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Yankees come back, defeat O's 9-4

BY KAT O'BRIEN | kat.obrien@newsday.com

11:21 PM EDT, August 22, 2008

BALTIMORE - The Yankees had a couple of tangible milestones in front of them for Friday night's game.

Derek Jeter entered one hit away from career hit No. 2,500, and Mike Mussina needed one win to notch 17 in a season for the first time in five years. Jeter got his milestone, but Mussina will have to wait on his. The Yankees got the milestone they needed even more, however -- to win the first game of a series -- with a 9-4 come-from-behind defeat of the Orioles at Camden Yards.

The Yankees trailed 4-3 after seven innings, and were just 2-50 when behind after seven innings this season. They reversed that trend and then some. Bobby Abreu (5-for-5) led off the eighth with a single off lefthander Jamie Walker, and Alex Rodriguez followed with a double off the leftfield wall. Walker got Jason Giambi to pop out, and Kam Mickolio replaced Walker. Mickolio's first pitch to Xavier Nady was a wild pitch that scored Abreu. Nady then ripped a single to rightfield to drive Rodriguez in for a 5-4 lead.

Damaso Marte and Mariano Rivera combined to pitch a scoreless bottom of the eighth, and the Yankees broke things open in the top of the ninth. The Yankees remain six games out in the wild-card chase.

Orioles reliever Fernando Cabrera retired Johnny Damon and Jeter, but Abreu got his fifth hit (tying a career high last done in 1999) with a single through the right side of the infield. Rodriguez then hit a ground-rule double. Cody Ransom, just called up from Triple-A last week, was in as a defensive replacement at first base and hit a three-run homer off Cabrera. Nady followed with a solo homer to left-centerfield to make it 9-4.

The Yankees managed to snap a trend of losing the first game in seven consecutive series. That trend had left them working from behind to try to win series, and they have wound up 1-4-2 in those series.

Before the game, manager Joe Girardi said: "Obviously been our most successful starter, and it's great to have him out there. Winning series is of the utmost importance for us."

Jeter didn't waste any time reaching his milestone. He dropped a bloop single into shallow centerfield in the first inning off Orioles starter Radhames Liz. He became just the third Yankee to reach the milestone, joining Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. Jeter ranks sixth among active players in hits behind Ken Griffey Jr., Omar Vizquel, Gary Sheffield, Ivan Rodriguez and Luis Gonzalez.

"It's amazing," Girardi said of the mark before the game. "It's consistency, it's health, it's talent, it's work ethic, it's starting young ... When I think about Derek, I think about him getting well beyond 3,000 hits."

That first-inning hit by Jeter helped the Yankees get a 1-0 lead. It advanced Damon, who had doubled, to third base, and Damon scored on Abreu's single.

The Orioles tied it at 1 when Mussina gave up a run on three singles in the bottom of the first, with Aubrey Huff driving in Brian Roberts.

Mussina had a smooth second inning, but the Orioles tacked on a run apiece in the third and fourth innings. He allowed three more singles in the third, with Huff's hit scoring Nick Markakis. In the fourth inning, Ramon Hernandez hit a solo home run to make it 3-1.

Robinson Cano and Jose Molina hit back-to-back homers off Liz to tie the score at 3 in the fifth. Jose Veras (4-2) pitched a scoreless seventh to earn the win.