Stanton Tough As Yanks Tag M's
Right from the start, Mike Stanton made this odd-looking move pay off.
Forced to find a replacement for ailing Ramiro Mendoza, the New York Yankees plucked Stanton from the bullpen Sunday. In his first major league start, he pitched four scoreless innings in a 6-1 win over the Seattle Mariners.
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"The only weird part was standing out there on the mound for the anthem," Stanton said. "It was definitely out of the norm for me."
Stanton made 552 straight relief appearances from the beginning of his career before his first start, breaking the big league record of 443 set by Gary Lavelle for San Francisco before he started on Aug. 26, 1981.
Stanton matched his career high for innings, but did not get credit for the victory because he did not last through the fifth. Jason Grimsley (4-0) wound up with the win, also pitching four strong innings.
Stanton struck out three, walked one and gave the Yankees exactly what they needed, especially with Mendoza slowed by a viral infection and Roger Clemens on the disabled list.
"There are times when the starters suck up innings for the relievers when we're tired," Stanton said. "This is one where it worked the other way around. We took one for the starters, and it came out good for us."
Rather than call up someone from the minors and with a day off Monday the Yankees decided to split the pitching chores among their relievers. Interim manager Don Zimmer hoped to get three innings from Stanton, and the 31-year-old lefty did him one better.
Grimsley replaced Stanton and allowed only one hit, striking out five. Mariano Rivera completed the combined three-hitter.
"Their bullpen did a good job today, all nine innings," loser Jeff Fassero said.
Zimmer said Yankees general manager Brian Cashman had wanted to bring up a pitcher from Triple-A Columbus, just in case. Zimmer and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre convnced him otherwise.
"We could've gotten a little embarrassed today if things didn't work out," Zimmer said. "If Stanton gets knocked around and Grimsley gets knocked around, we're in a tight spot."
Pitching before a crowd of 49,622 on Beanie Baby Day last May, David Wells threw a perfect game on Beanie Baby Day Stanton set down the first seven hitters.
Stanton and Grimsley each threw 57 pitches. Stanton even tried to talk Zimmer into letting him keep going.
"I said, `You did a great job, get out of here,' " Zimmer said. "I told him, `As far as I'm concerned, you get the win, too.' "
Derek Jeter hit a two-run homer and Bernie Williams had three hits. Chad Curtis, subbing for injured leadoff man Chuck Knoblauch, scored three times and stole a base.
Fassero (1-4) pitched on three days' rest, part of manager Lou Piniella's plan to go with a four-man rotation.
After Curtis singled to lead off the first, Jeter hit a 430-foot home run into Monument Park in left field. It was his third homer in 23 at-bats against Fassero.
The Yankees made it 3-0 in the second when Scott Brosius walked, stole second and scored on Jorge Posada's single.
Curtis drew a leadoff walk in the third and Williams hit an RBI double for a 4-0 lead. Curtis walked and scored on Williams' single in the seventh, and Tino Martinez doubled home a run in the eighth.
The Mariners thought they had a run in the third when Dan Wilson appeared to slide past Posada. But Wilson was called out by plate umpire John Hirschbeck, and third-base coach Steve Smith was ejected while Piniella argued.
Seattle scored off Grimsley in the sixth. Brian Hunter walked, David Bell singled and Edgar Martinez had an RBI grounder.
Notes: The Yankees sent slumping OF Ricky Ledee down to Columbus and called up OF Shane Spencer. ... Stanton also pitched four innings for Atlanta on May 10, 1994, at Philadelphia. ... Jeter has reached base in all 30 Yankees games. He moved past Dave Winfield, who reached in the first 29 in 1988 team research did not discover the club record. ... Clemens, sidelined by a bad hamstring, threw on the side and took fielding practice before the game. He hopes to come off the 15-day DL on Thursday. ... Knoblauch, who has not played since injuring his knee Thursday at Minnesota, is likely to return to the lineup Tuesday against Anaheim. ... Fassero is 0-3 in four starts on three days' rest in his career.
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