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 Win 1 for Lincoln Rookie right-hander limits Yanks in Twins' 8-5 win
Posted: Wednesday May 05, 1999 12:47 AM
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Mike Lincoln played off his first major league win as calmly as he handled the New York Yankees lineup. The rookie right-hander allowed two runs in six-plus innings, retiring 14 batters in a row at one point, to beat the World Series champions 8-5 Tuesday night. "It's just a good feeling to finally get it out of the way," Lincoln said. "A win's a win for me." This wasn't just a win, this was a dominant performance against a team that entered the game with three hitters batting higher than .345. This was a pitcher with a 4.81 ERA in four career starts and one relief appearance, coming off a year at Class AA New Britain. "Honestly I tried not to think about it," said Lincoln, who allowed four hits and one walk, while striking out a career-high five. "Every time you play a team they're fielding their best nine guys." However, the Yankees' best nine are among the best nine in the league. And at least one of Lincoln's teammates saw some significance in the Twins' third straight win against the Yankees dating to last season. "What happened," Minnesota's Denny Hocking said when he saw all the reporters after the game. "Did we win the World Series?" Not quite, but a 24-year old kid just shut down the team that won an AL-record 114 games last season. Lincoln retired the side in the first, third, fourth and fifth innings and pitched brilliantly to get out of a jam in the second. Ron Coomer was 3-for-5 with an RBI, and Doug Mientkiewicz and Terry Steinbach each drove in two runs for the Twins. Bernie Williams homered from both sides of the plate for the fifth time in his career. Chili Davis added a solo shot for New York, which fell to 4-4 on its season-long 10-game road trip. Ramiro Mendoza (3-2) allowed five runs -- four earned -- in 5 2/3 innings. He allowed 11 of Minnesota's season-high 17 hits, while Chuck Knoblauch and Derek Jeter each made an error in the Yankees third loss in five games. "I'm not concerned," said interim manager Don Zimmer. "This is a good defensive team." "This club is no different than it was seven days ago," he added. "We're just not playing well."
Rick Aguilera pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save. Williams led off the second inning with a solo shot off Lincoln to make it 2-1. Tino Martinez followed with a double and moved to third on Davis' single. Lincoln recovered to strike out Jorge Posada and Scott Brosius before getting Ricky Ledee to ground out 3-4-3. Ledee hit a shot off Mientkiewicz's glove, but second baseman Todd Walker one-handed the rebound and threw to first. "Mientkiewicz gave him the old one-timer," Lincoln said. "That was a big play. It kept the runs down in that inning." Lincoln then retired the next 11 Yankees before Paul O'Neill singled with two out in the sixth. Lincoln left the game in the seventh to a rousing ovation after issuing a leadoff walk and throwing two balls to Davis. "He did a great job for them," O'Neill said. "We've never seen him before and sometimes that's an advantage." Davis then hit Mike Trombley's first pitch for his sixth homer, bringing New York within 5-3. Steinbach's bases-loaded single off Jay Tessmer in the bottom of the seventh restored the Twins four-run lead. Williams hit a two-run shot off left-hander Eddie Guardado in the eighth inning to make it 7-5. It was Williams' seventh multihomer game. Marty Cordova added an RBI single in the eighth for the Twins. Walker led off the first with a double for Minnesota, moved to third on a groundout and scored on Posada's passed ball. Singles by Matt Lawton, Coomer and Mientkiewicz made it 2-0. Lawton added an RBI single in the second to make it 3-1. Coomer hit an RBI triple and Mientkiewicz added a run-scoring single in the fifth to make it 5-1. Notes: Knoblauch, who was booed soundly whenever he was announced, bruised his left big toe and came out after the seventh inning. Zimmer says he is probably day-to-day. Knoblauch is 9-for-51 (.176) against his former club. ... After allowing four earned runs in his first 3 1/3 innings, Lincoln has given up 11 in his last 27 (3.67 ERA). ... Coomer is 19-for-39 in his last 10 games.
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