NEW YORK -- Joe Torre exhaled long and slow, trying to describe how May could feel so much like October. He had just watched the Red Sox beat the Yankees 2-0 in a game in which Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez matched mid-90s fastballs -- a pitching one-on-one so compelling, so powerful, Torre likened it to "a heavyweight fight."
"That game was everything it was supposed to be," the manager said, his words laced with some regret but mostly awe. That was understandable, because even though the Yankees dropped back into second place in the American League East, having lost two of three to the ever-surging Sox, these were nine innings of baseball in its purest form.
|  | | Roger Clemens struck out 13 in a losing cause Sunday night. |
Not only did it indulge the AL's oldest rivalry, but it featured Clemens, a five-time Cy Young Award winner, against Martinez, the majors' best right-handed pitcher. It was a playoff, all right: Each pitch was huge and dramatic, every at-bat a war, every inning deepening the mystery as to which pitcher would bleed first.
It was Clemens, ultimately, missing with a ninth-inning fastball that Trot Nixon crushed into the right-field seats for a two-run homer. The Rocket ruefully admitted, "I tried to elevate the pitch, and he just got it."
Don't think the Red Sox didn't enjoy that moment of triumph, too. Earlier in the game, Clemens and Nixon exchanged words, and that grudge lasted all night. According to Nixon, the Rocket shouted at him after he questioned a called third strike in the first inning.
"Swing the bat. That was a strike," Nixon said, repeating Clemens' words. The Red Sox right fielder told reporters, "I don't need him to tell me what a strike is. I'll let the umpire tell me."
Nixon went as far as to say Clemens didn't respect him, although the Yankees pitcher denied he ever shouted at Nixon. "I tend to talk to myself a lot when I'm on the mound," Clemens said.
Nixon was so angry after the strikeout he wiped out a row of drink cups in the visitors' dugout and promised teammates, "I'm going to get (Clemens)" later in the game.
For a while, it appeared Nixon's threat would be an empty one, as the Rocket was en route to a 13-strikeout performance, matching his high as a Yankee. He had his best fastball of the season, mixing it perfectly with a late-breaking splitter and a slider so deceptive that, as Derek Jeter said, "no one really hit the ball very hard."
Just how good was Clemens? He struck out Nomar Garciaparra three times. One of those punchouts occurred in the seventh inning, after Nixon had tripled over Ricky Ledee's head with one out, forcing the Rocket to draw his line in the sand.
He got Brian Daubach to look at a back-door slider for strike three, then beat Garciaparra with a 2-2 splitter that dropped like it had been shot out of the sky. The latter turned Yankee Stadium into an open-air asylum, and it allowed the Yankees to remember exactly why they traded the popular David Wells to get Clemens in 1999.
This was the Clemens that AL hitters used to fear as recently as three years ago -- focused and machine-like, eager to challenge every hitter. "Roger sure knew the stakes that were in front of him," Torre said. "And that's how he pitched."
Lucky for the Red Sox that Martinez's fastballs were just as small. In fact, when he needed to be rescued in the fourth inning, following Jeter's leadoff double, Martinez's weapons were just as effective as Clemens'.
Pedro struck out Paul O'Neill, got Bernie Williams to pop up to Garciaparra, and then blew away Jorge Posada with a change-up that'd been set up perfectly by a 96-mph fastball. So it went, inning after inning, until finally Nixon's promise became a reality. Setting the stage was Jeff Frye's two-out comebacker, which Clemens almost handled.
Almost.
"That one play was the most disappointing, because I thought I had it," said The Rocket, who, for one frozen instant, thought the ball had deflected off his glove into his jersey or stomach. Clemens wasn't entirely sure, so he started running toward first base, thinking he'd find the ball as he neared the bag.
However, the ball had rolled off his body and dribbled toward third base for an infield single. That's how Nixon was able to win the game: He waited until the count was 2-1, then pummeled a fastball so deep over O'Neill's head, no one in the Yankee outfield even moved.
Clemens was frozen, too, staring in disbelief as his miniature classic evaporated. Later, he was philosophical about the home run and the loss, because, in his words, "this was a fun kind of game to pitch in. It was a thrill to be involved in it."
No one argued, not even the Yankees, who know for sure the Red Sox will be in their faces all summer. For these nine innings, though, no one obsessed over the standings.
"This is the kind of game where, you look back, and you realize you were glad to be there," Torre said. "It was special."
Bob Klapisch of the Bergen (N.J.) Record writes his Baseball in the Big Apple column throughout the season.
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