Al Leiter had started the last World Series game not won by the New York Yankees. He almost made it No. 2.
Leiter, who had started Game 7 in 1997 for Florida, got the New York Mets off the platform in a hurry Saturday in the Subway Series. He worked seven strong innings as the Mets opened a 3-2 lead over the Yankees in the opener. But the world champion Yanks rallied in the ninth to send the game into extra innings tied 3-3 when Chuck Knoblauch delivered a bases-loaded sacrifice fly.
Leiter’s performance rewarded Mets manager Bobby Valentine, who picked him to work the opener even though Mike Hampton had thrown 16 scoreless innings in the National League Championship Series against St. Louis. Valentine was also rewarded for his use of pinch-hitter Bubba Trammell, who delivered a two-run single in the Mets’ winning rally in the seventh.
They had a chance to get more off Mariano Rivera in the ninth when Todd Pratt was hit by a pitch and Kurt Abbott doubled to right with one out. But Rivera retired Timo Perez on a grounder to second and struck out Edgardo Alfonzo.
John Franco made the one-run lead stand up in the eighth, but the Yankees broke through against Armando Benitez in the ninth. Paul O’Neill walked with one out and Luis Polonia and Jose Vizcaino singled to load the bases. Knoblauch then hit a sacrifice fly.
Trammell’s bases-loaded single was the biggest hit in the Mets’ three-run seventh against Andy Pettitte and reliever Jeff Nelson. It turned a 2-0 Yankee lead into a 3-2 edge for the Mets.
One-out singles by Benny Agbayani and Jay Payton were followed by a walk to catcher Pratt, who had been 0-for-2 in the postseason. That created the perfect spot for Valentine to use Trammell, who has owned Pettitte.
Trammell, hitting for Mike Bordick with one out and the bases loaded in the seventh, lined a two-run single into left field. It raised his career average against Pettitte to .421 (8-for-19). Perez failed in an attempt to bunt for a hit, but it moved Pratt to third.
That proved crucial when Nelson couldn’t get off the mound quickly enough on a tapper by Alfonzo. He hustled into first just ahead of third baseman Scott Brosius’ throw as Pratt scored the go-ahead run.
David Justice’s two-run double in the sixth inning off Leiter had given Pettitte his 2-0 lead. Justice’s drive into the spacious gap in left-center scored Chuck Knoblauch, who had reached on a fielder’s choice, and Derek Jeter, who had walked.
The first all-New York World Series since 1956 was definitely an A-list event. The sellout crowd of 55,913 included People magazine favorites Jennifer Lopez, Ron Howard, Cameron Crowe, Pete Sampras, Sarah Jessica Parker and Mark Messier.
Hampton faces Roger Clemens in Game 2 on 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 clinching NLCS victory against St. Louis.
While the Yankees have won three of the last four World Series, a loss in the New York-hearts-New York series would leave his franchise second in its own city. There’s a pressure to that assignment that could benefit the Mets.
Joe Torre was asked if the Mets had more to win because they can take top billing away from the Yankees. His answer may unintentionally have identified a cause of concern for the Yankees.
“I think they want to win because that would make them the best team in baseball this year,” Torre said of the Mets. “Having a dent in Yankee tradition is more of a distraction. That means they’re trying to beat us more than they’d be trying to beat somebody else. … It’s really tough to do that, because I think you wind up getting away from your game.”
It may have been business as usual in the Yankee 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.
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 5 1/2 innings, each time helping Pettitte escape potential run-scoring situations.
Todd Zeile and 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. 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 be the right call.
Perez, who should have scored from first base, was 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. The rookie mistake gave Jeter time enough to make the play of the game.
Pettitte faced only three hitters in the first inning but threw 19 pitches. He fell behind leadoff man Perez 3-0 before getting him to ground out on a 3-2 pitch. Alfonzo, perhaps the Mets’ toughest out, fouled off three two-strike pitches before flying out.
Leiter worked a quick first but had to pitch out of trouble in the second. A one-out single by Tino Martinez and a two-out liner to center by Paul O’Neill put runners on the corners for Scott Brosius. Leiter fell behind him 2-0 but came back to get him to tap the 2-2 pitch to first baseman Zeile.
