1999 Yankees Diary, June 20: Yanks drop series finale in bizarre fashion

The Yankees had looked impressive in the first two games of this series, with strong starting pitching putting them on the verge of a sweep of the Angels. But with Anaheim reeling and on a six-game losing streak, the Yankees couldn’t find a way to finish the job, dropping one of their more frustrating games of 1999.

June 19: Yankees 2, Angels 4 (box score)

Record: 39-28, .582 (0.5 GA)

David Cone started on this day, and he continued New York’s run of quality pitching performances. The early innings were largely uneventful for Cone, with one massive exception: an absolute moonshot off the bat of brief ‘96 teammate Matt Luke.

Right fielder Paul O’Neill hardly bothered to move as Luke’s two-run shot flew deep into the third deck at Yankee Stadium, giving the Angels a 2-0 second-inning lead.

Cone was otherwise solid, giving his offense a chance to chip into the deficit. They did so in the third, with Bernie Williams sending a solo shot out to center for his tenth of the year to make it 2-1. But the lineup couldn’t get much else going against Tim Belcher, a 37-year-old who entered the game with a 6.95 ERA on the year. They did put two on in the first, with Derek Jeter singling with two out from his relatively new spot in the three-hole and Tino Martinez drawing a walk, but O’Neill grounded out to leave a pair.

With the offense struggling against Belcher, it was Cone’s defense that failed him in the fifth. With two down and none on, Jeff Huson reached on an infield single. Huson stole second, then advanced to third on an errant throw by Joe Girardi. The error proved costly, with Darin Erstad reaching on another infield single, scoring Huson in the process and putting Anaheim up 3-1.

Meanwhile, Belcher was slicing through the Yankee lineup. After Williams’ dinger in the third, Belcher faced the minimum until O’Neill singled with one out in the seventh. Belcher was just never in any trouble; outside of the first inning, when Jeter reached second on Martinez’s walk, the Yankees never got a runner as far as second base against Belcher, whose day finished after eight innings of one-run, five-hit ball.

That was in part thanks to some good fortune for Belcher and the Angels in the eighth. Still down 3-1, Jorge Posada pinch-hit for Girardi and lined a single off of Belcher. The next batter, Chuck Knoblauch, got a good piece and drove one to the wall in right-center. Reggie Williams appeared to catch the ball only after it deflected off the wall:

But the umpires ruled it a catch on the field, and Williams easily doubled off Posada, who was left befuddled after watching Williams use the wall to make the catch. A fly ball that should have left the Yankees with a bare minimum of two on with one out instead ended the inning and the Yankees’ most promising threat yet.

Joe Torre went to Mariano Rivera in the top of the ninth down two, with Cone having finished a strong eight-inning outing. But it was a rare off day for Mo. A one-out walk and a forceout left Huson at first, with Huson wreaking havoc on the bases again and stealing second. Erstad lined a single to right to drive Huson in, giving Anaheim an insurance run and a 4-1 lead.

Down to their final three outs, the Yankee offense finally came alive facing Angels closer Troy Percival. Williams led off with a walk, and Jeter followed with a single, his second of the game. Martinez singled Williams home, cutting the lead to 4-2 and putting the tying run on base with none out.

But it just wasn’t meant to be. Tony Tarasco came up in O’Neill’s spot in the lineup, with O’Neill having been removed from the game after being struck by a shard of bat in a freak accident when standing in the on-deck circle. Tarasco popped up, but Chili Davis walked to load the bases. With the crowd on its feet, Scott Brosius grounded into a crushing 5-5-3 double play to end the game:

It was one of those games where if any one of a thousand tiny things go differently, the result may have been flipped: the umpire’s missed call in the eighth, Girardi’s error in the fifth, O’Neill’s strange injury, to name a few. Instead, the Yankees were left with a deflating loss to end their homestand.

Read the full 1999 Yankees Diary series here.