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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) -- Sitting alone, Bartolo Colon could tell
something special was happening. It had become stone silent on the
Cleveland bench.
|  | | Bartolo Colon fired his first shutout of the season and fourth of his career. |
"I could feel they were getting caught up in the game, just
like I was," he said Monday night.
Bidding to become the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter against
the Yankees in 42 years, he barely missed. Colon wound up with a
one-hitter, allowing only Luis Polonia's eighth-inning single and
striking out 13 as the Indians beat New York 2-0.
"I think once you get five, six innings of no-hit ball in, you
can start to feel the adrenaline," losing pitcher Roger Clemens
said. "You can see the finish line, and he continued to stay
strong."
Center fielder Kenny Lofton reached over the wall to rob Jorge
Posada of a home run as Colon tried to throw the first no-hitter
against the Yankees since knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm in 1958.
"There was nobody saying a word," Indians manager Charlie
Manuel said.
Polonia, a friend of Colon's since they were teammates in the
Dominican Republic, slapped a sharp grounder up the middle with one
out in the eighth.
"I wanted to get the hit," Polonia said. "He'd been throwing
me fastballs all night and I was looking for one."
Colon, through an interpreter, admitted, "I was a little
nervous in the eighth inning.
"When Polonia got that hit, I felt like I'd gotten punched in
the chest."
Colon (14-8) walked one in ending a nine-game winning streak by
Clemens (13-7). First baseman Jim Thome also contributed a pair of
neat stops on hard grounders.
The Indians held their one-half game lead over Oakland in the
wild-card race. New York's magic number for clinching the AL East
remained at eight.
Cleveland outscored the Yankees 31-11 in winning three times in
this four-game series. The Indians now move on to Boston, where
they play five games in three days at Fenway Park.
The Yankees have not been no-hit for 6,637 games -- the longest
streak in the majors -- since Wilhelm, a future Hall-of-Famer, did
it at Baltimore on Sept. 20, 1958. New York has not been held
hitless at Yankee Stadium since Detroit's Virgil Trucks
accomplished the feat on Aug. 25, 1952.
Colon breezed into the eighth and struck out Glenallen Hill to
start the inning. But with the crowd of 31,317 sensing history and
nine Yankees leaning on the top railing of the dugout, Polonia hit
a clean single on Colon's first pitch.
David Justice was the only other player to reach against Colon.
He hit a high fly ball that left fielder Russell Branyan misplayed
for a two-base error in the first inning and walked in the seventh.
Colon stopped Derek Jeter's streak of reaching base in 41
straight games.
Lofton, a four-time Gold Glove winner, turned in one of the more
spectacular plays of the season in the second when he raced back to
the wall and reached far over it for Posada's drive. With many fans
thinking the ball was gone, Lofton landed back on the warning track
and casually flipped the ball with his glove into his bare hand.
"In the sixth or seventh inning, I thought that play might be
pretty big," Lofton said. "In the spot, in New York, it was
pretty exciting."
Colon, a 25-year-old righty with a fastball that nears 100 mph,
also did his part on defense.
Hit in the right side by Jeter's liner in the first inning,
Colon recovered to make the play at first base. At first, it was
uncertain whether Colon would be able to continue -- after being
attended to by trainers, he stayed in the game.
"He's one of the few pitchers who can overpower you," Jeter
said. "He basically dominated the game."
Colon pitched his first shutout of the season and fourth of his
career. He is 5-0 in his last 10 starts.
Clemens had not lost in 15 starts since June 9. He allowed two
runs on six hits and five walks, striking out nine in seven
innings.
Cleveland came out ready to hit against Clemens, swinging at 10
of his first 15 pitches and making contact each time.
Lofton led off by drawing a 10-pitch walk and Omar Vizquel
followed with a single that skimmed off the second-base bag. After
Roberto Alomar struck out, Manny Ramirez hit an RBI single.
Ramirez walked with two outs in the third and Thome lined an
opposite-field double to left past the Yankees' overshifted
infield. Ramirez scored when Clemens threw a pitch that skipped
through Posada's legs for a passed ball.
Game notes
Ramirez had homered in the previous three games of the
series. ... Len Barker pitched the Indians' last no-hitter, a
perfect game on May 15, 1981, against Toronto. ... Comedian Billy
Crystal watched from owner George Steinbrenner's box. ... A fan ran
on the field after Polonia's single and tumbled into third base. No
Yankees runner made it that far all night.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Cleveland Clubhouse
NY Yankees Clubhouse
RECAPS
Oakland 12
Baltimore 3
Detroit 5
Chi. White Sox 2
Cleveland 2
NY Yankees 0
Seattle 4
Tampa Bay 3
Minnesota 3
Texas 1
Montreal 11
Florida 4
Pittsburgh 6
Philadelphia 5
Atlanta 6
NY Mets 3
Milwaukee 2
Chicago Cubs 1
Los Angeles 2
Arizona 1
Cincinnati 7
San Francisco 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Joe Torre and the Yankees couldn't keep up with Bartolo Colon.
wav: 127 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Jim Thome tips his hat to teammate Bartolo Colon for pitching a one-hitter.
wav: 103 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
ESPN's Peter Gammons sees a major improvement in Bartolo Colon.
wav: 348 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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