As June drew nearer 25 years ago, the month of May had not been particularly kind the Yankees, especially for a team of their stature. The two-time defending champions had lost just about as many games as they had won during the month, on the heels of a good April. They had just won a series opener at home against Oakland, but that followed them dropping two of three to the division leading Red Sox. The second game at home against the A’s would not go as well as the first, as the Yankees were unable to follow through on their early offensive output in this one.
May 30: Yankees 4, Athletics 7 (box score)
Record: 28-20 (1.5 GB in AL East)
Ramiro Mendoza took the mound for the Yankees in this one, and things started out rather well for his guys. In the right-hander’s first two innings of work, he was able to work around some traffic in both, thanks to his old standby: a pair of inning-ending 6-4-3 double plays. In the bottom half of the first, the Bombers got right to work backing up their starter, beginning with Chuck Knoblauch’s leadoff homer in the first inning, his second of the season.
In the following inning, Tino Martinez followed Knoblauch’s lead and belted a solo shot to start the second. The stalwart first baseman was in the midst of what became his worst season in pinstripes, but his fifth of 2000 put the Yankees up 2-0 early against Kevin Appier and the A’s.
They were able to continue this consistent pace through four innings, with Bernie Williams tallying an RBI double in the third inning. Derek Jeter swatted a long ball in the next frame, part of a 3-for-5 day that boosted his average over .300. The A’s, however, were able to at least match half of that output, as back-to-back doubles from Terrence Long and Randy Velarde plated a pair of runs in the top of the third. After four innings, the Yankees owned a 4-2 advantage.
That lead would unfortunately not be long-lived. Mendoza began the fifth inning by handing out a couple of walks to Velarde and Jason Giambi, before a throwing error from Knoblauch loaded the bases. A productive groundout plated their first run of the inning, before a Matt Stairs single through the middle pushed across two more, giving Oakland a sudden 5-4 lead. That hit knocked Mendoza out of the game in favor of Jason Grimsley, though the damage had already been done.
Long got the following inning started with a single for the A’s, and Ben Grieve would cash in on a double into right field to extend their lead to two. He’d strike again two innings later with a single up the middle to score Long once again and put his squad up 7-4.
Trailing by three runs in the ninth, the Yanks elected to get Mariano Rivera some work regardless of the score, and he got through the inning with relative ease, working around only an Eric Chavez single. Here, unfortunately, a scoreless ninth from Mo did not follow with the customary handshake line.
Former mid-’90s Mets phenom Jason Isringhausen came on to finish the job for Oakland, and did so with ease. En route to his first All-Star season as a closer, he fanned Bernie to start the ninth, induced a grounder from Tino, and set Jorge Posada down swinging to wrap up the ballgame.
The loss was a disheartening one for this Yankees team, even scoring in each of the first four innings was not enough to push them past the A’s, as things continued to stagnate 25 years ago. This loss put them at 13-12 since the beginning of May, and their deficit to 1.5 in the East; they would fall to .500 for the month the next day, but that’s the next chapter of the story.
Read the full 2000 Yankees Diary series here.