Rarely has a no-decision been so rewarding. But watch David Cone’s relieved body language, listen to his tension-free voice, and it is clear just how important last night’s performance against Chicago really was.
Cone carried a 1-6 record, 6.49 ERA and four-game losing streak into last night’s start, badly shaking his confidence.
But against a White Sox team with the best record and highest-scoring offense in the AL, Cone gave up just four hits and one run in six innings. And even though he got a no-decision and the Yankees ended up losing, 3-1, it was his best start in more than a month.
“I felt better. I feel I can have a big second half,” Cone said. “I’ve got to do more. I’ve got to be consistent over the second half if we’re going to win this thing.
“I felt strong enough to pitch the seventh, but it’s tough to argue when you’re 1-6. Sure it hurts, but you’ve got to deal with it.
“I feel good about my outing, no doubt, much better than I was. I felt like I knew what I was doing. I got a lot of strike-one, strike-two, I established my fastball.”
Cone duplicated the progress he showed last Sunday, when he pitched three hitless innings against the Mets before the game was washed out. He retired the first 10 he faced last night until Jose Valentin’s one-out double in the fourth. And he didn’t allow a run until he got out of sync in the sixth.
He gave up a full-count, leadoff single to catcher Mark Johnson, walked Ray Durham on four pitches, and when Valentin beat out a perfect two-strike bunt , the bases were loaded with nobody out.
Scott Brosius snared a line drive by Frank Thomas for the first out before Magglio Ordonez hit a sacrifice fly, and then Cone got the last out by snaring Paul Konerko’s one-hopper and throwing to first.
As it turned out, that was the end of his night. Joe Torre pulled him after 88 pitches.
Cone is 37, has overcome a litany of injuries, and was sorely in need of an ego boost. He’d been 0-4 since beating Toronto on April 28, and just 3-11 since his perfect game on July 18.
So Torre made sure he put this quality start in the bank.
“He was good. One run, six innings, I’ll take that every damn time,” Torre said. “He hadn’t gone that long in awhile, so I thought it was time to get him out.
“I thought he pitched tough. Bases-loaded, nobody out. David Cone has meant so much to this ballclub. It’s nice to see him have a quality outing. Back-to-back capable starts eases my mind, and I’m sure it eases his also.”
Cone said all the attention paid to Chuck Knoblauch’s throwing woes took pressure off him.
“The only thing that could’ve taken more attention was if the Knicks were in the Finals,” Cone joked. “That was taking pressure off me. I was the biggest Knick fan in the world.”