Rookie Jaret Wright, possibly Cleveland’s best young fireballer since Bob Feller 50 years ago, extended his scoreless streak to a record nine innings Monday night as he led the Indians past the New York Yankees in the fifth and final game of an American League division series.
Wright, 21, in the big leagues since June 24, picked up the victory as the Indians dethroned the defending world champions 3 games to 2 with a 4-3 victory at Jacobs Field.
Cleveland will open the American League Championship Series Wednesday at Baltimore.
Wright was opposed by left-hander Andy Pettitte, the same opponent he defeated in Game 2. Wright, on that occasion, finished with five scoreless innings and added four more before the Yankees reached him for two runs in the fifth.
In the beginning the Yankees’ strategy seemed apparent: Wear the kid out, make him throw a lot of pitches. Wright needed 28 pitches to get through the first inning, 10 for the first batter.
Pettitte faced only one batter over the minimum in the first two innings but had much woe in the third when the Indians assaulted him for three runs on four hits. The big hit was a two-run double by the previously silent Manny Ramirez.
The rally began with one-out singles by Marquis Grissom and Bip Roberts. Omar Vizquel tapped into a fielder’s choice, then stole second when the Yankees failed to over. Ramirez, who was 9 for 21 career against Pettitte, drove to right-center, the ball bouncing over the fence for a ground-rule double, Grissom and Vizquel scoring for a 2-0 Cleveland lead. The capacity crowd was still cheering when Matt Williams singled Ramirez across for a 3-0 lead.
It was apparent that Pettitte was rattled. Sandy Alomar opened the fourth with a double. Pettitte dropped Jim Thome’s sacrifice bunt but recovered in time to throw Thome out. Alomar tagged up on Tony Fernandez’s fly to right and the crowd was ecstatic. The Indians were now ahead 4-0.
Wright was doing fine until the fifth when his defense deserted him. Tim Raines walked, stole second and continued to third on Alomar’s throwing error. Paul O’Neill walked with two outs. Williams’ long single to right, overrun by Ramirez, brought both runners across to slice the lead to 4-2.
