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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 12:03 p.m., Saturday, June 16, 2007

Yankees even Subway Series with Mets

By Mike Fitzpatrick
Associated Press

NEW YORK — Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and the rest of the New York Yankees kept their crosstown rivals in a tailspin and left Tom Glavine stuck on 295 wins.

Jeter hit a go-ahead homer and finished with four hits, Rodriguez also connected today and the Yankees roughed up Glavine in an 11-8 victory over the slumping Mets.

Robinson Cano and No. 9 batter Miguel Cairo each knocked in two runs, and the Yankees got a big effort from their bullpen in winning for the 10th time in 11 tries. They evened this Subway Series at a game apiece after the Mets beat Roger Clemens 2-0 yesterday, ending their five-game skid and the Yankees' nine-game winning streak.

The surging Yankees bounced right back today, breaking out with the bats and improving to 2-3 against their city neighbors this year. The NL East-leading Mets have lost 10 of 12 overall.

The Mets mounted a rally against Mariano Rivera in the ninth and scored twice _ the first runs he's allowed in 10 appearances. Jose Reyes, a switch-hitter, batted from the right side against the right-hander and cut it to 11-8 with an RBI single. But Carlos Beltran popped up foul with the bases loaded for the final out.

Chien-Ming Wang will start the series finale tomorrow against ex-Yankee Orlando Hernandez.

Making his fifth attempt at win No. 296, Glavine (5-5) failed to hold three early leads. He was tagged for seven runs and eight hits in four-plus innings, his second consecutive poor outing.

The 41-year-old left-hander has allowed 16 runs and 19 hits over 8 1/3 innings in his past two starts, against the Tigers and Yankees. He is 0-4 in five starts since he beat the Yankees on May 19 at Shea Stadium.

Luis Vizcaino (3-1) replaced struggling rookie Tyler Clippard in the fourth and pitched 1 2-3 scoreless innings for the win. Scott Proctor, Kyle Farnsworth and Rivera held the Mets in check the rest of the way.

Jeter also doubled and singled twice, finishing 4-for-5 with two runs and a stolen base.

Reyes created more havoc on the bases for the Mets, who got home runs from backups Ruben Gotay and Ramon Castro. They scored in each of the first four innings against Clippard.

Cleanup hitter Carlos Delgado singled in his final two at-bats, ending an 0-for-14 slide. He also made a costly error at first base.

The Mets stole five bases for the second consecutive game and third time this season against the Yankees.

Clippard beat the Mets 6-2 in his pressure-packed major league debut last month, helping the Yankees avoid a three-game sweep at Shea Stadium. But he's struggled in his past two starts and could be headed to the minors.

Play was delayed 40 minutes by rain in the top of the sixth.

Reyes opened the game with a walk, stole second and scored on a single by Wright that extended his hitting streak to 17 games. Gotay hit a solo shot in the second.

The Yankees put their first two batters on in the bottom half and got a sacrifice bunt from Melky Cabrera. They tied the score on Cairo's RBI groundout and Johnny Damon's two-out RBI single.

Reyes manufactured another run in the third. He drew a leadoff walk, stole second and went to third on a groundout. With two outs, he scurried down the line and distracted Clippard, who balked.

It was the second time in three weeks that Reyes got a pitcher flustered and scored on a balk. He also went 3-for-3 with a walk and three stolen bases in a 2-0 victory Friday night, hitting a homer off Clemens and driving in both runs.

Rodriguez's two-run drive in the third made it 4-3, giving him a major league-best 26 homers and 70 RBIs. He has seven home runs in his last 13 games and 23 RBIs in his past 11.

Clippard walked Shawn Green in the fourth, got a visit from pitching coach Ron Guidry and on the next pitch gave up a two-run shot to Castro that put the Mets back ahead. Vizcaino relieved with two on and prevented further damage.

But Glavine failed to hold the lead again. Jeter's two-run homer put the Yankees up for good, 6-5, and Jorge Posada chased the left-hander with a leadoff double in the fifth.