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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) -- A trip to the Yankees' pitching doctor didn't
quite cure David Cone's ills.
Cone, back from a 1½-week stay at New York's minor league
complex, struggled through six laborious innings and remained
winless since April 28 as the Yankees lost to the Seattle Mariners
6-5 Saturday.
|  | | David Cone didn't pitch poorly, but the Yankees did lose the 13th straight game he started. |
After Cone lost his eighth straight decision July 27, owner
George Steinbrenner banished him to Tampa, Fla., to work with
pitching guru Billy Connors, who helped Dwight Gooden resurrect his
career and Roger Clemens win AL pitcher of the month in July.
"The stint in Tampa got me back on the right track," Cone
said. "I know what I need to do. I have a blueprint with which to
work. Before I was constantly searching for something."
Cone, 37, once again tinkered with his mechanics -- making his
delivery more compact and throwing more over the top -- but the
results weren't measurably better.
His slider still appeared flat at times and he couldn't put
hitters away. Cone reached two-strike counts on 20 of 28 hitters,
but nine reached safely.
"It's been the same story all year," he said. "The stuff is
there, but I'm just not efficient enough. I get to 0-2 and I start
pressing and I can't put the hitters away."
Cone avoided serious damage by holding Seattle to 1-for-7 with
runners in scoring position -- an RBI single by Al Martin in the
third.
Alex Rodriguez followed with his 27th homer to make it 3-2, but
that was all Seattle could get until the ninth. Cone avoided his
ninth straight loss when Jorge Posada homered in the seventh.
"That was the first good break he's had," said manager Joe
Torre, who said Cone will stay in the rotation for at least one
more start. "At least he didn't get the loss."
But the Yankees did lose the 13th straight game started by Cone
as Seattle scored three in the ninth.
Pinch-hitter Stan Javier led off with a single off Gooden (5-4),
advanced to second on a sacrifice and to third on Rickey
Henderson's single. Mariano Rivera came in and gave up an infield
hit to Martin, a sacrifice fly to Rodriguez and an RBI single to
Edgar Martinez.
Brett Tomko (6-3) pitched two innings for the win, and Kazuhiro
Sasaki got his 26th save in 29 chances, giving up a two-run homer
to Posada.
The sellout crowd of 55,629 was supportive of Cone, giving him a
standing ovation as he walked to the bullpen before the game. They
applauded for every two-strike pitch -- all 52 of them -- and gave
Cone a lengthy ovation after he struck out Mike Cameron to end the
fifth, the 2,500th of his career.
"How many pitchers who are 1-10 get that type of ovation?"
Cone asked. "They showed me a lot of respect, and I appreciate
that."
Torre, who tries to keep Cone's pitch count below 110, was just
as supportive, sending him to pitch the sixth -- despite being at
113 pitches -- in a desperate attempt to get Cone his first win in
15 starts.
Cone allowed seven hits and five walks, but needed 137 pitches -- the most he's thrown since making 147 in Game 5 of the 1995
playoffs against Seattle - to make it through six.
"I think he was being too careful at times and tried to make
that perfect pitch," Torre said. "But I'm happy with this outing.
He kept us in the game."
New York gave Cone a 2-0 lead in the first inning on David
Justice's two-run single off Aaron Sele. New York could muster only
one more runner until the sixth.
"The Yankees were a little more aggressive than they usually
were," Sele said. "I was able to make an adjustment down in the
strike zone."
That's when things got controversial. With one out, Paul O'Neill
hit a line drive off Sele's right ankle. The ball deflected in the
air to Rodriguez at shortstop. Because the umpires did not signal
an out, Rodriguez threw to first, pulling John Olerud off the bag.
Seattle manager Lou Piniella argued, and O'Neill was called out
after plate umpire Angel Hernandez conferred with crew chief Mark
Hirschbeck and ruled the ball was caught.
Tomko started warming up, and with runners on second and third,
Piniella came back out with a trainer to check on Sele. Piniella
brought in left-hander Arthur Rhodes -- who was not warming up -- to
face lefty Tino Martinez. Rhodes was given as much time as he
needed to get ready, sparking a protest by the Yankees.
"Lou wanted to bring the left-hander in and the umpires allowed
it," Torre said. "If I'm not mistaken, he ran off the field. They
allowed him to get away with it."
Piniella disagreed.
"Tomko was warming up for the next inning," he said. "But I
noticed Sele wasn't pushing off. He stiffened up pretty good. We
just couldn't take a chance on leaving him in."
Hirschbeck sided with Piniella.
"They can bring anybody in they want," the umpire said.
"We're not doctors. The team took the pitcher out due to injury."
Rhodes got Martinez to ground out, preserving the 3-2 lead. Sele
had a bruised right ankle, but said he expects to make his next
start.
Game notes
Posada has six career multihomer games. ... Rodriguez has
17 career homers against the Yankees, tied with Kansas City for the
most he's hit off any team. ... Cone is 3-15 in 33 starts since
pitching a perfect game against Montreal on July 18, 1999.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Seattle Clubhouse
NY Yankees Clubhouse
RECAPS
Kansas City 7
Boston 5
Toronto 8
Texas 5
Cleveland 6
Anaheim 3
Tampa Bay 5
Baltimore 4
Seattle 6
NY Yankees 5
Detroit 4
Minnesota 3
Chi. White Sox 4
Oakland 3
St. Louis 5
Atlanta 0
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Philadelphia 6
Chicago Cubs 6
San Diego 3
Pittsburgh 7
San Francisco 2
Florida 10
Cincinnati 5
Montreal 10
Houston 9
NY Mets 6
Arizona 2
Milwaukee 4
Los Angeles 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 David Cone showed some fight against Seattle on Sunday.
wav: 125 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Joe Torre is happy with Cone's performance on Sunday.
wav: 130 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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