YANKEES Williams plays well at Trenton

The five-time All-Star should be reactivated today.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- New York Yankees center fielder Bernie Williams walked three times and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly Tuesday night in what probably was his final game of a rehabilitation stint with the Trenton Thunder.
In five games with the Double-A team, Williams was 5-for-15 with four RBIs and three runs scored.
The five-time All-Star center fielder is expected to be reactivated today by the Yankees. He missed six weeks after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery May 27 to repair a cartilage tear in his left knee.
The Yankees have not set a specific date for when Williams will return to the lineup, but manager Joe Torre has said he would like to have him back before the three-day All-Star break that begins Monday.
New York plays in Cleveland tonight and Thursday and winds up with three games at Toronto over the weekend.
Extra work
Williams was originally scheduled to play four games in Trenton, but decided Monday to give himself another day to work on his timing at the plate. The switch-hitting outfielder also had had only one right-handed at-bat in the four games, and wanted a chance to hit right-handed against New Haven lefty Diego Markwell.
"He volunteered for this," Thunder manager Stump Merrill said before Tuesday's game. "He was much better Monday than in the first two games. But he knew he needed it."
Markwell entered the game with a 6.19 earned-run average and a league-high 15 home runs allowed. But he allowed only three hits and two runs in five innings Tuesday.
None of those hits were credited to Williams, who got few good pitches to swing at all evening. Batting third, he walked on five pitches in the first inning and walked again in the third. In the fifth, with runners on second and third and one out, he lifted a fly ball to medium center field that scored Teuris Olivares from third to give the Thunder a 2-1 lead.
With Kevin Thompson on second base with two out in the seventh, right-handed reliever Peter Bauer intentionally walked Williams, drawing boos from the crowd.
In the ninth, designated hitter Andy Cannizaro grounded out to end the game with Williams on deck.
New Haven (46-41) scored five runs with two out in the eighth to defeat the Thunder 6-2.
Taking advantage
Trenton (44-44) has taken advantage of having shortstop Derek Jeter and Williams on rehab assignments this season, its first affiliated with the Yankees after one season with the Detroit Tigers and eight with the Boston Red Sox. The Thunder won four of five games with Williams in the lineup, and went 5-0 during Jeter's rehabilitation assignment in May.
"There's no question they're the type of guys that have an opportunity to elevate us," said Merrill, who was manager of the Yankees in 1991 when Williams made his major league debut with New York.
"It's a rare case when you get you get two guys like Jeter and Williams to come to your club to rehab. You never want anybody to get injured, but I think we're damn fortunate to have been in this situation."
Attendance rose as well. Jeter's five games in May drew 41,093 fans, which included a franchise-record 8,729 on May 10. Williams' first two games on July 4 and 5 averaged more than 8,000 fans, though attendance fell below 5,000 for Monday's and Tuesday's games.
The Thunder average slightly more than 6,000 fans.