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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Even the comfort of the postseason
couldn't rescue the slumping New York Yankees, who were destroyed
by the bottom of the Oakland Athletics' lineup.
Ramon Hernandez drove in two runs, including a go-ahead double
in the sixth inning off Roger Clemens, and the Athletics defeated
the struggling Yankees 5-3 Tuesday night in the opener of their
playoff series.
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GAME 1 AT A GLANCE
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Every game a hero
Ramon Hernandez is the least-talked-about Oakland youngster, but he delivered two key RBI hits. His go-ahead double in the sixth off Roger Clemens was a great at-bat. After swinging through an inside fastball, Clemens threw it again on 2-1. It was just inside and Hernandez took it for a ball. He doubled to right on the next pitch, a fastball outside.
Key number
The Yankees aren't used to losing a Division Series game -- or giving up more than one run in a game. They swept the Rangers each of the past two years, outscoring Texas 22-2 in the process.
Key play
In the fifth inning, with Hernandez at first and Jeremy Giambi at second, Terrence Long hit a slow chopper to second baseman Luis Sojo. Hernandez stopped, but instead of tagging him, Sojo threw to first. Hernandez beat the throw to second and later scored on a wild pitch.
ESPN analysis
Any team that has 46 World Series rings on it is never in too deep a hole. The Yankees deserve that respect. And they had a couple good signs: Chuck Knoblauch is starting to swing the bat and Scott Brosius is starting to swing the bat. But they need to get that lineup going.
--Peter Gammons
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Hernandez, the No. 9 hitter in a powerful A's lineup, went
2-for-4 Tuesday after hitting .241 during the regular season. Both
of his hits went to the opposite field.
"Ramon's our secret weapon at the bottom of the order," A's
manager Art Howe said. "You need hitting throughout the order to
win. We feel good about him being down there, because there's not
an easy touch anywhere in the lineup."
The last three hitters in the Oakland lineup went 6-for-11 and
scored four runs.
"The bottom of the order beat our brains out," Yankees manager
Joe Torre said. "I thought they were very patient at the bottom of
that lineup and Hernandez had a very good approach, going the other
way."
In a matchup of near-opposites, a low-revenue A's club making
its first playoff appearance since 1992 was patient enough to
outlast Clemens and a mega-rich Yankees club trying to defend its
two straight World Series titles.
Overpowered for the first four innings, the A's scored four
times in the fifth and sixth off a tiring Clemens -- he threw 111
pitches in his six innings -- and then held on to take a 1-0 lead in
the best-of-five AL Division Series.
"The way Roger was throwing the ball early on, it looked like
it might be a long evening for us. The velocity he had was vintage
Clemens," Howe said. "But we hung in there."
Hernandez said he convinced himself to stay patient against
Clemens and wait for the right pitch. He got that right pitch
twice, and that led to two run-scoring hits.
"He was dealing, dealing, dealing throughout the whole game,"
Hernandez said. "I got up and I think he messed up a couple of
pitches."
The Yankees stumbled into the playoffs this year, ending the
regular season with a seven-game losing streak -- the worst skid
ever for a team entering the postseason -- and 15 losses in their
final 18 games.
They hoped the postseason would provide a panacea -- after all,
they had won 18 of their previous 19 postseason games heading into
this series, and also have a record-matching 12 straight World
Series victories.
"It was very disappointing, we had the opportunity to get
things going, we just couldn't," New York's Bernie Williams said.
"It started pretty good, we just couldn't keep scoring, getting
more runs. I really didn't think we were OK, but I did think he had
something going."
|  | | Roger Clemens is a different pitcher in the postseason -- and that's not a good thing. He's 3-4 in 13 playoffs starts. |
The slump prompted Yankees owner George Steinbrenner to issue a
statement earlier in the day about his team.
"Tired? Yeah, maybe. Struggling? Yeah, maybe. But scared? ...
That word ain't even in our vocabulary," he said.
The A's, on the other hand, won eight of their last 10
regular-season games to overtake Seattle for the AL West title,
clinching the division title on the final day. Their 21-7 record in
September was best in the major leagues.
Journeyman Gil Heredia, making the first postseason start of his
nine-year major league career, allowed three runs on seven hits in
six innings for the win.
Jeff Tam and Jim Mecir combined for two scoreless innings of
relief and Jason Isringhausen got three outs for his first
postseason save.
The Yankees had only three hits in the last seven innings.
Game 2 will be Wednesday night at Oakland. Andy Pettitte will
pitch for the Yankees against Kevin Appier.
Clemens, who now has a 3-4 record in 13 postseason starts,
allowed four runs on seven hits in six innings.
"We have to come out tomorrow and win," Clemens said.
The Yankees took their first lead in a week when consecutive RBI
doubles by Luis Sojo and Scott Brosius made it 2-0 in the second.
It broke New York's streak of 63 innings without a lead and was
Brosius' first RBI since Sept. 10.
Clemens struck out five and allowed only one hit, an infield
single by Terrence Long, in the first four innings. But the A's
finally broke through in the fifth.
Hernandez and ex-Yankee Randy Velarde had RBI singles and
another run scored on a wild pitch by Clemens, giving the A's a 3-2
lead. A questionable play by New York second baseman Luis Sojo, a
defensive replacement for Chuck Knoblauch, hurt the Yankees in the
inning.
With runners on first and second and no outs, Long hit an easy
grounder to Sojo. Instead of throwing to second for a force or
tagging Hernandez on his way to second, Sojo threw to first and the
return throw to second was too late to get Hernandez -- who scored
three batters later on the wild pitch.
The Yankees tied it at 3 in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Tino
Martinez.
Oakland regained the lead in its half of the inning on two-out
singles by Eric Chavez and Jeremy Giambi and the RBI double by
Hernandez. Giambi also tried to score on Hernandez's hit, but was
thrown out at home.
Oakland made it 5-3 in the eighth when Miguel Tejada singled,
moved up on a wild pitch by Mike Stanton and scored on a single by
Chavez.
Game notes
Howe won in his first postseason game as a manager. ... The
Yankees were 6-3 against the A's this year. ... The Yankees and
Oakland were meeting in the postseason for the first time since the
strike-shortened 1981 season. New York swept the A's in three games
in the 1981 AL championship series. ... New York's David Justice
appeared in his 78th postseason game, setting a major league
record. Justice, who has been in the playoffs with Atlanta,
Cleveland and now the Yankees, broke the record he had shared with
former Yankees and A's star Reggie Jackson.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
NY Yankees Clubhouse
Oakland Clubhouse
Klapisch: Win ... or win
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Oakland postgame news conference.
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New York postgame news conference.
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 Eric Chavez talks with ESPN's Ann Werner after Oakland's Game 1 victory over the Yankees.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Roger Clemens says the Yankees had intensity against the A's on Tuesday.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Yankees' manager Joe Torre is impressed by the enthusiastic A's fearless attitude.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Brian McRae explains what went wrong for Roger Clemens in Game 1.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Art Howe and the A's are excited about the victory, but remain cautious about Game 2.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Randy Velarde and the A's were looking to test Roger Clemens' endurance.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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