support in their first year with the club," said Mussina, getting 4.3 runs per start.

Soriano's three-run homer off Chris Carpenter (7-8) gave New York a 6-1 lead in the seventh. The Yankees have hit 15 home runs in their last five games.

"We got up 6-1 and I was able to just go after people with some fastballs in and away," Mussina said. "It's tougher to pitch when the game is always tight, so it's nice when the game is opened up."

Mussina (11-8) allowed one run on four hits in eight innings. Mussina, who has won six of his last seven decisions, struck out six and walked one.

"He could have unbelievable numbers if we would score runs for him all the time," O'Neill said. "To his credit, he's kept us in a lot of games, and he's pitched against Pedro and against a lot of other tough pitchers."

O'Neill scored twice and stole his 18th base of the season. That's the most for O'Neill since stealing a career-high 20 for Cincinnati in 1989.

"His eye is back, and I think his approach is different," Torre said. "He's taking what they give him."

Darrin Fletcher homered for the Blue Jays, who fell eight games below .500 at (48-56).

Carpenter, who allowed six runs in Sunday's 7-3 loss to New York, gave up six runs on 10 hits in seven innings.

"Last time they were looking for the fastball. This time I tried to keep them off balance as best I could," Carpenter said.

Fletcher homered in the third.

New York's Bernie Williams tied it with an RBI grounder in the fourth.

O'Neill doubled in the fifth, and Shane Spencer singled before Soriano hit an RBI single.

The Yankees scored four runs in the seventh after O'Neill led off with a single. Carpenter walked Spencer, and O'Neill and Spencer then pulled off a double steal. Scott Brosius followed with an RBI single, giving New York a 3-1 lead.

Soriano then hit his eighth homer.

"I feel more comfortable with runners on base," Soriano said. "I have better concentration and I know the pitchers more."

The Yankees added three runs in the ninth on Tino Martinez's RBI double and Jorge Posada's two-run double.

Game notes
Mussina has allowed two runs or less in five of his last six outings. ... Mussina allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings of Sunday's win over Toronto. ... The Yankees have won 20 of 28. ... Attendance was 36,666. ... Toronto second baseman Homer Bush, on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring, will begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A Syracuse on Saturday. ... The Yankees optioned right-hander Brandon Knight to Triple A Columbus and recalled outfielder Clay Bellinger.