Yankees stay alive with 8-4 victory

NEW YORK: New York Yankees manager Joe Torre may have saved his job with Sunday's 8-4 victory over the Cleveland Indians - at least for a day.

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner issued an ultimatum in an interview published earlier in the day that the longtime manager and four-time World Series winner would not return if New York were to lose its playoff series against the Indians.

The Yankees staved off elimination with the win that left them trailing 2-1 in the best-of-five, first-round series.

Game 4 will be played at Yankee Stadium on Monday.

Torre told reporters that the pressure of winning was always part of the job as Yankees manager under the ownership of Steinbrenner, who funds a payroll of more than $200 million, the highest in Major League Baseball.

"I understand the requirements here but the players are human beings and it's not machinery here," said Torre, who has steered the Yanks to the playoffs in each of his 12 seasons.

"Even though they get paid a lot of money, it's still blood that runs through their veins. And my job is to try to get them to be the players they are by allowing them to understand that the best effort you can give is all you can do," he told reporters.

Pressure has mounted on the Yankees, who have not won a World Series since 2000 and have been ousted from the playoffs in the first round the last two years.

"His job is on the line," Steinbrenner told reporter after Cleveland had taken a 2-0 lead in the series.

"I think we're paying him a lot of money. He's the highest-paid manager in baseball, so I don't think we'd take him back if we don't win this series."

Torre is in the last year of a contract paying him $7 million this season.

"You know, we want to win. Everybody wants to win. I'm not saying you get used to it, but it's something you know you have to deal with," Torre said.

"It's a very uncomfortable time of year. It's an exciting time of year."

Johnny Damon was the star of the season-saving victory, collecting three hits, including a three-run homer as he drove in four runs against the Indians.

"There's a lot on the line," Damon told reporters. "We're playing for the manager we love."

Schilling leads sweep

The Boston Red Sox advanced to the American League Championship Series with a convincing 9-1 win on Sunday to sweep the Los Angeles Angels in their first-round playoff series.

Boston's big names came through, with Curt Schilling hurling seven shutout innings and David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez hitting consecutive homers to power the Red Sox.

Schilling improved to 9-1 in his last 13 post-season starts to help the Red Sox complete a three-game sweep of the Western Division champion.

The 40-year-old Schilling was not the overpowering pitcher he once was. His fastball hit 89 miles per hour, which Schilling said was much slower than in his younger days.

With 12 days of rest since his last start, Schilling was sharp, hitting the strike zone on 76 of his 100 pitches.

Angels pitcher Jared Weaver was also in form until Red Sox slugger Ortiz belted a Weaver change-up over the rightfield wall to break up a scoreless tie in the fourth inning.

Ramirez followed Ortiz's blast with a home run of his own to straightaway centerfield on a hanging curveball.

Agencies

(China Daily 10/09/2007 page24)