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Mariners vs. Yankees |
Mets vs. Cardinals
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Thursday, October 12
Yankees wake up just in time
By Wayne Drehs
ESPN.com
NEW YORK -- During batting practice prior to Wednesday's game, Joe Torre and David Cone walked to the dugout and crouched down, bringing themselves to eye level of a nine-year-old admirer named Alexander.
Alexander, who is without his left leg, needed a pair of crutches to carry himself up and down the dugout stairs and through the throng of television reporters.
After Torre autographed a ball for the wide-eyed youngster, Cone came over, signed the same baseball and asked Alexander who was going to win the game that night.
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Mr. Postseason
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The Yankees finally got some runs, but Orlando Hernandez was masterful once again. El Duque is 7-0 with a 1.21 ERA lifetime during eight playoff starts. Below is a rundown of the seven wins (he allowed three runs in 8 IP in a no-decision in Game 1 of the ALCS last year):
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Date
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Series
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Opp.
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IP
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H
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R
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10/10/98
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ALCS
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Clev.
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7
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3
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0
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10/18/98
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W.S.
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S.D.
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7
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6
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1
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10/5/99
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Div.
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Tex.
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8
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2
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0
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10/18/99
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ALCS
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Bos.
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7
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5
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1
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10/23/99
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W.S.
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Atl.
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7
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1
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1
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10/6/00
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Div.
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Oak.
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7
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4
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2
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10/11/00
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ALCS
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Sea.
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8
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6
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1
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"The Yankees," said Alexander, who had been invited onto the field by Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. "And Derek Jeter's going to hit a home run."
Ahhh, the innate knowledge of children.
Despite seven innings of pathetic offensive baseball in Game 2 of the ALCS, in which the Yankees stranded eight baserunners and fumbled numerous scoring opportunities, including a bases-loaded, no-outs situation in the first, the New York bats finally busted through in the eighth inning, much to the delight of their nine-year-old fan.
New York smashed an ALCS record eight hits in the inning, capped off by a two-run homer to right field by -- who else? -- Derek Jeter.
When the damage was done, Arthur Rhodes and Jose Mesa had their egos bruised, while the Yankees had a 7-1 victory over the Mariners.
The win ties the series at one game apiece, but more importantly, presented another example of the Yankees' reluctance to let go of its baseball dynasty. A loss and New York heads to Seattle for Games 3, 4, and 5, down 2-0. A win and all they need is one victory in the Emerald City to bring the series back to the Bronx.
"There's a lot of incentive now," Torre admitted.
Much like they did against Oakland, the Yankees maintained this inner confidence amongst themselves when everyone outside the team wanted to write them off.
And with the way the Yankees were hitting lately, it was understandable. Prior to New York's eighth-inning outburst, the Yankees hadn't scored in their last 21 innings. Against Seattle, they were 3-for-25 with runners on base, leaving 16 runners stranded.
The scoreless streak matched the Yankees' longest postseason drought ever, dating back to the end of the 1921 World Series and beginning of '22 Series. That's Babe Ruth days.
"You are all so spoiled by this team's success in the postseason and expect us to just explode into the playoffs," David Justice said afterwards. "But that isn't always the case. We wouldn't be here if we couldn't hit and we couldn't be here if we couldn't hit in the clutch."
Yet they hadn't done either. All-everything Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams weren't hitting above .250 in the playoffs -- and they were two of the team's top hitters. Four of their starters -- Jeter, Justice, Paul O'Neill and Scott Brosius -- had averages under .200.
Other than the first inning of Game 5 against Oakland, there hadn't been a clutch hit since sometime back in the season when nobody was paying attention. But then something happened. The stars aligned, the moon shifted, the fastballs flattened ... whatever. Something drastically changed.
Justice led off the inning with a double off the left-center fence against the hard-throwing Rhodes. Williams followed with an all-out war in his at-bat, taking the count to 3-and-2 and then fighting off numerous inside fastballs before lining a single to right-center. Justice came around to score on the play and, little did everyone know, the rout was on.
"He was pounding me in over and over again and I was just like, 'Forget this,'" Williams said. "I just wanted to hit the ball hard. Keep it simple. He was throwing 94-95 so there wasn't that much time to think about things. I just wanted to see it and put some wood on it."
Added Justice: "That was a great at-bat. I was just thinking, 'Please get me to third.' But to foul off a couple of those tough pitches and get that hit was real big."
Every Yankee except for O'Neill got a hit in the inning and O'Neill contributed with a sacrifice fly.
The rundown went like this, in order: Double, single, single, single, sacrifice fly, single, double, single, home run.
Game over.
Even more impressive was that the offensive outburst came against a Mariners bullpen that hadn't given up a run in 15 postseason innings.
"I sense we relieved a lot of pressure today," Torre said. "We were very uptight, but we've played that way before and been successful. We know we're better and I think that's what frustrates everybody."
Justice agreed. "There's no doubt that one hit can get you out of a slump because hitting is all about confidence and tonight, we got everyone involved," he said.
Prior to that inning, frustration was clearly setting in for the Yankees, who let numerous golden scoring opportunities go by. In the first inning, Williams came to the plate with the bases loaded, only to hit the ball a grand total of two feet. Seattle catcher Dan Wilson grabbed the plunker, stepped on home and fired to first for a double play. Tino Martinez then grounded out to end the inning.
"That was frustrating for me," Williams said. "With no outs, the bases loaded and you are the fourth guy in the lineup, you're supposed to drive in those runs. It was a tough at-bat. (John Halama) made a good pitch and the ball just bounced in front of me."
In the fifth inning, Chuck Knoblauch lined a two-out double to left-center and Jeter followed that with a walk. But Justice grounded out to second base, prompting a chorus of boos from the crowd.
One fan, who just seconds earlier was behind Justice, begging for a hit, heckled loudly when Justice fielded a base hit to open the open the sixth.
Two innings later, Justice had his answer for his fan: No. I only hit doubles.
"That was the big hit," Jeter said. "He was the guy who was up first and got things going. You always want to get your leadoff man on."
Even Alexander would agree with that assessment. When asked what events led to his day of carousing through Yankee stadium, Alexander's father explained they just "bumped" into Steinbrenner before the game. They said hello and the next thing they knew, they were on the field chatting with the players.
"A very good day," Alexander said after the game, still amazed at the events that had occurred. "I can't believe it."
No kidding -- his favorite team knows just how he feels.
Wayne Drehs is a staff writer at ESPN.com.
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