The Yankees suffered successive shutouts for the first time since May 1996, when the Angels held them scoreless twice in a row.

They were the first successive shutouts pitched by the Mets since Cone and Ojeda did it against the Expos last September.

Last month, Ron Darling, Bob Ojeda and Dwight Gooden strung together three successive shutouts.

The leader in that development is Bobby Witt, who has pitched three successive shutouts, allowing a total of nine hits.

Lew Burdette, who already had won two games, started the seventh game that year on two days' rest and pitched his second successive seven-hit shutout.

And at the close, the Mets had pitched 21 straight scoreless innings, and had successive shutouts for the first time in nearly three years.

Orel Hershiser has been the most spectacular member of the Dodgers' starting rotation, reeling off five successive shutouts, the most recent against San Francisco Friday night.

It was the second straight shutout for the Mets' staff, which has pitched successive shutouts five times this season.

He was two outs away from his second successive shutout when Joe Carter singled home a run.

The Yankees ended their sometimes desperate search for another starting pitcher yesterday, acquiring Steve Trout from the Chicago Cubs a day after he pitched his second successive shutout.