For two-plus seasons, the New York Yankees had been the top dogs in the American League; even in the midst of their slumps, their status as the team to beat remained unchallenged. Two months into the 2000 season, however, showed that the situation had changed somewhat. When the Chicago White Sox entered action on June 15th, they not only boasted the best record in baseball, they were a full five games better than anyone in the Junior Circuit. Then, to firmly establish their status as the AL’s best team, they handed the defending World Series champs a 12-3 shellacking, courtesy of, at least in part, Chuck Knoblauch’s defense.
The next day, the Yankees set out to show they could still compete with the league’s best. They were disappointed once again.
June 16: Yankees 1, White Sox 3 (box score)
Record: 34-27 (2nd place in AL East, 0.5 games back)
After two straight disasters on the mound, David Cone bounced back in a big way. Facing a vaunted lineup that included Frank Thomas, Magglio Ordóñez, and a young Paul Konerko, he spun six innings of one-run ball, striking out five and allowing just one walk and four hits. José ValentÃn’s double with one out in the fourth represented Chicago’s first baserunner, and it wasn’t until the top of the sixth that they were able to put multiple men on base in the same inning. For the beleaguered veteran, it was about as encouraging a performance as could’ve been asked for.
Unfortunately for him, his counterpart James Baldwin was equally as effective. Chuck Knoblauch led off the game with a single, reached second — and turned his ankle — on a Derek Jeter groundout to short, and advanced to third on a ball back to the pitcher, but was unable to score. While Scott Brosius led off the third with a solo homer that gave New York an early 1-0 lead, that first inning would be the closest thing the Yankees had to a rally until the fifth. Chris Turner led off the inning with a line drive single to right, and another single from Knoblauch put runners on first and second with one away. Unfortunately, Jeter grounded into a 4-4-3 double play to end the threat.
Chicago made the Yankees pay for their inability to tack on additional runs in the top of the sixth. Mark Johnson led off the top of the sixth with a single to right, and Ray Durham followed that up with a walk. A bunt single by ValentÃn loaded the bases with nobody out; two batters later, an Ordóñez sacrifice fly tied the game.
Mike Stanton came on in relief of Cone in the top of the seventh, nd handed the game to the White Sox. Chris Singleton led off the inning with a fly ball to right field that Paul O’Neill knocked down to keep in the yard, but O’Neill’s struggle to get up allowed Singleton to turn it into a triple. Although Stanton did not give up any hard contact, Singleton was able to score on a Tony Graffanino groundout to shortstop, and the White Sox had themselves a 2-1 lead.
That would be enough for the White Sox, as their bullpen faced just one more than the minimum across the final three innings. But, just to add insult to injury, Joe Torre brought Mariano Rivera in to pitch the ninth, only to watch him surrender two hits and a run with two outs, to bring the game to its final score of 3-1.
Read the full 2000 Yankees Diary series here.