Thursday, April 25, 2002
Yankees 8, Athletics 5
The Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. — It was just like old times for Jason Giambi.
Giambi, who left Oakland for the Yankees in the offseason, hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the seventh inning as New York beat the A's 8-5 Wednesday night.
“I called this place home for so long,” Giambi said, “I just feel comfortable here at the plate.”
The record crowd of 54,513, well beyond the Coliseum's baseball capacity of 43,662, loudly booed throughout Giambi's first at-bat, but he answered with an RBI single in the first inning.
Derek Jeter hit a three-run homer for the Yankees, who blew a 5-0 lead but came back for their sixth win in seven games.
“He was right on it,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said about Giambi. “He's comfortable here. He won an MVP here and almost won another one. This might be just what he needed.”
With the bases loaded in the sixth, Yankees reliever Mike Stanton walked Jeremy Giambi, Jason's younger brother, to tie it at 5.
But with one out in the seventh, Bernie Williams doubled, Jeter walked and Jason Giambi hit a full-count liner to right field off Jim Mecir.
Despite walking home the tying run, Stanton (1-0) got the win by allowing just one hit over 2 1-3 innings. Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth for his seventh save.
“There's no excuse for me to go out there and walk two straight guys,” Stanton said. “Luckily I was able to get myself back together again and make some quality pitches.”
Mike Magnante (0-1) took the loss.
The Yankees went up 5-0 in the second inning on Williams' RBI single and Jeter's home run off Erik Hiljus that just cleared the wall in left center.
“I just made a mistake. It was a BP fastball,” Hiljus said. “I threw it right down the middle of the plate and got burned.”
Jason Giambi, who played for the A's for six seasons and was unquestionably their brightest star, signed a seven-year, $120 million deal with the Yankees in December.
Fans have reacted strongly to Jason Giambi's move, especially because it involved the Yankees — who have knocked the A's out of the playoffs for the past two years.
In his first game back Tuesday night, he went 2-for-4 with a double in front of Jorge Posada's seventh-inning home run that gave the Yankees a 2-1 victory. And he faced nearly constant jeers.
“It's just as exciting over here as it was on the other side,” Giambi said. “It's unbelievable. Every time it seems these two teams lock horns. It's like one swing away or one hit away.”
Jeremy Giambi had an RBI groundout for the A's in the third inning. Miguel Tejada hit his second home run in as many days in the fourth. The two-run shot off David Wells narrowed the score to 5-3.
The A's tied it in the sixth. David Justice walked, stole second and scored an out later on Terrence Long's RBI single.
Alfonso Soriano added an RBI double in the New York eighth.
Wells allowed five runs on seven hits over 5 1-3 innings. Hiljus went six innings with five runs on eight hits and eight strikeouts.
The crowd beat the previous record of 54,268, set last July 28 for a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. But the attendance wasn't only because of Giambi and the Yankees — it was “Dollar Wednesday” when upper deck tickets go for just $1.
Notes: Posada was pulled from the game in the eighth inning and replaced by a pinch-runner. Torre said it wasn't serious. “Sometimes you feel something pop and it doesn't mean anything is damaged,” Torre said. “He said it was nothing.” ... A's pitching coach Rick Peterson was ejected by home plate umpire Ed Montague in the eighth inning after apparently criticizing balls and strikes called on Giambi and Jeter. It was Peterson's second career ejection. ... Justice left the game after the sixth inning with a moderate groin strain. ... Rivera got his 222nd career save, tying Sparky Lyle for 21st on baseball's all-time list. ... Yankees RF John Vander Wal fouled a ball off his right foot in the second inning and fell to the ground, but he remained in the game. ... A's OF Jermaine Dye was expected to play nine innings in the outfield for Triple-A Sacramento on Wednesday night, then rejoin the Athletics on Thursday. He broke his left leg in Game 4 of the playoffs last season against the Yankees.
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Yankees 8, Athletics 5 
