They’re not the New York Yankees for nothing.
Two outs away from being stranded at the platform in Game 1 of the Subway Series, the Yankees struck back for a 4-3 victory over the stunned New York Mets in 12 innings Saturday night. They rallied against Mets closer Armando Benitez in the ninth, tying the game 3-3 on Chuck Knoblauch’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly, then won on Jose Vizcaino’s bases-loaded single off Turk Wendell in the 12th.
Tino Martinez singled and Jorge Posada doubled off Wendell with one out in the Yankee 12th. Paul O’Neill was walked intentionally, and after Luis Sojo fouled out for the second out, former Met Vizcaino delivered his fourth hit of the game, a soft single to left field.
Martinez came across the plate at 1:04 a.m. EDT. The 4-hour-51-minute game was the longest in terms of time in World Series history.
In the first act of the New York-New York passion play, staged on a warm autumn evening at Yankee Stadium, it was the visiting Mets who had the most chances. But the two-time defending champions still extended their World Series winning streak to 13 games. The Yankees haven’t lost since Game 2 in 1996.
A one-out single by O’Neill started the ninth-inning rally off Benitez, who had set a Mets record with 41 saves. It was followed by a bloop single to right from pinch hitter Luis Polonia. After Vizcaino singled to load the bases, Knoblauch lifted a fly that gave left-fielder Joe McEwing no shot to stop O’Neill from scoring.
Benitez struck out Derek Jeter to keep the Yankees from finishing the job in the ninth. They were primed again in the 10th, when lefty Dennis Cook walked the first two hitters, but Glendon Rusch came in and worked magic. His wild pitch put the winning run on third, but he retired Martinez on a pop to shallow left and–after Posada was walked intentionally–got O’Neill to hit into a bases-loaded double play.
It only delayed the inevitable. Vizcaino’s third single of the game started a one-out rally in the 11th. He went from first to third when Rusch threw a wild pitch for ball four to Jeter, who hustled all the way to second, but Wendell replaced Rusch and got pinch hitter Glenallen Hill on a fly to right in a duel of ex-Cubs.
Mets lefty Mike Hampton faces Roger Clemens in Game 2 Sunday. Both have thrown shutouts during this postseason–Clemens’ one-hit, 15-strikeout performance against Seattle in Game 4 of the ALCS and Hampton’s three-hitter in the NLCS-clinching victory against St. Louis.
The first all-New York World Series since 1956 is definitely an A-list event. The sellout crowd of 55,913 included People magazine favorites Matthew Broderick, Goldie Hawn, Spike Lee, Jack Nicholson, Jennifer Lopez, Calista Flockhart, Ron Howard, Cameron Crowe, Pete Sampras, Sarah Jessica Parker and Mark Messier, among others.
While the Yankees have won three of the last four World Series, a loss would leave this franchise second in its own city. There’s a pressure to that assignment that could benefit the Mets.
Perhaps it was business as usual in the Yankees’ clubhouse, but it certainly wasn’t with owner George Steinbrenner. He had his game face on early, screaming at a stadium employee more than three hours before Billy Joel sang the national anthem.
The Mets scored all their runs in the seventh inning, when pinch hitter Bubba Trammell delivered a two-run single. They should have made things much easier for Benitez and their other relievers but repeatedly were caught flat-footed on the bases.
Rookie Timo Perez got caught coasting on a ball he thought Todd Zeile had sent into the seats in the sixth inning. Bobby Valentine’s unusually conservative strategy contributed to the Mets failing to score an insurance run in the ninth.
O’Neill had misplayed Kurt Abbott’s drive into a double, putting runners on second and third with one out. Valentine, who had elected not to run for catcher Todd Pratt because he would lose the designated hitter’s spot, didn’t have Pratt going on contact when Perez hit a slow grounder off closer Mariano Rivera. Vizcaino failed to field the ball cleanly but still had Perez at first. Rivera then struck out Edgardo Alfonzo, keeping the Yankee deficit at 4-3. That proved crucial.
Starting pitchers Andy Pettitte and Al Leiter both pitched well. Leiter left with a 3-2 lead after seven innings.
Pettitte took a 2-0 lead into the seventh but allowed the Mets to load the bases with one out. Trammell came through with a two-run single, raising his career average against Leiter to .421 (8-for-19). Pratt scored the go-ahead run when Alfonzo beat out a two-out single on a nubber in front of reliever Jeff Nelson.
Early on, it was the Mets who seemed to be gasping for air. They were inexplicably caught flat-footed at least four times in the first five and a half innings, each time helping Pettitte escape potential run-scoring situations.
Zeile and Jay Payton didn’t run on grounders that started foul and then came back fair. But the worst lapse was by Perez, the Mets’ rookie right-fielder, in the sixth inning.
Zeile missed a two-run homer by inches in the sixth inning. His drive off the top of the left-field fence fooled Perez, but not umpire Tim McClelland. He made no call from his position 100 feet away, and it turned out to the right call.
Perez got thrown out at home plate on a strong relay from shortstop Jeter. Perez thought the ball had hit a fan before it bounced back on the field. He coasted through second base, then sped up when he saw third-base coach Cookie Rojas waving him.
