Williams, Yanks Top Orioles

The New York Yankees conjured up memories of 1998 during a perfect six-game road trip. The Baltimore Orioles reverted to last year's form, too, during a disastrous homestand.

Bernie Williams homered twice and Orlando Hernandez earned his ninth win as the Yankees stretched their winning streak to six by beating the Orioles 6-2 Sunday.

Before recording sweeps in Tampa Bay and Baltimore, New York was a rather ordinary 17-14 on the road. Now the Yankees are a season-high 17 games over .500 (45-28) and two games in front of Boston in the AL East.

The Orioles, meanwhile, concluded a six-game homestand against Boston and New York with their fifth straight loss. Baltimore is 4-17 against the AL East this season, including 1-5 versus the Yankees.

The Orioles' comeback victory over the Red Sox on Tuesday capped an 11-1 run that brought Baltimore within five games of .500. Now, however, the Orioles are 10 games under (32-42) and a season-worst 13@1/2 games out of first place.

"These were big games, without a doubt," catcher Charles Johnson said. "You want to win these because you have a chance to gain ground without counting on someone else. Point blank, we have to play better baseball against teams in our division."

Williams hit solo shots in the first and third innings off Sidney Ponson (7-5). It was the eighth two-homer game of his career, the second this season.

Luis Sojo also homered for the Yankees, his first since July 30, 1997, to spark a three-run ninth against Arthur Rhodes.

Hernandez (9-6) allowed two runs and seven hits in 7 1-3 innings to improve to 3-0 lifetime against the Orioles. He struck out five and walked three while providing a perfect encore for David Cone, who yielded one run in eight innings Saturday.

"It's nice to put a streak together, it really is," Torre said. "We feel good about ourselves (because) our starting pitching is coming around."

altimore is getting ample performances from its starters, too, but the bullpen has allowed 12 earned runs in its last 10 1-3 innings.

"Somebody's got to step forward out there," Baltimore manager Ray Miller said. "Somebody has to start doing the job."

New York shortstop Derek Jeter missed his first game of the season after experiencing a cramp in his left hamstring Saturday. Torre said he rested Jeter as a precautionary measure.

Jeter wasn't needed. Sojo filled in amply, and the Yankees completed the sweep behind Williams' bat and the right arm of "El Duque."

After the Orioles closed to 3-2 in the third, Hernandez allowed just one runner past first base and retired 11 straight batters before walking Mike Bordick to open the eighth.

Surhoff followed with a single and Albert Belle struck out. Mike Stanton then retired Harold Baines on a grounder and struck out Will Clark.

Sojo homered in the ninth, and Chuck Knoblauch and Paul O'Neill added an RBI singles.

"There were some signs a week ago that things were starting to turn around for us," O'Neill said. "We're swinging the bats better and our starting pitching has been great. If you add those things together, that's when you win them in a row."

Williams' 410-foot homer to right sparked a two-run first that finally ended on Ponson's 38th pitch. Brady Anderson drew a leadoff walk and scored on a single by Surhoff in the Orioles' half.

Williams led off the third with his 13th home run, an opposite-field poke to left. Baltimore once again responded in the bottom of the inning, this time on a two-out RBI double by Belle.

Both pitchers settled down after that. Ponson, removed after allowing two runs and eight hits in seven innings, is now 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA lifetime against New York.

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