Torre’s Birthday Present: Benitez

The Yankees used a five-run sixth inning to charge past the Cleveland Indians on Friday by a final score of 10-4. Armando Benitez, acquired Wednesday from the Mets, pitched two scoreless innings for the Yankees, and Jason Giambi hit a pair of homeruns to give Joe Torre a win on his 63rd birthday.

The Yankees tied the game at four in the bottom of the sixth inning. With Bernie Williams on third and Hideki Matsui on first, the skies opened up and the umpires called for the tarp. After an hour-long rain delay, Jorge Posada started things back up with a walk against Cleveland reliever Jason Boyd that loaded the bases.

Raul Mondesi hit a sacrifice fly to score Williams from third and put the Yankees up for good. Ruben Sierra followed with a single to score another run, then one out later Alfonso Soriano doubled to make the score 8-4 Yankees.

Roger Clemens (9-6) pitched six strong innings but didn’t return after the delay. He allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out eight batters. After the rain forced him from the game, the Yankees finally got to see their newest acquisition.

Armando Benitez trotted out from the bullpen to start off the seventh inning. The crowd greeted him with a loud ovation, but some scattered boos could be heard. His first pitch to Jhonny Peralta was a called strike. He threw five consecutive fastballs to Peralta, eventually retiring him on a popup. He struck out Milton Bradley swinging to end the inning.

Benitez lasted two innings and allowed just one hit while striking out two. When he struck Travis Hafner to end the eighth, the fans at Yankee Stadium gave him a standing ovation.

Giambi hit a two-run homerun in the third inning to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead. His blast in the seventh gave them a 9-4 cushion. He now has 28 homeruns for the season.

Ruben Sierra added a solo homerun in the eighth inning.

The Yankees have jumped out to take the first two games of this four-game series. Game three is on Saturday at 4:05 pm. C.C. Sabathia (8-4, 3.23) will take the hill for the Indians. David Wells (11-3, 3.76) will make his first start since the death of his grandfather for the Yankees.

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