'El Duque' Powers Yanks To Win

On the day they received their 1998 World Series championship rings, Orlando Hernandez and the New York Yankees showed why they're the team to beat in 1999, too.

"El Duque" pitched perfect ball into the seventh inning, Derek Jeter homered, doubled and drove in three runs and the Yankees overwhelmed the Detroit Tigers 11-2 Sunday.

"Well, I want to see somebody else play them right now," Tigers manager Larry Parrish said after a three-game sweep in which his team was outscored 28-5. "I'm ready to get out of town."

Hernandez set down the first 19 hitters before walking Gregg Jefferies with one out in the seventh. Tony Clark singled with two outs in the inning to break the no-hit bid, but with the score already 11-0, it did nothing to spoil the fun for the Yankees or their 32,398 fans.

"I would like to have thrown a no-hitter, but that was not my first priority," Hernandez said as catcher Jorge Posada translated. "I wanted to win the game. That was my main thing today."

The cold, damp afternoon began with AL president Gene Budig presenting the Yankees with their prizes. The 14-carat gold ring features the interlocking "NY" set with 24 diamonds, one for each of the Yankees' record championships, and bears the words "Best Ever" and "Tradition."

"It was great to get a ring because in Cuba they don't do that," Hernandez said.

Manager Joe Torre, back in uniform at Yankee Stadium for the first time since undergoing surgery for prostate cancer in mid-March, got a standing ovation when he trotted onto the field to get his jewelry.

Torre was the one who suggested "Best Ever" go on the ring, a tribute to a team that won a record 125 games verall, including a Series sweep of San Diego. He declined to compare the '98 and '99 clubs, adding, "Just because we don't win as many games doesn't mean you're not a better club."

Torre said he hopes to return on a full-time basis by early May and relieve interim manager Don Zimmer, hobbled by a sore knee.

Then, the ceremonies over, the Yankees quickly went to work winning their fifth straight game and sending Detroit to its fifth consecutive loss.

Jeter doubled off Justin Thompson (0-2) to start an eight-run third inning and later drew a bases-loaded walk from Felipe Lira. Jeter's two-run homer in the fifth made it 11-0.

Behind Hernandez (2-0), New York completed its first three-game sweep of the Tigers at Yankee Stadium since June 1993.

"El Duque" pitched two no-hitters before defecting from Cuba and Posada, who caught David Wells' perfect game at Yankee Stadium last May, thought another one was possible.

"I really wanted it," Posada said. "He knew he was throwing one."

Hernandez, blowing on his right hand to keep it warm in 44-degree temperatures and intermittent rain, allowed two hits in seven innings. He struck out nine and walked one.

Yankees starters have allowed just 18 hits in 41 1-3 innings as the team has sprinted to a 5-1 start.

Hernandez ended each of the first five innings with a strikeout, and had the crowd clapping on every pitch as he extended his bid for perfection.

After striking out Juan Encarnacion to start the seventh, Hernandez walked Jefferies on a 3-1 pitch. Clark singled sharply to right field on an 0-2 pitch, and the fans rewarded Hernandez with a standing ovation.

"Oh, he really mixed it up well," Jefferies said. "He threw strikes, he got ahead."

Thompson, meanwhile, lasted only 2 2-3 innings in the shortest of his 79 starts in the majors. He gave up a career-worst eight earned runs on six hits and five walks.

Every Yankees batter either scored a run or drove in one during the third. Paul O'Neill, who had a sacrifice fly in the first, hit a two-run single in the big inning. Jeter and Chuck Knoblauch each scored three times.

Dean Palmer hit an RBI double in the Tigers seventh. Bill Haselman homered in the eighth off reliever Dan Naulty, who made his Yankees debut.

Notes:

• Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte , on the disabled list because of a bad left elbow, will make a minor league start Monday for Class A Tampa.
• The Yankees have not made an error in six games this year. Second baseman Damion Easley made Detroit's first error of the season.
• The Yankees have won 26 of their last 30 games against the Tigers.
• Detroit will play its final home opener at Tiger Stadium on Monday against Minnesota. The Tigers, who moved into Comerica Park next season, will honor members of their 1984 World Series championship team.

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