UNION-TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICES

May 25, 2006

BOSTON – Randy Johnson's latest lousy start was just a bad memory by the eighth inning, when last night's game came down to a bases-loaded battle between Kyle Farnsworth and David Ortiz.

Farnsworth had loaded the bases with two outs, and manager Joe Torre decided to let the shaky right-hander dance out of the mess.

And he did. Ortiz struck out for the fourth time and Mariano Rivera was there in the ninth to close out an 8-6 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

“Joe's got to leave me out there sooner or later,” Farnsworth said. “He can't keep sending Mo out for four-out saves. It was a good thing for me to stay in there.”

Despite four Manny Ramirez homers in the series –two of them last night – the Yanks took two of three games to pull within a half-game of first-place Boston in the AL East.

Batting leadoff in place of the resting Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrera had four RBI on a night when Johnson was knocked out after five innings.

Seldom are the times when Torre comes to the mound without intending to remove his pitcher, or check on his physical status.

But in the fifth inning, the manager jogged out of the Yankees dugout for a sharp conversation with the struggling Johnson.

With the second of his two-run singles, Cabrera had provided an 8-5 lead in the fifth. But Johnson walked Ramirez to start the Boston half, and fell behind 2-0 to the slumping Jason Varitek.

After the chat, Johnson retired the side and ended his evening with this line: five runs, nine hits, two walks, eight strikeouts.

Johnson (6-4) gave up a two-run homer to Ramirez in the first inning and a two-run homer to Kevin Youkilis in the second inning – each coming with two out.

Despite earning the victory, Johnson's ERA jumped from 5.62 to 5.89.

Over his last six starts, dating to April 29, Johnson's ERA is 8.04. In that span, he has yielded 28 earned runs, 43 hits, seven home runs, and 17 walks in 31 1/3 innings.

New York		AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
MCabrera rf		4	0	2	4	1	0	.325
Jeter ss		5	0	1	1	0	2	.348
Sheffield dh		4	0	1	0	1	1	.314
JaGiambi 1b		5	0	2	0	0	0	.260
APhillips 1b		0	0	0	0	0	0	.196
ARodriguez 3b		5	1	1	0	0	1	.273
Cano 2b		4	2	1	0	1	0	.299
BWilliams cf		5	2	3	1	0	1	.270
Long lf		4	2	2	1	1	0	.167
Stinnett c		3	1	0	1	0	1	.175
Totals		39	8	13	8	4	6
Boston		AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Youkilis 1b		5	2	3	2	0	1	.314
Loretta 2b		4	0	2	0	1	0	.301
DOrtiz dh		5	0	0	0	0	4	.265
MRamirez lf		4	3	3	3	1	0	.316
Varitek c		4	0	1	1	1	0	.228
Lowell 3b		5	0	1	0	0	1	.327
WPena cf		4	0	0	0	0	2	.314
Mohr rf		2	0	0	0	0	2	.175
a-Nixon ph-rf		2	0	0	0	0	0	.302
AGonzalez ss		4	1	2	0	0	1	.207
1-WHarris pr		0	0	0	0	0	0	.143
Cora ss		0	0	0	0	0	0	.270
Totals		39	6	12	6	3	11
New York			040 040 000–8		13		1
Boston			221 000 100–6		12		1
a-grounded out for Mohr 6th. 1-ran for Gonzalez 8th. E–Stinnett (2), Lowell (4). LOB–N.Y. 9, Bos. 9. 2B–Jeter (12), MRamirez (5). HR–Youkilis (5), off RaJohnson; MRamirez 2 (11), off Proctor, RaJohnson. RBIs–MCabrera 4 (5), Jeter (35), BWilliams (19), Long (1), Stinnett (5), Youkilis 2 (24), MRamirez 3 (29), Varitek (20). SB–AGonzalez (1), WHarris (4). GIDP–Jeter, JaGiambi. RLISP–N.Y. 5 (Sheffield 2, JaGiambi, BWilliams, Long); Bos. 3 (DOrtiz 2, AGonzalez). DP–Bos. 2 (AGonzalez and Youkilis), (AGonzalez, Lowell and Youkilis).
New York	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Johnson W,6-4	5	9	5	5	2	8	105	5.89
Erickson H1	1	1	0	0	0	0	15	4.76
MMyers H5	1/3	0	0	0	0	1	5	0.93
Proctor H5	2/3	1	1	1	0	0	7	3.16
Farnsworth H6	1	1	0	0	1	2	23	3.66
MRivera S10	1	0	0	0	0	0	13	2.70
Boston	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Clement L,4-4	4 1/3	9	8	8	4	4	96	6.31
Tavarez	1 2/3	2	0	0	0	1	18	4.26
Seanez	2	2	0	0	0	1	25	5.82
Foulke	1	0	0	0	0	0	9	4.62

  Inherited runners-scored–Tavarez 2-2. HBP–by Clement (Stinnett).

WP–Clement 2. Umpires–Home, Bruce Dreckman; First, Rob Drake; Second, Gary Darling;

Third, Larry Poncino. T–3:30. A–36,375 (36,108).

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