Yankees Bomb Orioles 14-7

April 15, 1999 / 1:06 AM EDT / CBS/AP

Another messy game, another New York Yankees win.

Chuck Knoblauch had five hits, including a leadoff homer, and the New York Yankees took advantage of shoddy play by Baltimore to win their seventh straight, beating the Orioles 14-7 Wednesday night to take sole possession of the AL East lead for the first time this year.

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But a poor relief performance by Hideki Irabu almost cost the Yankees their ninth straight home win against Baltimore. Irabu gave up five runs in one-third of an inning in his first appearance at Yankee Stadium this season.

"I don't feel physically bad. I just need to throw the ball better," Irabu said through a translator. "There are many different ways to get out of a slump. It is up to the manager to decide."

Irabu, dropped from the rotation after failing to cover first base twice in one week during spring training and called a "fat ... toad" by owner George Steinbrenner, was booed loudly as he left the field following Harold Baines' three-run homer that made it 8-7.

Interim manager Don Zimmer said he doesn't know what Irabu's next step should be.

"His confidence can't be high right now," Zimmer said. "We need to get him right. We got him into the perfect situation with a six-run lead. Before you know it, we were in a fight for our lives."

Knoblauch and Paul O'Neill quickly reversed that. Knoblauch's RBI single in the seventh inning made it 9-7. That was is fifth hit to tie his career high and raise his average from .174 to .310.

One out later, Paul O'Neill hit a three-run homer off Jesse Orosco, his first hit in 17 at-bats against the left-hander.

"He's a tough lefty," said O'Neill, who went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and three runs scored. "If he makes his pitches, he gets left-handers out. He's certainly gotten me enough times."

But Orosco didn't make his pitch, leaving slider up in the zone.

"If you face a guy long enough he's going to get a hit off you sometime," Orosco said. "He's a left-hander I need to get out."

New York, which won its 12th straight regular-season home game, added two in the eighth when Mike Fetters balked in Tino Martinez and Joe Girardi hit an RBI double.

"It is demoralizing to get that close and then see a team add on runs," said Yankee starter David Cone (2-0), who allowed two runs one earned and four hits in six innings. "Those are tough games to lose when you fight so hard to get back into it."

On Tuesday night, the Yankees needed two wind-blown flies, a double that bounced off the third-base bag and a run-scoring wild pitch to overcome an error and three passed balls.

One night later, they used 17 hits, including eight for extra bases, off five pitchers. The Orioles helped with two errors and one balk.

"That was obviously an awesome display of hitting, or an awful display of pitching," Baltimore manager Ray Miller said after his team lost for the sixth time in seven games. "It was probably a little bit of both."

The Orioles took a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the first for the second straight game, but New York responded with three runs in its half with Knoblauch's homer off Scott Erickson (0-2) and two errors, including Cal Ripken's third of the season.

The Orioles closed to 3-2 in the third when Clark doubled and scored on B.J. Surhoff's single.

Erickson retired the first two hitters in the fourth and had an 0-2 count on Knoblauch before giving up a single. After a walk to Derek Jeter, O'Neill hit an RBI single, Williams had a two-run triple, Martinez was hit with a pitch and Davis lined a two-run double to left to make it 8-2 and knock out Erickson.

"I had Knoblauch down 0-2 with two outs and they score five runs," said Erickson, who allowed eight runs seven earned in 3 2-3 innings. "That just killed us. I couldn't make the pitch when i had to."

Notes: It was a typical Yankees-Orioles game: 3 hours, 51 minutes. ... Nine of the Yankees' runs came with two outs. ... Including the postseason, the Yankees have won 18 of 19 at home. ... Knoblauch also had five hits in 1996 for Minnesota against Texas. ... O'Neill has 1,001 RBIs. ... Scott Brosius missed the game with a sprained right ankle and is day to day. He will undergo an MRI on Thursday. Clay Bellinger went 1-for-4 with his first major league hit in Brosius' place. ... Darryl Strawberry is expected to join Triple A Columbus for a rehab stint in 7-10 days. ... Baines' homer was the 350th of his career. ... Baltimore starters have a 7.26 ERA. The Yankees' starters are at 1.51.