If the Braves come back to New York for the World Series, you can bet Greg Maddux will sleep in a different bed.
Maddux awoke with a stiff neck Monday morning in his Manhattan hotel. But he pitched six innings before pulling himself, and the Yankees rallied against Dennis Martinez for a 6-4 win over the Atlanta Braves.Tim Raines hit a two-run double in the seventh inning for the Yankees, who delighted a crowd of 53,316 in the first of four games this week between the the clubs expected by many to play in this year's World Series.
"I just slept on it bad last night," Maddux said. "I was aware of it every pitch. It's why I came out. I said, `Enough's enough.' "
"Obviously, I wasn't as comfortable as I'd like to be. But that's not why I gave up the hits and runs. Really, they're smart hitters. They made nice adjustments."
Martinez (2-4) took over for Maddux and wound up losing his 13th straight decision to the Yankees. He fell to 2-19 lifetime against New York, and remained winless at Yankee Stadium since 1977.
"I like it here. I like the chanting and the cheering and the boos," he said. "You just always have places where you have good times and have great times and have bad times."
The Yankees struck for three runs in the seventh against three relievers. Raines' two-out double off Martinez, his former teammate in Montreal, put New York ahead 5-4.
"I was lucky to get something out over the plate," Raines said. "I think they tried to pitch me away. I got a pitch to hit."
There was nothing at stake in the first of four Yankees-Braves games this week, but that didn't stop Yankee Stadium from rocking like it did during the 1996 World Series when New York beat Atlanta.
"We had a great crowd," Yankees starter Andy Pettitte said. "It was good for the fans, it was good for the game."
Jeff Nelson (5-3) got the win in relief and Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth for his 17th save.
ANGELS 6, DODGERS 5: Glenn Hoffman lost his major league managing debut when Los Angeles' bullpen squandered another lead.
Jim Bruske, the Dodgers' third reliever in the bottom of the ninth inning, walked Tim Salmon on five pitches to force home the winning run.
Hoffman was named interim manager Monday, replacing the fired Bill Russell.
Charles Johnson had three RBIs for the Dodgers, who have lost seven of nine.
PADRES 5, MARINERS 3: Jim Leyritz drove in three runs in his San Diego debut and Ruben Rivera hit a two-run double in the eighth as the Padres won their 13th in 14 games.
Leyritz, acquired in a trade with Boston on Sunday, helped San Diego tie Atlanta for the best NL record at 50-26.
ORIOLES 7, METS 2: Mike Mussina (6-4) pitched a two-hitter and the Orioles handed Bobby Jones (6-4) his first loss since April 30.
Mussina opened the game by getting five straight outs before giving up successive homers to Brian McRae and Butch Huskey. The Mets hit three balls out of the infield the rest of the way as Mussina retired the last 22 batters.
INDIANS 3, CUBS 1: Dwight Gooden (2-3) continued to dominate the Cubs, and Omar Vizquel hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh.
Gooden, who beat the Cubs 27 times while pitching for the Mets, pitched six innings to improve to 28-4 in his career against Chicago. He is 9-1 at Wrigley Field.
Chicago's Sammy Sosa, who needs one more homer in June to tie the major league record of 18 in any month, went 0-for-4.
BLUE JAYS 14, EXPOS 2: Juan Guzman (4-9) pitched a seven-hitter for his first win since May 26, and Jose Canseco homered for the Blue Jays.
WHITE SOX 5, PIRATES 4: Chicago scored four runs in the first inning, then held off a Pirates comeback with Ray Durham's go-ahead homer in the sixth.
PHILLIES 9, RED SOX 8: Gregg Jefferies singled home Alex Arias in the 10th off Tom Gordon (4-2) as Philadelphia rallied from a five-run deficit at Boston for its 24th comeback win.
ROYALS 3, REDS 0: Jeff King and Shane Mack homered as Kansas City sent the Reds to their ninth straight loss.
TWINS 5, ASTROS 3: Eric Milton (4-6) won for the first time since May 15 and Terry Steinbach homered for Minnesota.
CARDINALS 4, TIGERS 1: Todd Stottlemyre pitched eight strong innings and Brian Jordan drove in two runs as the Cardinals won their season-high fifth straight in the first meeting between the teams since the 1968 World Series.
Mark McGwire went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts. The major league leader with 33 homers hasn't connected in his last 17 at-bats.
DIAMONDBACKS 6, RANGERS 0: Andy Benes (6-7) pitched eight scoreless innings, and Dave Dellucci went 3-for-4 as Arizona handed the Rangers their first shutout loss this season.
MARLINS 3, DEVIL RAYS 2: Antonio Alfonseca (1-2) pitched out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the 12th to give Florida Game 1 of the Sunshine State series. Mark Kotsay went 5-for-6 for Florida.
GIANTS 12, ATHLETICS 8: Brian Johnson had a pair of RBI singles in San Francisco's nine-run fifth.
BREWERS 3, ROCKIES 2: Jeromy Burnitz greeted reliever Chuck McElroy with a leadoff triple in the eighth and scored on John Jaha's groundout.
Al Reyes (3-0) pitched one scoreless inning and Bob Wickman pitched the ninth for his seventh save.