Yanks get 15-inning win and a scare

BALTIMORE -- Everything stopped.

The high-fives being exchanged in the Yankees dugout and the cheering of their fans having seen this marathon finally being close to ending.

Moments after Robinson Cano's two-run double in the top of the 15th inning snapped a 1-1 tie, Chris Dickerson stepped into the batter's box against the Orioles' Mike Gonzalez.

The lefthander's third pitch, a 93-mph fastball, caught the outfielder, called up from Triple-A Tuesday, squarely in the helmet.

He crashed to the dirt sideways, not moving for more than a minute; Joe Girardi and Yankees' trainers bolted from the dugout and to his side within seconds.

The force of the blow was severe enough to crack the bill of Dickerson's helmet, which Girardi, after staring into the Orioles dugout, disgustedly flipped away toward his own.

After being helped to his feet, Dickerson walked to first before leaving the game. He was taken to the University of Maryland Hospital for a CAT scan, accompanied by trainer Gene Monahan.

"He was lucid, he knew where he was at," Girardi said. "He had a lump on the side of his head. You have to do everything precautionary now."

Home plate umpire Dan Bellino immediately threw Gonzalez out and the Yankees tacked on another run in the 4-1 victory.

It was a bizarre night, one that looked as if it would be wrapped up in about 2 ½ hours because of the pitching brilliance of 37-year-old Bartolo Colon and Orioles' lefty phenom Zach Britton.

Colon, who allowed three hits in eight innings, handed over a 1-0 lead to Mariano Rivera, who blew his third save of the season, and second at Camden Yards. But he was picked up by a bullpen effort led by righthander Hector Noesi, who was making his major league debut and shut out the Orioles over the final four innings. Luis Ayala and Boone Logan each pitched well before Noesi (1-0) took over in the 12th.

"The bullpen did a tremendous job," Rivera said. "Only my participation wasn't good. Colon deserved to win the game."

The Yankees had plenty of opportunities in the extra innings but couldn't push anything across until Cano's double off Gonzalez brought in Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez, who started the 15th with back-to-back hits. Rodriguez followed up his two-homer game Tuesday with four of the Yankees' 15 hits.

"I'm going to be fine," Rodriguez said.

Despite Cano's big hit, the Yankees went 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position and left 14 on base.

"Our guys just kept at it, kept at it, kept at it and had tough at-bats," Girardi said. "We get the big hit from Robby."

And a big defensive play by Gold Glove first baseman Mark Teixeira in the 11th. With Ayala on the mound and runners on first and second with one out, Vladimir Guerrero sent a ground smash that looked as if it would get through the hole between third and short. Rodriguez made a diving stop to his left but struggled gaining control of the ball, and finally decided to try and get the slow-footed Guerrero at first. He threw wildly, causing Teixeira to come way off the bag. Teixeira made a sliding scoop and stop up the line of the errant throw, saving the winning run from scoring. Logan came on with the bases loaded and struck out Luke Scott, then got Matt Wieters to fly out to end the inning.

"That's one of the highlight plays of the year for me," A-Rod said of Teixeira's stop. "He definitely saved the day. That was an amazing play."

Said Teixeira: "I knew I had to stop it somehow."

Fitting for the craziness of the night, A.J. Burnett ended up as the pinch runner for Dickerson. The lone position player left was Jorge Posada and Girardi couldn't risk the game continuing and something happening to Russell Martin, who pinch hit for Francisco Cervelli in the 10th.

The Yankees got a break in the bottom of the 15th when with runners on first and second and one out, Brandon Snyder was hit with a batted ball by Wieters.

One of those nights; one the Yankees, having snapped a six-game losing streak against the Rays Tuesday, felt they needed to cap off with a victory.

"That's a fun win," Teixeira said. "That's a terrible loss if you don't come up with the win there, but it's a fun win because we all battled. It was a team effort."