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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- David Cone rolled in agony on the same
field where he first hit the big leagues, scant yards away from the
pitcher's mound where he once won a Cy Young Award.
|  | | While on the field in pain, David Cone thought his career might be over, but X-Rays didn't indicate long-term damage. |
His first thought: pain.
His second: that here, in his hometown, in front of his friends
and family, his long major league career might finally have been
done in by his own hustle.
The New York Yankees right-hander dislocated his left shoulder in
the third inning of Tuesday night's 10-5 win over the Kansas City
Royals when he landed wrong after making a diving catch on Rey
Sanchez's bunt.
After having the shoulder popped back in, and after an X-ray
didn't show any damage, Cone was already speculating about a
possible return to the Yankees' lineup.
"Maybe I can still come back," he said. "Maybe there's a
chance I can still get something done this year. I really can't
tell at this point."
Cone, a Kansas City native who won the 1994 AL Cy Young during
his second stint with the Royals, was scheduled for an MRI exam Wednesday.
"He said, 'I'm ready Sunday' but we know better than that,"
said Yankees manager Joe Torre, whose injury-plagued team
maintained its six-game lead over second-place Boston in the AL
East. "I'm just pleased that they were able to get (the shoulder)
back in even before they left for the hospital."
Cone was the second Yankees player in two days to go down with
an injury. On Monday, center fielder Bernie Williams aggravated a
previous rib strain in the first inning of a 4-3 victory over the
Royals. He is expected to miss 4-6 games.
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Wed., Sept. 6
The Yankees will miss David Cone's presence, experience and toughness during playoff time. When he's on the mound, Cone is an inspiration to everyone on the team, whether he has his good stuff or not. They still say, "That's David Cone," and that gives them a good feeling.
But the Yankees have enough good pitching and have a big enough lead in the AL East to win the division without Cone. In addition, even if he were 100 percent healthy, Cone would not have been in the playoff rotation anyway. He would have been the fifth starter behind Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez and Denny Neagle. And in the playoffs, teams don't need a fifth starter. It's unlikely that Cone would have been, or will be, a major help out of the bullpen since he's done so little bullpen work in his career.
If Cone is still around in uniform with the team, he will be able to talk to people and explain what he's been through. But he wouldn't have been a big factor in the postseason or down the stretch. He hasn't been vintage Cone this season, but he had pitched better in recent starts and helped the Yankees build their six-game lead.
Cone's injury is another reason why the Yankees should be commended for getting Neagle before the July 31 trading deadline. They knew if one of their older pitchers broke down, they would have another one in place. That's why Neagle was acquired.
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Cone went down too early in Tuesday's game to get the win, but
reliever Dwight Gooden (6-4) never lost the Yankees' early lead.
He replaced Cone immediately after the injury and pitched
through the eighth, giving up three runs on seven hits with a walk
and a strikeout. Mike Stanton pitched the ninth, giving up Mike
Sweeney's sacrifice fly.
"A situation like that is tough," Gooden said. "You just go
as hard as you can for as long as you can."
No. 9 hitter Jose Vizcaino went 4-for-5 and Scott Brosius hit an
eighth-inning grand slam for the Yankees. Brosius' drive off
reliever Andy Larkin splashed into the fountains beyond left field
and made it 10-4.
"He's scuffling," Royals manager Tony Muser said of Larkin.
"He's got a good sinker that sometimes doesn't sink, and he's got
a good breaking ball that sometimes breaks horizontally instead of
vertically."
David Justice homered and drove in two runs for the Yankees, who
beat Kansas City for the seventh time in eight games this season.
His leadoff homer in the seventh off reliever Paul Spoljaric gave
New York a 6-4 lead and atoned for a fielding error in the sixth
that allowed an unearned run to score.
Carlos Beltran, making his first start since he went down with a
bruised knee July 3, went 2-for-4 and drove in a run for the
Royals.
The Royals took a 1-0 lead on Jermaine Dye's RBI double in the
first inning, but the Yankees scored four times in the third
against Jeff Suppan (7-9).
Clay Bellinger, Williams' replacement in center field, led off
with a home run to left center. Paul O'Neill's bases-loaded fly
ball, caught by a wind blowing in from right field, fell in for an
RBI single. Tino Martinez followed with a sacrifice fly for the
inning's first out.
O'Neill got hung up between first and second when Justice struck
out, but managed to elude the tag long enough for Derek Jeter to
score from third.
Suppan gave up five runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings, striking
out three and walking four.
The teams traded sacrifice flies in the fifth, Johnny Damon
answering Justice's RBI with his own to make it 5-2. The Royals
scored twice in the sixth, cutting the Yankees' lead to 5-4, when
Beltran hit an RBI single to left and the ball got away from
Justice, allowing Mark Quinn to score.
Game notes
Brosius' grand slam was his second of the season. He hit
the first May 7 against Baltimore. ... Cone had won three of his
last four decisions after a 1-10 start. ... Justice's homer was his
35th of the season but his first since Aug. 19. ... Damon stole his
league-leading 41st base in the third. ... With a second-inning
walk, Jeter extended his streak of reaching base safely to 30
games, the most by a Yankee since he did it in 53 straight games
last year. ... Sweeney needs seven more RBI to tie the team record
of 133, set by Hal McRae in 1992. ... Dye, who doubled once
Tuesday, has four in the first two games of the series.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
NY Yankees Clubhouse
Kansas City Clubhouse
Williams to miss 4-6 games with sore ribs; Knoblauch close
RECAPS
Boston 10
Oakland 3
Cleveland 7
Tampa Bay 4
Detroit 7
Anaheim 5
Seattle 4
Toronto 3
Texas 2
Chi. White Sox 1
NY Yankees 10
Kansas City 5
Baltimore 6
Minnesota 5
NY Mets 3
Cincinnati 2
Atlanta 5
Arizona 2
Houston 9
Florida 5
St. Louis 7
Montreal 6
Colorado 10
Chicago Cubs 2
San Diego 3
Milwaukee 1
Pittsburgh 8
Los Angeles 0
San Francisco 8
Philadelphia 5
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Joe Torre says David Cone was in pain due to his dislocated shoulder. (Courtesy MSG)
wav: 205 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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