Sports > Small Comes Up Big As Yankees Beat A's 7-0

Small Comes Up Big With First Career Shutout As Yankees Beat A's 7-0 to Move Into Tie for AL Wild-Card Lead

Oakland Athletics pitcher Justin Duchscherer walks back to the mound as New York Yankees' Jason Giambi runs the bases after hitting a three-run home run in the seventh inning Saturday, Sept. 3, 2005, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Hideki Matsui drove in New York's first two runs without a hit and Alex Rodriguez added a two-run single in a six-run seventh inning.

New York and Oakland (76-59) are tied atop the wild-card standings, with Cleveland (75-59) and AL West-leading Los Angeles (76-58) playing later Saturday.

Small's five-hitter followed a 12-0 loss in the series opener and yet another team meeting called before the game by New York manager Joe Torre. The Yankees began the day 3 1/2 games behind Boston in the AL East, providing a sense or urgency for the final four weeks, but Torre insisted after the meeting that "my team is fine."

With Mussina, Kevin Brown, Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright sidelined or battling injuries, it is fill-ins such as Small who will be heavily relied upon down the stretch.

Pavano, Brown and Chien-Ming Wang are on the disabled list and Mussina has acknowledged there's a possibility he might miss the rest of the season with a sore right elbow. Wright's next start is in question after he was hit in the neck by a line drive Thursday in Seattle.

Making his first start since Aug. 10, the 33-year-old Small (6-0) struck out three, walked two and didn't allow a runner to reach third base. After going nine years between major league starts, Small is 4-0 in five starts this season.

The A's have been shut out an AL-worst 11 times this season and have lost three of four overall, scoring just one run in the losses.

While the end result was a blowout, the game was tight early as Kirk Saarloos (9-7) held the Yankees in check through the first six innings.

But New York then broke through with a big seventh. Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano led off with singles and advanced on a bunt by Bubba Crosby.

After Derek Jeter was intentionally walked, Ricardo Rincon relieved and got Matsui to hit a hard one-hopper to second baseman Mark Ellis, who nearly started an inning-ending double play. Matsui narrowly beat the relay from shortstop Marco Scutaro, scoring the second run of the game.

Justin Duchscherer walked Gary Sheffield before allowing Rodriguez's soft single to right field that made it 4-0. Giambi then hit a drive into the right-field seats for his 26th homer.

The Yankees scored their first run in the third after Cano and Crosby opened the frame with singles. After Cano was thrown out at third on a double-steal attempt, Jeter singled to put runners on first and third.

Matsui then hit a sacrifice fly to center, but the Yankees almost didn't score on the play when Jay Payton nearly threw out Jeter at second just before Crosby crossed home plate.

Notes:@ Matsui reached 100 RBIs, joining Rodriguez and Sheffield in triple figures for the second consecutive year. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time three Yankees drove in 100 runs two years in a row, was in 1936-37 when Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig and Bill Dickey did it. ... Saarloos failed to strike out a batter for the sixth time in 23 starts and has one or fewer Ks in 12 starts. ... Wright played catch before the game and plans to throw a side-session Sunday to determine if he can make his next start Wednesday. "I'll know more tomorrow. As far as today, it went all right," he said.

2005-09-04