NEW YORK, 18 June 2006 — Bernie Williams hit a solo home run to break a tie in the top of the ninth inning and lift the New York Yankees to a 7-5 win over the Washington Nationals in Interleague play on Friday.
New York rallied from a 5-3 deficit with two runs in the eighth inning and two more in the ninth to stay top of the AL East, one game ahead of the Boston Red Sox and two up on the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Yankees pounded out 16 hits on the opening night of the latest weekend of Interleague play, with many fans in the crowd of 44,749 at RFK Stadium cheering for the Yankees.
It was the largest crowd in Washington since major league baseball returned to the city, with many fans making the trip from New York wearing their Yankee jerseys. The Nationals fans did most of the early cheering, however, with Washington taking 3-2 and 5-3 leads off New York starter Jaret Wright. Melky Cabrera began the Yankee comeback with an RBI single in the eighth to make it 5-4 and Derek Jeter drew a bases loaded walk to tie the game. Alex Rodriguez struck out with the bases loaded to end the inning, setting the stage for the ninth.
Williams then smacked his sixth home run of the season off Nationals closer Chad Cordero to make it 6-5 and later in the ninth, Johnny Damon brought in another run with a sacrifice fly. That was enough for Mariano Rivera to pick up the win, as the Yankee closer came into the game with one out in the eighth after Kyle Farnsworth had to leave with back spasms.
Rivera (4-3) did not allow a hit and struck out one to get the win, lowering his ERA to 1.82.
In Atlanta, rookie Jon Lester pitched six solid innings for his first major league win as the Red Sox kept pace with the Yankees with a 4-1 win over the Atlanta Braves. Lester (1-0) allowed one run on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks. Three relievers finished up, including Jonathan Papelbon, who got the last three outs for his 21st save. Jason Varitek had three hits, including a three-run double, to give the Red Sox all the runs they needed.
Tim Hudson (6-5) allowed four runs on five hits over seven innings and took the loss, striking out six and walking three.
At Anaheim, California, Khalil Greene scored the go-ahead run in the ninth inning on a throwing error by rookie catcher Mike Napoli, leading the San Diego to 5-4 win over Los Angeles Angels. Adrian Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with a home run for San Diego. Alan Embree (2-0) got the last two outs of the eighth for the win, and Trevor Hoffman pitched the ninth for his 16th save in 17 chances. Garret Anderson homered and drove in two runs and Juan Rivera had a two-run drive for the Angels.
In Miami, Dan Uggla hit a two-run homer to lead the Florida Marlins past the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1. Scott Olsen (6-3) won his fourth straight game, allowing one run on six hits over seven innings with eight strikeouts and two walks.
In the lone National League game, Jason Marquis pitched eight strong innings and the Cardinals scored six runs in the eighth to beat the Colorado Rockies 8-1 in St. Louis.
