1999 Yankees Diary: Late-inning implosion dooms Clemens, Yanks

07/04/2024 11:00 AM

Losers of ten straight, the Orioles rallied late to stun the Yankees on Independence Day.

Heading into July 4th, the Yankees were on fire. They'd won 10 of 11, surging into first place in the AL East and erasing most doubts about any sort of championship hangover after their historic 1998 campaign. On the other side, the Orioles were watching their season circle the drain. Scott Brosius' walk-off the day before handed Baltimore its tenth straight loss, leaving them a hopeless 17.5 games back in the division race.

Sending Roger Clemens to the mound on Independence Day, the Yankees had to feel confident about clinching another series win and serving the Orioles an 11th consecutive defeat. A late implosion left the Bombers shaking their heads.

July 4: Yankees 3, Orioles 7 (box score)

Record: 49-30 (1st, 3.0 GA)

Clemens was coming off his finest start as a Yankee, tossing a shutout against the Tigers while striking out eight. After a shaky first few months in New York, the Bronx faithful surely hoped that Clemens was about to go on a run befitting his status as a back-to-back Cy Young winner.

And Clemens did look sharp for the most part. He kept the Orioles scoreless the first two innings, and his offense came out firing against Juan Guzmán to take an early lead. Chuck Knoblauch and Derek Jeter started things off with back-to-back doubles to open the scoring. Jeter promptly swiped third and scored on a Bernie Williams groundout, and just like that the Yankees had a 2-0 lead. They tacked one more on in the second, with Chili Davis leading off the inning with a solo homer, his 12th of the year.

Up 3-0 with their ace on the mound, the Yankees looked to be in a good spot. The Orioles did get to Clemens in third, with Mike Figga singling and Mike Bordick doubling to set things up. Clemens limited the damage to an RBI groundout by B.J. Surhoff that cut the lead to 3-1.

But Clemens found his groove from there, working through the fourth, fifth, and sixth frames without allowing a hit. The Yankee bats were largely silent after the Davis dinger, but Clemens' work meant they carried their two-run advantage into the seventh.

Looking back 25 years after the fact, it's obvious Clemens' day should have been done there. Clemens had pitched well but the Orioles had worked his pitch count in the early game, and he ended the sixth inning having thrown 106 pitches. Compounding things was the brutal heat; it was 89 degrees at first pitch, a number that only increased as the afternoon wore on. From the New York Times the next day:

The humidity was stifling, and when the sun came out in the early innings, the players baked... Clemens returned to the air-conditioned clubhouse after each half-inning, changed his shirt and drank water and other liquids to keep himself hydrated.

There isn't much video footage from this game, but we don't need the film to envision an exhausted Clemens, drenched in sweat, emerging from the dugout to try and give the Yankees one more inning in the seventh.

Clemens would not last long. Jeff Conine led off the seventh with a double on the first pitch he saw. Cal Ripken Jr. drove Conine in, also first-pitch swinging, with a single. After Jerry Hairston flew out on a long fly ball to left, Joe Torre decided he'd seen enough and pulled Clemens in favor of Ramiro Mendoza.

Mendoza had been having a fine season as a swingman, but he only made matters worse on this day. Figga doubled on Mendoza's first pitch to put two on and one out, and Mendoza intentionally walked the dangerous Brady Anderson to load the bases and set up the double play with Surhoff coming to the plate.

In a 1-0 count, Jorge Posada called for a changeup down and away to the lefty. Mendoza missed badly, serving up an 84-mph, middle-middle meatball that Surhoff gratefully deposited in the right-field seats:

Surhoff's grand slam would prove to be the decisive blow. Former Yankee Scott Kamieniecki relieved Guzman after the starter handled six solid innings, and Kamieniecki fired three shutout to close out the game and earn his third career save.

It had to have been a frustrating game to lose, what with the Yankees leading late in the game with their top pitcher on the mound. Even after their recent hot run, they still only led the AL East by three games. Winnable games against divisional also-rans are not the ones you want to drop in such a race.

Read the full 1999 Yankees Diary series here.