While he will forever have a World Series ring thanks to being part of the 2000 Yankees, Denny Neagle’s tenure with the team wasn’t all that impressive. His 5.81 ERA in 91.1 innings with the team after a July 12th trade led to the team letting him walk in free agency, despite giving up some notable names to acquire him in the first place.

That being said, you might not have predicted all that was on the cards after his first couple starts with the team. In his Yankee debut, Neagle went eight frames, allowing just one run in a win over the Phillies. Five days later, he bettered that outing with what turned out to be the 100th victory of his MLB career.

July 23: Yankees 5, Devil Rays 1 (box score)

Record: 51-42 (1 GA in AL East)

On a Sunday afternoon in the Bronx this day 25 years ago, the Yankees sent Neagle to the mound for the series finale against a cellar-dwelling Devil Rays’ team. Other than some very brief trouble in the second inning, Neagle absolutely cruised early. A José Canseco walk and a Mike Difelice single were the only blemishes on Neagle’s day through the first six innings he pitched, as he retired 18 of the first 20 batters he faced.

Early on, the Yankees’ offense was similarly unable to get anything going against Tampa Bay starter Bryan Rekar, who allowed just one runner to reach in the first three innings. That was José Vizcaíno, who walked and was then promptly thrown out while trying to steal second. However, that didn’t last forever, and the Yankees’ lineup preceded to hit him pretty hard in the fourth and fifth innings.

Having only faced the minimum, Rekar had to face the top of the Yankees’ order to start the fourth, and Chuck Knoblauch got the Yankees in the hit column on the day, when he led off the inning with a single. Next up was Derek Jeter, who got a double into the left-center field gap, allowing Knoblauch to come all the way around and score. Two batters later, Bernie Williams hit a double himself, plating Jeter.

An inning later, the Yankees picked up even more. Jorge Posada and Scott Brosius started the frame with back-to-back singles, and Rekar then dug his own grave a bit. Having gotten Vizcaíno to hit a grounder back to him, Rekar committed a throwing error, allowing Posada to score and everyone else to reach safely. Sacrifice flies from Knoblauch and Paul O’Neill later in the inning increased the led to five.

It took until the seventh inning for the Devil Rays to get on the board against Neagle. The Yankees got a bit of luck when after Greg Vaughn led off the inning with a double, he only moved to third on a Fred McGriff double. There are no highlights of the game to be found anywhere, but the double was seemingly more of a fly ball that just fell in for a hit rather than a booming drive, so Vaughn likely found himself caught in between while seeing if it would be caught. He did eventually come around to score on a groundout, but him ending up at third somewhat dented any chance the Devil Rays had to put a crooked number inning together.

The Yankees’ offense didn’t do much for the rest of the game, but neither did Tampa Bay’s. Neagle bounced back with a 1-2-3 eight inning, and then worked around a Russ Johnson double in the ninth to seal a complete game and the victory, earning a standing ovation from the home crowd.

In his nine innings, Neagle allowed just the one run on four hits and a walk, while striking out eight. His 82 Game Score would be the highest of his Yankee tenure, and this almost certainly was the high point of it, at least on an individual level.

Read the full 2000 Yankees Diary series here.