ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, October 6, 1996 TAG: 9610070155
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ARLINGTON, TEXAS
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
With big Cecil Fielder and Bernie Williams on their side and Texas' bullpen again helping them out, the New York Yankees pushed the Rangers right out of the playoffs with masterful relief pitching of their own.
Despite giving up another home run to Juan Gonzalez, the Yankees rallied for the third straight game to win 6-4 Saturday, taking the AL series 3-1 and reversing their history of failure in Texas.
Williams homered from each side of the plate and Fielder, acquired in midseason to deliver big hits, had an RBI single in the seventh inning that broke a 4-4 tie.
Players gathered around Williams in the dressing room after the game spraying him with champagne and beer chanting, ``MVP! MVP! MVP!''
Williams laughed and said, ``Gonzalez will always be the big Puerto Rican slugger. I'm not a home run hitter.''
``I do have surprising power,'' he added, ``but not like his.''
Gonzalez homered in his fourth straight game and hit his fifth home run of the series, tying a pair of records. He helped Texas take an early 4-0 lead, but again the Rangers relievers could not protect the edge.
``The bullpen was the difference in this series,'' Torre said. ``We won three close games and our relievers got them all. We were fortunate we just happened to be pitching better.''
``I'm just glad we don't have to pitch to Gonzalez anymore,'' he said. ``We'll try to figure him out next spring.''
The Yankees, who rallied for two runs in the ninth Friday night for a 3-2 win, advanced to American League championship series for the first time since 1981.
Torre, who was hired by the Yankees after he was fired at St. Louis, said he was happy he made the move.
``I've been around the game a long time and I've never been to a World Series,'' Torre said. ``When I was fired at St. Louis, I figured that was it for me. Then I got the call from the Yankees. I thought it was an opportunity to work for an organization that doesn't have second place as an option.''
New York will face Baltimore, which beat Cleveland 4-3 in 12 innings Saturday to win that series 3-1, starting Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.
Texas manager Johnny Oates said the Yankees' bullpen success ``didn't surprise us.''
``We knew we didn't want to go into the seventh or eighth innings behind. We did everything we could to stay ahead. We just couldn't do it,'' he said.
Texas threw seven relievers at the Yankees after starter Bobby Witt left the game, but couldn't postpone the inevitable.
New York took a 5-4 lead in the seventh on singles by Tim Raines, Tino Martinez and Fielder off loser Roger Pavlik.
Fielder gave credit to the Yankees relievers.
``The difference in the series was the bullpen,'' Fielder said. ``Ours didn't give up anything and we were able to get into theirs. ''
David Weathers pitched three innings of one-hit relief for the victory. Mariano Rivera pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings and John Wetteland worked the ninth for his second consecutive save.
Former Rangers pitcher Kenny Rogers lasted only two innings and gave up two runs on five hits. He was replaced by Brian Boehringer in the third inning because Gonzalez was coming up.
It didn't matter.
Gonzalez tagged Boehringer with a 416-foot shot into the left-field stands in the third inning. The only other player to hit home runs in four straight playoff games was San Francisco's Jeffrey Leonard in 1987.
Gonzalez also tied New York's Reggie Jackson and Seattle's Ken Griffey for the most homers in a single postseason series. see microfilm for box score
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP New York's Dwight Gooden (left) and Jim Leyritzby CNBrush to join the celebration after the Yankees eliminated the Texas
Rangers in four games to advance to the American League Championship
Series. color KEYWORDS: BASEBALL