YANKEE NOTES
BOSTON – Slowly, the Yankees are getting healthy. Chuck Knoblauch has played in three straight games and Bernie Williams returned yesterday after missing the previous five.
Added to the fine run of starting pitching, the improved health makes the Yankees the favorite to finish with the best record in the AL.
“I didn’t feel anything in the ribs,” said Williams, who was sidelined for the second time with a strained right rib cage and limited to just batting right-handed.
Still, Joe Torre won’t use the switch-hitting Williams today at Yankee Stadium against Red Sox righty Rolando Arrojo. Williams hasn’t taken BP from the left side and isn’t sure when that will happen.
“It was a little tough to see the ball out there today,” said Williams, who contributed to the 6-2 victory with one hit, one run and an RBI. “More importantly, it was a huge win for us.”
It was the first time the Yankees swept the Sox at Fenway in a three-game series since 1991.
Williams is going to take it easy with hitting from the left side, especially with the Yankees leading by 8½ games.
“I am going to be careful this time,” Williams said.
Clay Bellinger will likely be back in center field tonight.
As for Knoblauch, he started the day in an 0-for-9 skid since returning from an elbow problem last Wednesday in KC. He extended that to 0-for-11 by popping up and striking out in his first two at-bats. After a fourth-inning walk, Knoblauch singled in the seventh, stole second and scored a run.
“A little bit,” Knoblauch said when asked if he felt the rust of a six-week layoff going away. “This was the first time I played three in a row. Now it’s just a matter of getting over the hump. I am still rusty, but that will come.”
Even though he looked to have better legs than he had in previous games, Knoblauch said he felt bad due to a stomach problem.
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After posting his second four-inning save of the season, Dwight Gooden is becoming more comfortable with the role of long relief, a job he figures to man in the postseason with Ramiro Mendoza’s season over.
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Ryan Thompson continued to make attempts to reach Red Sox pitcher Bryce Florie yesterday but failed. It was Thompson’s liner that crushed Florie’s face Friday night to the point where he needed surgery.
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According to a preliminary 2001 schedule, the Yankees and Red Sox will play 19 times after meeting 13 times this year.