Three days prior to the Yankees’ tilt against Oakland, the Bronx Bombers claimed former Athletics slugger and AL MVP José Canseco off waivers. At the time, manager Joe Torre expressed some surprise the Yanks had picked up Canseco. But on August 10, 2000, as New York hosted Oakland in the Bronx, there he was, DHing and hitting cleanup.
It did not take long for the slugger to pay dividends, either. His first home run as a Yankee contributed to an offensive onslaught. Even better, the beleaguered David Cone had one of his best starts of the season. By the time Oakland managed to do much of anything offensively, it was too little, too late.
August 10: Yankees 12, Athletics 6 (box score)
Record: 62-48 (5 GA in the AL East)
The Yanks managed a run in the first to take an early 1-0 lead. But it was the second inning when they broke the game open. 11 men came to the plate in the frame. Six hits and two walks enabled six runs to cross the plate. Bernie Williams provided the big hit, a bases loaded single that scored two. Bernie entered the game hitting .800 with the sacks juiced, a number that went up even further after he drove in his 103rd and 104th runners of the season.
Oakland managed to get on the board in the fourth. Future Yankee Jason Giambi smashed a two-run home run off Cone. But other than that, Coney was cruising. And with the big second inning, even afer Cone gave up the tater, the Yanks still led comfortably 7-2.
In the bottom of the fourth, Yankee fans got a first-hand look at Canseco’s prodigious power. Facing Mark Mulder, Canseco absolutely unloaded on the first pitch he saw. His towering moonshot landed way back in the left field bleachers. Welcome to the Bronx, Mr. Bash Brother.
Later in the stanza, Glenallen Hill followed with a two-run bomb of his own, leaving Cone and the Yankees with a more than comfortable 10-2 lead. Oakland looked like they might break through against Cone in the fifth, putting two on with no one out.
But from there, Cone faced Randy Velarde, Giami, and Ben Grieve. Good morning. Good afternoon, Good night. Three swinging strikeouts stranded the runners where they stood, contributing to a season high eight strikeouts on the day for Cone.
He found himself in a similar situation in the sixth with two on and none out. Again, Cone was up to the challenge. Less dramatically than the previous inning, he retired the next three hitters he saw, leaving the Athletics’ base runners to cool their heels.
Cone’s final line was a thing of beauty: 6 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. He needed an outing like that the way a man dying of thirst needs water in the desert. For context, his performance brought his season ERA down to 6.56. 2000 was not a kind year to Mr. Cone.
The win left the Yankees five games up on Boston and five and a half games ahead of Toronto. As the dog days of August reached their midpoint, New York had managed to get some breathing room in the American League East.
Read the full 2000 Yankees Diary series here.