Yankees Win AL East

B A L T I M O R E, Sept. 30, 2000 -- It didn’t matter to the New York Yankees that

they had just absorbed their fifth straight loss, a 13-2

embarrassment against the Baltimore Orioles.

And the Yankees offered no apologies for capturing their thirdstraight AL East title on a night when their winningest pitcher wasvictimized by a 10-run inning and the offense once again sputtered.

The Yankees were quite content to back into the playoffs tonight when the Boston Red Sox lost to Tampa Bay 8-6. It is thefirst time they reached the postseason in six straight seasons.

They celebrated in appropriate fashion, dousing each other withchampagne that had been on ice for so long that it should have beenfrozen in the bottle.

Celebrated Despite Loss

“I guess that’s the secret to having a big lead, that you cansquander it. Now that this is over with, we can concentrate on whatwe want to do,” manager Joe Torre said, seconds before he absorbeda champagne shower, courtesy of shortstop Derek Jeter.

Although the Yankees have lost 13 of 16 and dropped their lastthree games by a combined 35-6 score, the two-time defending WorldSeries champions will enter the postseason coming off the 38thfirst-place finish in franchise history.

“We won the division, this is every team’s goal. We deserve tocelebrate,” Jeter said.

But the Yankees are struggling. They’ve lost seven straight onthe road and managed only six hits Friday after Torre held a rareteam meeting before the game in an effort to reverse the losingtrend.

“It’s been tough. Obviously you don’t like to lose and we,basically, have been getting blown out,” Jeter said. “So, we’vegot to change some things around, change our luck around, and we’vegot a couple of days to do it.”

The final score of the Boston-Tampa Bay game was posted on thescoreboard with New York batting in the ninth. Some Yankees fans atCamden Yards stood and cheered the result.

So did the Yankees.

O’s Scored 10 Runs in One Inning

“We really couldn’t go crazy on the bench because we weregetting beat down,” Jeter said. “But I know everyone was happy,and now we get a chance to enjoy it.”

Chris Richard hit two homers for the Orioles, including athree-run shot in the record-setting 10-run second inning. CalRipken also homered, his first since returning from a two-monthstint on the disabled list Sept. 1.

Baltimore’s Chuck McElroy (3-0), making his second straightstart after 603 relief appearances, allowed three hits in sixinnings, the longest stint of his career.

But Mike Hargrove, who took the Cleveland Indians to theplayoffs in five straight seasons before coming to Baltimore, knowsthe significance of the game was not that the Orioles improved to72-88.

“I feel very good for those guys, to go ahead and clinch thisthing,” he said. “I’m glad that they clinched it the way theydid, instead of beating us.”

10-Run Inning

The Orioles set an AL mark with their second 10-run inning in asmany games, following up their team-record outburst in the fourthagainst Toronto on Thursday by scoring 10 runs against AndyPettitte (19-9) and Dwight Gooden in the second.

Pettitte opened the inning by walking three straight batters.Brook Fordyce then singled in two runs, and another run scored asthe Yankees missed a double play when second baseman ChuckKnoblauch threw high on the relay.

Brady Anderson walked before Jerry Hairston, Delino DeShields,Albert Belle and Ripken hit RBI singles to put Baltimore up 7-0 andchase Pettitte.

Gooden struck out Melvin Mora before Richard hit a three-runhomer to right. Fordyce flied to left to end the inning.

It was the most runs allowed in an inning by the Yankees sinceBoston scored 11 on May 31, 1998.

The only other major league team to score 10 runs in an inningin two straight games was the Houston Astros, who scored 11 and 10in a doubleheader against the New York Mets on July 30, 1969.

Ripken hit a solo shot and Richard connected with a man onagainst Jay Tessmer in the eighth to make it 13-1.