Yankees 1998 Tracker: Game 80

Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez.

From now until the end of the season, we will be tracking the progress of the Yankees with their 1998 World Championship team, which won 114 games in the regular season.

Through 80 Games:


2018: 53-27
Saturday night: Red Sox 11, Yankees 0

The Red Sox got a grand slam from Rafael Devers in the bottom of the first, and that was really all their starter, Chris Sale, needed, as they rolled to an 11-0 win.
In the second, Andrew Benintendi laced an RBI single, followed by a J.D. Martinez sacrifice fly to make it 6-0.
Yankees starter Sonny Gray lasted just 2 1/3 innings, allowing six runs on seven hits and two walks, with no strikeouts, to fall to 5-6 on the season with a 5.44 ERA.
Boston kept it going against the Yankees bullpen. After Adam Warren pitched a scoreless 2 2/3 innings (the lone bright spot of the night for the Yankees), Boston rallied against Giovanny Gallegos, who was just making his third appearance of the season. In the sixth, Martinez got an RBI single, followed by a two-run blast from Sandy Leon into the second deck in the seventh that made it 9-0.
Martinez got his third RBI of the night with an RBI single off Jonathan Holder in the eighth, and then Brock Holt laced an opposite-field single off Chasen Shreve in  the ninth to make it 11-0.

1998: 60-20
July 4, 1998: Yankees 4, Orioles 3

The Orioles rallied against Yankees starter Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez in the first inning, as Brady Anderson got a two-run single.
The Yankees came right back in the bottom half of the first when Tino Martinez got an RBI single against Doug Drabek, and they tied it in the bottom of the second on a Derek Jeter RBI single to tie it at 2.
In the top of the fifth, Eric Davis got an RBI single to give the Orioles the lead back, 3-2.
In the bottom of the sixth, Martinez doubled and Tim Raines got a single to chase Drabek from the game. Chad Curtis drove them in with a two-run single off Alan Mills to make it 4-3.
That was enough for El Duque, who went eight innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits and two walks, with five strikeouts, to earn the win and improve to 3-1 with a 2.08 ERA.
Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless ninth, working around two hits, to earn his 21st save of the season.

Where they stand: The 2018 Yankees (53-27) dropped to seven games off the pace of the 1998 team, which was 60-20 through 80 games.