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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) -- The New York Yankees stopped their losing streak
and offensive slump in a big way.
David Justice homered twice and Derek Jeter hit a three-run
homer Saturday to rally the Yankees to a 13-8 victory over the
Detroit Tigers, snapping New York's season-high, six-game losing
streak.
|  | | David Justice watches one of his homers fly out Saturday. |
"We really needed this one, and we got it," Yankees manager
Joe Torre said. "We don't want it this way all the time, but when
you digest it all, this type of game probably did us a lot of good
because we got our offense back on track."
Justice hit a solo homer in the second and a three-run shot in
the eighth, giving him 40 home runs on the season, tying his career
high. Jorge Posada also homered and Jeter went 4-for-5 with four
RBIs to pace an 18-hit attack for the Yankees.
It was the first time the Yankees collected double-digit hits
since they had 12 in their last win, 6-3 over Cleveland last
Saturday.
"We haven't really been playing well," Jeter said. "We had
been playing like the 'Bad News Bears' for a while, so this type of
win is big for us."
New York, which entered the day with a 4½-game lead in the AL
East, reduced its magic number to five. Toronto played Tampa Bay
later Saturday.
Jeff Nelson (8-3) pitched one inning for the win as the Yankees
avoided their first seven-game losing streak since Aug. 19-26,
1995, when they lost eight straight.
Mariano Rivera, in his first appearance since Sept. 14, pitched
the final two innings for his 35th save in 40 opportunities.
Yankees starter Roger Clemens struggled after getting hit in the
right thigh by Brad Ausmus' grounder in the third. Clemens, who was
limping noticeably after the game, has a bruised thigh and is day
to day.
"It hit him pretty good, so there's probably going to be
bruising and it may have to run its course," Torre said. "But I
guess we'll know more in a couple of days."
Trailing 7-5 with no outs in the sixth, Luis Sojo, Scott Brosius
and Chuck Knoblauch hit consecutive singles off Tigers reliever
Willie Blair (10-5) to get the Yankees within a run.
Jeter, who had four hits for the second straight game, then hit
an 0-1 pitch over the right-field wall to give New York a 9-7 lead.
Blair allowed four runs on four hits in 2 1-3 innings.
"It was still early when I hit the homer, so it wasn't really a
situation where we could start celebrating," Jeter said. "It's
just good to be able to go out there and get some hits and some
runs."
Deivi Cruz's two-out RBI single off Mike Stanton in the seventh
made it 9-8 before Justice broke the game open in a four-run
eighth.
"The bottom of their order and the top of their order just
killed us," Tigers manager Phil Garner said. "Sojo, Brosius,
Knoblauch and Jeter just kept setting the table. We were unable to
stop them, and they finally finished us off."
Neither starter figured in the decision, and both were roughed
up.
The Tigers scored six times in the fifth off Clemens to take a
7-5 lead.
Hal Morris led off with a single, Damion Easley walked and
Ausmus hit an RBI double to make it 5-2. Jose Macias was hit by a
pitch to load the bases. Juan Encarnacion walked to force in
another run.
Clemens then got Bobby Higginson to pop out to shortstop and
struck out Dean Palmer for the third time. But Billy McMillon hit a
2-2 pitch into the right-field seats for his second career grand
slam to give the Tigers a 7-5 lead.
"I wasn't really thinking about doing that," McMillon said.
"I was just trying to help us win a game. Unfortunately, that
didn't happen."
Clemens allowed seven runs, five hits, walked two, struck out
five and hit two batters in five innings.
The Yankees scored three runs off Tigers starter Dave Mlicki in
the fourth. Sojo and Brosius hit one-out singles, and Jeter singled
with two outs to make it 3-1.
Paul O'Neill hit a two-run single to give the Yankees a 5-1 lead
and knock Mlicki out. Mlicki allowed five runs and nine hits in 3
2/3 innings.
The Yankees took a lead for the first time in 56 innings when
Justice and Posada homered in the second off Mlicki to give the
Yankees a 2-0 lead.
The Tigers got a run back in the third on Easley's homer.
Game notes
Justice has five multihomer games this season and 21 for
his career. ... Dwight Gooden will replace David Cone in the
Yankees' starting rotation. Cone, who struggled in two starts since
dislocating his left shoulder while fielding a popped-up bunt on
Aug. 30 at Kansas City, had been scheduled to start Monday. ...
Yankees 1B Tino Martinez snapped a career-worst 0-for-28 slump with
a single in the second. Martinez was 1-for-5. ... O'Neill's two
RBI gave him 100 for the fourth straight season. ... McMillon,
Detroit's minor league player of the year, hit his first career
grand slam on Aug. 18, 1997, against San Francisco while he was
with Philadelphia.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Detroit Clubhouse
NY Yankees Clubhouse
Cone sent to pen as Gooden rejoins Yankees' rotation
RECAPS
NY Yankees 13
Detroit 8
Oakland 8
Seattle 2
Toronto 7
Tampa Bay 6
Boston 8
Baltimore 7
Chi. White Sox 5
Minnesota 3
Cleveland 11
Kansas City 1
Anaheim 15
Texas 4
Cincinnati 6
Houston 4
St. Louis 6
Chicago Cubs 5
Florida 3
Colorado 1
Arizona 7
San Francisco 5
San Francisco 9
Arizona 5
(2nd game)
Pittsburgh 4
Milwaukee 2
Milwaukee 5
Pittsburgh 4
(2nd game)
Atlanta 10
Montreal 0
NY Mets 7
Philadelphia 3
Los Angeles 2
San Diego 1
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