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Yanks End Skid With 13-Run Record Inning

Posted on: Tuesday, 19 April 2005, 12:00 CDT

The New York Yankees had a response to George Steinbrenner: a 13-run second inning and a halt to a four-game losing streak. The Yankees sent 17 batters to the plate in their highest-scoring inning at Yankee Stadium and beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 19-8 on Monday night.

New York had 11 hits, including seven in a row, and 10 consecutive hitters reached safely in the 34-minute inning.

"It felt like it lasted for hours," Tampa Bay outfielder Carl Crawford said. "That was a tough inning. I just hope it doesn't happen again."

The outburst came a day after the Yankees' owner criticized his $200 million team after it was swept by Baltimore over the weekend and fell to 4-8.

"George challenged us, and the team responded really well," said Alex Rodriguez, who homered twice, doubled twice and matched career highs with five hits and five runs. "We needed to stop the bleeding."

In other AL games, it was: Boston 12, Toronto 7; Detroit 13, Baltimore 3; Oakland 8, Texas 5; Chicago 5, Minnesota 4; Cleveland 5, Kansas City 1; and Los Angeles 6, Seattle 1.

Rodriguez hit a two-run homer and a two-run double in the second, the latter knocking starter Rob Bell (1-1) out of the game. Tino Martinez had a run-scoring single off Bell before hitting his 11th career grand slam off reliever Lance Carter.

The Yankees had 20 hits and raised their team batting average from .258 to .277. They had been outscored 23-11 by Baltimore and dropped eight of their last 10 games.

"Maybe it'll relax us at the plate," Martinez said. "We needed a win - period."

And they ended up needing most of that offense after starter Jaret Wright (2-1) struggled after being handed a 13-run lead. He barely lasted long enough to earn the easy win and was charged with eight runs and 11 hits in 5 1-3 innings.

"I stayed focused. I felt fine going back out there. I just lost it and I had to work to get it back. The tendency is to try harder when you need to back off, just throw strikes, and I didn't do that," Wright said. "The guys swung the bats well, I didn't pitch well."

The Devil Rays have lost 11 straight at Yankee Stadium and four in a row overall. Bell gave up 10 runs and nine hits in 1 1-3 innings, raising his ERA from 4.50 to 10.80.

Red Sox 12, Blue Jays 7

At Boston, Curt Schilling labored through five innings for his first win since ankle surgery last November and Manny Ramirez hit two home runs as the Red Sox won their fifth straight game.

Boston scored seven runs off Dave Bush (0-2), who allowed seven hits and left with no outs in the third.

Tigers 13, Orioles 3

At Baltimore, Dmitri Young went 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs for Detroit, which had 16 hits and beat the Orioles for the first time since May 7, 2003.

Former Oriole Jason Johnson (2-1), the beneficiary of the Tigers' most productive offensive showing this season, gave up two runs and seven hits in seven innings.

Athletics 8, Rangers 5

At Arlington, Texas, Dan Haren (1-1) pitched six solid innings and Erubiel Durazo went 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI for the A's, who had a season-high 13 hits, eight in the first 4 1-3 innings off Chan Ho Park (1-1).

White Sox 5, Twins 4

At Chicago, Carl Everett homered twice, including a tiebreaking two-run drive in the sixth, and Joe Crede also hit a two-run homer for the White Sox. Luis Vizcaino (2-1) pitched two scoreless innings for the win.

Indians 5, Royals 1

At Kansas City, Mo., Casey Blake and Ben Broussard hit consecutive home runs and Cliff Lee (1-0) blanked the Royals on two hits over seven innings.

Angels 6, Mariners 1

At Anaheim, Calif., Vladimir Guerrero and Darin Erstad homered and Paul Byrd (1-2) scattered 11 hits over eight innings to earn his first victory of the season. Former Angel Aaron Sele (1-1) allowed six runs and eight hits over four innings.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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