If you draw nine walks in a game, you don’t exactly need a barrage of hits to win.
It’s rare for a team to win without an extra-base hit and with just five total knocks, but when the opponent has a rough day on the mound, in the field, or at the plate, it can happen.
That was the case 25 years ago today, when the Yankees beat the Angels despite recording only five singles and going 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Nine walks — plus a bases-loaded balk — proved more than enough.
August 13, 2000 — Yankees 4, Angels 1
Record: 63-50 (4-game lead in AL East)
The game began quietly, with the Yankees going down in order in the first inning. Roger Clemens then worked out of early trouble in the bottom half, stranding a pair of Angels. The offense broke through in the second — without even swinging the bat.
Angels starter Ramón Ortiz opened the frame by walking Bernie Williams and hitting David Justice. After recording two outs, he walked Jorge Posada to load the bases. Scott Brosius then battled through a nine-pitch at-bat before Ortiz missed just outside, forcing home the game’s first run.
From there, Clemens found his groove, retiring 10 straight batters. The Yankees doubled their lead in the fourth, again with Ortiz’s help. Justice led off with a single, and walks to Tino Martinez and Posada loaded the bases. Ortiz struck out José Canseco and Brosius, seemingly on the verge of escape, when José Vizcaíno came up with a 2-2 count.
Ortiz paused to wipe his brow — while still standing on the pitching rubber — an automatic balk. Justice trotted home to make it 2-0. Interestingly, earlier in the game, Joe Torre had been seen speaking to umpires about Ortiz’s windup, perhaps putting the right-hander under extra scrutiny.
The Angels finally broke through in the fifth when Clemens issued two walks before Darin Erstad singled home Adam Kennedy. That would be all Anaheim managed against “The Rocket,” who went 6.2 innings, allowing just one run on four hits and three walks. This win marked the sixth in a string of nine consecutive victories for Clemens in games where he earned the decision.
Ortiz ultimately lasted seven innings, giving up only two runs on three hits, but his six walks — and the balk — were costly.
The Yankees padded their lead in the eighth. Mike Holtz opened the inning and, after one out, allowed a walk and a single before Martinez drove in a run. The Angels turned to Mark Petkovsek, but the walk parade continued — free passes to Canseco and Posada reloaded the bases and forced in another run.
Mike Stanton got the final out of the seventh and the first of the eighth before Torre summoned Mariano Rivera for a five-out save. Rivera retired all five batters he faced with ease.
When it was over, the Yankees had “won” the hit column 5-4 — all singles, only one beyond first base — but it was the Angels’ mistakes that made the difference. A win is a win, but in this case, New York had plenty of help getting there.
