BALTIMORE -- One month later, the New York Yankees finished what they started.
Closer Mariano Rivera survived a hectic ninth inning, and the Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-7 Friday night in the completion of a game suspended on June 28.
New York took an 8-6 lead in the top of the eighth when play was suspended after a rain delay of 1 hour, 25 minutes. Derek Jeter singled in the go-ahead runs just before a driving shower caused the umpires to call for the tarpaulin.
The game resumed at that point. Facing Rob Bell in the ninth inning, New York's Alex Rodriguez grounded out to shortstop. Had he hit a home run, Rodriguez would have reached the 500-mark but it officially would have been his 493rd, because the game will go into the record book as being played on June 28.
Mike Myers (2-0) got the last out in the Baltimore seventh and returned Friday to pitch to two batters in the eighth. Mariano Rivera got five outs for his 16th save, but it was anything but routine.
Corey Patterson hit a one-out double and scored on a pinch-hit single by Ramon Hernandez, only the second run allowed by Rivera since June 16. Brian Roberts singled with two outs and, with runners at the corners, Brandon Fahey bounced into a game-ending forceout at second.
"I'm glad we had a two-run lead instead of one," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "We had a plan in place. As soon as the first guy got on base in the (eighth) inning, Moe was coming in."
When the game was started, the Yankees were struggling. In retrospect, Torre believes New York began to thrive after a game in which the Orioles turned a 4-2 deficit into a 6-4 lead in the rain-interrupted seventh.
"You remember, we had a 4-2 lead and all of a sudden they scored four runs. ... Then we bounced back and got four runs and that all of a sudden got my attention," Torre recalled Friday. "When the O's got four runs it got their attention, the players. It showed me the first sign of getting back to where we thought we were."
Baltimore reliever John Parrish (2-1) walked the first two batters in the New York eighth before yielding an RBI double to Melky Cabrera and a run-scoring grounder to Robinson Cano.
Chris Ray came in and retired Andy Phillips on a grounder for the second out, but Johnny Damon beat out an infield hit and stole second to put runners at second and third for Jeter. With the rain intensifying and the grounds crew poised behind the tarp, Jeter lined a two-run single up the middle.
Before 1980, the score would have reverted to the start of the inning, giving the Orioles a 6-4 win. But the rule was changed after a game on Aug. 13, 1978, when Baltimore led 3-0 after six innings and the Yankees scored five runs in the top of the seventh.
Baltimore insisted at the time that play should never had been resumed after the first delay. Third baseman Melvin Mora, who's now on the disabled list, was ejected for arguing the point.
Orioles interim manager Dave Trembley said Friday he spent four days thinking about his lineup because Miguel Tejada was close to coming off the disabled list.
"I had one lineup with Tejada, and one without Tejada," Trembley said.
The shortstop was activated before the game. He was on the DL when the game started one month earler.
Roberts homered and Kevin Millar had three hits for Baltimore, denied its first three-game sweep of the Yankees since April 2005.
Phillips hit his first home run of the season and eight different players scored for New York.
In the regularly scheduled game, Andy Pettitte was scheduled to start for New York against Jeremy Guthrie.
Notes
- To replace Tejada on the roster, the Orioles optioned OF Jon Knott to Triple-A Norfolk.
- The Yankees on Friday sent struggling LHP Kei Igawa to Triple-A Scranton and recalled INF Chris Basak from the same club.
