Yankees back in AL chase after taking ninth straight

Published Friday, June 15, 2007

NEW YORK (AP) - Joe Torre found his new lucky spot in the dugout then watched Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte and the rest of the team go to work.

Yep, things are falling into place nicely for the New York Yankees.

Rodriguez drove in two more runs, Pettitte breezed for eight innings and the Yankees won their ninth straight game, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-1 yesterday.

"It’s fun right now to come to the ballpark and do this," Pettitte said.

Playing with a fresh bounce in their step, the Yankees finished off another sweep - they brushed aside Pittsburgh last weekend - and extended their longest winning streak since a 10-game run in 2005. Next up, the New York Mets visit for the Subway Series.

Torre certainly enjoyed the view, standing in front of the steps that lead up to the field rather than taking his usual seat on the padded blue bench. Before the game, the manager indicated it was a bit of superstition to help his team score runs.

"I have a system," Torre said. "I’ll let you in on it sometime down the road. It’s not very complicated."

He’s not the only one with a little routine. After the national anthem, Hideki Matsui gave a playful kick to Melky Cabrera’s leg and Robinson Cano tapped his glove on Derek Jeter’s shoulder as they prepared to take their positions. Matsui then went out and drove in three runs.

"You start feeling good about yourself, and things start going your way," Torre said.

At 33-31, the Yankees matched their high point this season. A modest mark, certainly, but a vast improvement for a club that was eight games under .500 and 14½ games behind Boston barely two weeks ago.

"We played bad, but that didn’t mean we were a bad team," Jeter said.

Arizona was 10 games over .500 when it came to Yankee Stadium but dropped three in a row. The debunked D-backs made three costly errors and lost for the sixth time in seven games.

"Obviously, we caught this team at the wrong time," Manager Bob Melvin said.

Pitching a day before his 35th birthday, Pettitte (4-4) gave up a run and four hits. He retired 10 straight batters in the middle innings and kept out of trouble - Arizona was hitless in its only two at-bats with runners in scoring position and 0 for 13 in the series.

Pettitte also beat a team that had caused him problems in the past. He lost twice to the Diamondbacks in the 2001 World Series and had been 1-5 against them in the regular season.