INDIANS El Duque steps up, helps N.Y. recover

Hernandez held the Tribe to one run and three hits in seven innings.
NEW YORK (AP) -- The scoreboard was reset to zero, all the runs and hits from the previous day wiped away. Orlando Hernandez and Jorge Posada then went out and restored some order at Yankee Stadium.
A night after Cleveland's offense set records, Hernandez limited the Indians to one run and three hits in seven innings and Posada hit a go-ahead, two-run homer that led the New York Yankees over the Indians 5-3 Wednesday.
"El Duque set the tone," Derek Jeter said. "He did everything we needed him to do."
When Travis Hafner hit an RBI single in the first inning, the Yankees left the bases loaded in the bottom half and Boston spurted to a four-run lead against Anaheim at Fenway Park, New York's AL East lead over the Red Sox looked to be in danger of shrinking to 21/2 games, down from 101/2 on the morning of Aug. 16.
But the Yankees, sent to their most lopsided loss ever in a 22-0 rout Tuesday night, rallied when Posada homered off C.C. Sabathia (10-9) in the fourth. John Olerud added a solo homer later in the inning, and Miguel Cairo hit another in the seventh off David Riske for a 4-1 lead. Jeter had a hard-hit RBI single off the glove of third baseman Casey Blake in the eighth.
Boston beat Anaheim 12-7, leaving the Yankees' lead at 31/2 games.
Back to form
"Duque is back to where we remember him, where he was really our No. 1 starter back there in '99. He loves the opportunity to stand tall," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "After last night, we certainly needed a pick-me-up, and he gave it to us."
Hernandez (6-0), who missed last season because of a shoulder injury, has become the Yankees' ace at age 38, just the second New York starter to win in 17 games since Aug. 13.
"He loves pitching in this situation," Posada said.
Pitching against the team he blanked for seven innings in the fourth game of the 1998 AL championship series, he struck out seven and didn't allow a runner past second base after the first inning.
"It seems like the bigger the situation, the bigger the forum, the more comfortable he feels," Rodriguez said. "You can see him, and he's so animated. It's fun to watch."
Strong pitching
After Hafner's single in the first put Cleveland ahead and left runners at the corners, Hernandez got Blake to pop up, starting a stretch in which he retired 11 of 12 batters. New York improved to 9-1 in El Duque's starts this season.
"He's tough because he has two or three speeds on most of his pitches, and a lot of different arm angles," Blake said.
Tom Gordon allowed a walk, bloop single, run-scoring wild pitch and an RBI bloop double to Victor Martinez in the eighth as Cleveland closed to 4-3. Mariano Rivera retired Hafner on an inning-ending grounder and finished for his major league-leading 46th save.
Sabathia, 1-6 against New York in his career, allowed three runs and five hits in six innings as Cleveland dropped eight games behind Minnesota.