The 2000 Yankees’ two months and change before the All-Star break was not very good. After having about as big a lead as it’s possible to open up in early May, their slump in the rest of that month and June took them out of first place in the division going into the break. When the second half came upon them, it certainly would’ve been helpful if they came out with a bang.

Pulling off two of the more remarkable single inning comebacks in team history to win and retake the division certainly counts as a bang.

July 16: Yankees 9, Phillies 8 – 10 innings (box score)

Record: 47-39 (0.5 GA in AL East)

After splitting a series against the Marlins to open the second half, the Yankees next welcomed the Phillies to the Bronx for another interleague series. Managed by future Yankee nemesis Terry Francona, the Phillies ended up going 26-50 in the second half, dooming them to a last place finish in the AL East and led to them letting Francona go. However at this point of the year, you might’ve had a “maybe we can get hot and get into the wild card race” mentality about them, as they had a 41-48 record. Those feelings may have only been buoyed to start this one.

Andy Pettitte got the start for the Yankees on this day. While he would rebound down the stretch to end up with a decent season, this day continued a lot of the struggles that plagued his first half. Two singles and a walk in the first inning led to Scott Rolen driving home Doug Glanville to give the Phillies the lead.

After then working out of some trouble in the second, Pettitte then got hit hard in the third. To start the third inning, six of the first seven batters the Phillies sent to the plate all hit singles, including five in a row at one point. That allowed the Phillies to score another three runs, with a fourth then coming via a Glanville sacrifice fly. After just 2.2 innings, Joe Torre elected to go to the bullpen and end Pettitte’s day as the Yankees trailed 5-0. Just one of the nine hits Pettitte allowed on the day went for extra bases — and that one came in the second inning and didn’t lead to a run — but “death by a thousand cuts” can still happen when you genuinely do allow a thousand cuts. Dwight Gooden came in, but he too allowed the Phillies to strike when Bobby Abreu led off the fourth with a homer.

The Yankees finally got something in their favor in the bottom of the fourth when Bernie Williams hit a solo home run to get them on the board. That ended up being the entirety of what they mustered against Paul Byrd, though. Byrd ended up going 6.2 innings, allowing just that one run on five hits and four walks. The Yankees put runners on against him nearly every inning, but they failed to cash in, including leaving the bases loaded in the fourth, following the Williams homer.

Gooden and Jason Grimsley combined to keep the Phillies off the board for a while, but the Yankees were still down five going to the bottom of the ninth, with just a one percent chance at winning according to Win Probability.

Steve Schrenk took the mound for Philly in the ninth, and got a bit of misfortunate to start off when Desi Relaford made an E6 to start the frame. Following a Scott Brosius single, Schrenk then walked Chuck Knoblauch and Derek Jeter, the latter of which scored a run. Francona then went back to the bullpen and brought in Bryan Ward, who did allow a run on a sacrifice fly, but did crucially get the first out.

Bernie then struck again with an RBI single to then suddenly put the tying run on base. Ward then lost the zone and issued a walk to David Justice, and the Yankee were now legitimately in business. Tino Martinez kept things moving with a single that scored another run, as the Yankees were now within a run and were now 56-percent favorite according to Win Probability.

Ward then struck out Jorge Posada, but with righty Ryan Thompson due, Francona called upon his veteran closer, Jeff Brantley, having previously wanted to avoid him given his prior days’ workload. Torre countered with switch hitter José Vizcaíno, who had a decent career record against the Phillies’ closer. That record continued, but by the barest of margins. Vizcaíno lined one to third that Rolen managed to get a glove on. The legendary hot corner defender couldn’t fully catch it though, and the ball fell safely between him and Relaford for a game-tying infield single, sending the game to extras.

With new life, the Yankees made the logical move of bringing in Mariano Rivera, yet that ended up not going to plan. Following a Rolen lead-off single, Rivera got a pair of outs. However on the very first pitch to Brian Hunter, the first baseman took Rivera deep to left for a two-run homer. After all that, the Yankees suddenly had another comeback to make.

With new life themselves, the Phillies kept Brantley on the mound. Brantley didn’t do himself any favors, walking Knoblauch and hitting Jeter. Then, it was the Yankees’ turn for “death by a thousand cuts.” Paul O’Neill, Williams, and Justice then went back-to-back-to-back with singles. This time, when Justice’s hit landed a couple feet past an outstretched Ron Gant, it was enough for the Yankees to have come back and won.

Having been down to one-percent Win Probability going into the bottom of the ninth and 11 percent in the bottom of the 10th, the Yankees had managed to win the game. As I said earlier, that’s quite the way to come out with a bang.

Read the full 2000 Yankees Diary series here.