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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ATLANTA (AP) -- The New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves gave a
tantalizing glimpse of what might be coming in October.
|  | | Andy Pettitte picked up the win Sunday despite allowing 6 runs. |
Clay Bellinger hit a pinch-hit homer in the seventh inning to
give the Yankees a 7-6 victory over the Braves on Sunday, the
second straight wild game between the teams that have met in two of
the last four World Series.
Atlanta, which was swept by the Yankees last fall, held on for
an 11-7 victory Saturday that ended with Shane Spencer's attempt
for a tying grand slam being caught at the edge of the left-field
wall. The Yankees won the opener of the three-game series, 5-2.
"I think we're gaining on them," said Braves third baseman
Chipper Jones, who drove in two runs. "But they're still the elite
team in baseball right now."
New York held on in the finale when Mariano Rivera struck out
Andres Galarraga with runners on first and third to end the game.
"The postseason is a different story," said Yankees starter
Andy Pettitte, who got the win despite allowing six runs in six
innings. "You like to win any series, but it's a long time to the
postseason."
In the top of the ninth, John Rocker pitched a scoreless inning
for Atlanta after a confrontation before the game with the Sports
Illustrated reporter who wrote the article that led to Rocker's
two-week suspension for insensitive comments.
The Braves said they were investigating. Rocker declined
comment.
"Obviously, he still has issues with the guy," Jones said.
"Maybe the right thing to do would have been to walk away. But I
haven't seen John back down from a conflict yet."
For the second day in a row, New York pounded the Braves'
starting pitcher for 13 hits. This time, it came against Terry
Mulholland, eclipsing his previous career high of 12 hits allowed
while pitching for San Francisco in 1995.
"We needed that," said Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, still
disgusted about the team's four-error performance Saturday. "We
wanted to play more like we're capable of playing. We won two in
this series and should have won three."
Trying to rest his bullpen, Atlanta manager Bobby Cox allowed
Mulholland to bat for himself in the sixth after the Braves tied
the game 6-6 on consecutive homers by Javy Lopez and Reggie
Sanders.
Mulholland (5-5) retired the first two hitters in the seventh,
then hung an 0-1 fastball to Bellinger, who sent the ball deep into
the left-field seats for his fourth homer of the season.
"I tried not to smile," Bellinger said. "But in the dugout,
with all the high-fives, I let out a couple of smiles."
Mulholland had the opposite reaction. The left-hander, who
rarely shows emotion, yelled in anger and hopped off the mound as
soon as Bellinger connected with the Yankees' first pinch-hit homer
since Spencer did it against Toronto on May 29, 1999.
"I wasn't real happy about that one ... especially with the way
we fought back to tie up the game," Mulholland said. "Obviously,
Clay Bellinger liked it."
The Braves, who trailed virtually the entire game, finally
caught the Yankees in the sixth. Lopez led off with a homer into
the left-field stands against Pettitte (5-2), and the slumping
Sanders followed with his first homer since joining the Braves in
an offseason trade.
Sanders, hitting only .152, jumped in the air and pumped his
fist several times after the opposite-field drive settled into the
first row of the right-field stands.
The Yankees jumped on Mulholland for three runs in the first,
mirroring their quick start a day earlier in which they had four
hits and two runs before Greg Maddux got an out.
Chuck Knoblauch worked for a 10-pitch walk, Jeter singled and
Bernie Williams followed with an RBI single. Felix Jose had a
sacrifice fly and Tino Martinez made it 3-0 with a double to right.
The Yankees built their lead to 4-0 in the third on Martinez's
second straight run-scoring double before the Braves began a streak
of four straight scoring innings against Pettitte.
In the third, Andruw Jones had an RBI single and Chipper Jones
added a sacrifice fly. Lopez had a run-scoring single in the
fourth. Chipper Jones picked up his second RBI in the fifth with a
double into the left-field corner. Lopez and Sanders had the
back-to-back homers in the sixth.
But the Braves never could get ahead of New York. Spencer had a
run-scoring single in the fourth and Scott Brosius homered off the
left-field pole the following inning.
Rivera pitched two scoreless innings for his 14th save.
Game
notes
Pettitte won his third straight decision. ... The Braves
have hit back-to-back homers three times this season. ... Sanders'
homer was his first since Sept. 26, when he was playing for San
Diego in a game at Los Angeles. ... The Braves sold out all three
games of the series after managing only two sellouts in their first
24 home games. The crowd of 47,756 raised Atlanta's season
attendance to 1,022,725. ... Switch-hitter Bobby Bonilla batted
right-handed against the right-handed Rivera in the eighth.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
NY Yankees Clubhouse
Atlanta Clubhouse
Braves' Jordan calls Rocker 'cancer' after latest incident
RECAPS
NY Yankees 7
Atlanta 6
Tampa Bay 15
NY Mets 5
Cincinnati 3
Minnesota 2
Montreal 1
Baltimore 0
Philadelphia 6
Boston 5
Kansas City 7
Pittsburgh 5
Cleveland 3
St. Louis 2
Detroit 3
Chicago Cubs 2
Chi. White Sox 7
Houston 3
Anaheim 8
Los Angeles 7
Toronto 7
Florida 2
San Francisco 18
Oakland 2
Seattle 6
San Diego 4
Texas 7
Arizona 6
Colorado 7
Milwaukee 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Clay Bellinger is excited about his game-winning HR.
wav: 150 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Brian Jordan says John Rocker is using up his 9 lives.
wav: 212 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Tom Glavine is tired of answering questions about John Rocker.
wav: 112 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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