The New York Yankees won their 14th consecutive World Series game last night, a record of greatness that spans throughout all sports, with a 6-5 win over their cross-town rivals, the New York Mets.
After a heart-stopping, 12-inning duel in Game One, which the Yankees won 4-3, Game Two nearly lacked any of the previous evening's tension. The Yankees jumped on the Mets early, as first baseman Tino Martinez and catcher Jorge Posada had consecutive RBI singles in the first inning.
Third baseman Scott Brosius tacked on another run in the second, as he hit a solo home run off of Mets' starter Mike Hampton. The Yankees struck again in the fourth, when right fielder Paul O'Neill singled, driving in the Yankees' fourth run.
A sacrifice fly in the seventh by Brosius and another RBI single from Martinez was more than enough for Yankee starter Roger Clemens.
"The Rocket" started his first game against the Mets since the infamous game in which he beaned Mets catcher Mike Piazza.
Clemens was superb all game, holding the Mets to only two hits in eight shutout innings and striking out nine.
In fact, the only danger Clemens got into was in the first inning, when Piazza charged him. Clemens had struck out the first two hitters of the game before enticing Piazza to ground out on a seemingly harmless broken-bat hit. For no apparent reason, though, Clemens picked up part of the broken bat and threw it at Piazza, provoking the catcher to walk menacingly towards Clemens before cooler heads prevailed.
Clemens was pulled in the ninth, giving way to reliever Jeff Nelson, who could not close out the game. After an Edgardo Alfonso single, Piazza homered, cutting the lead to 6-2 and forcing Yankee clipper Joe Torre to bring in his closer, Mariano Rivera.
With a runner on first, Todd Zeile, who had the only two hits off Clemens, gave everyone a scare when he hit a ball to the wall before it was corralled by left fielder Clay Bellinger.
With one out, left fielder Benny Agbayani grounded into the outfield to keep the rally alive before Jay Payton hit a three-run homer to cut the lead to one. However, Rivera got pinch-hitter Kurt Abbot to strike out to end the game.
On the night, Derek Jeter, Martinez, Posada, and O'Neill all had multi-hit games.
Despite the slight drama in the ninth last night, nothing could match the epic game the two teams played in Game One on Saturday night.
The Yankees won in the bottom of the 12th inning after four hours and 51 minutes of heart-stopping action. Second baseman Jose Vizcaino singled off of Turk Wendell to bring in Martinez, and the Yankees had won the longest game in World Series history 4-3.
The Mets appeared to have the game in hand, as they led 3-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth, but reliever Armando Benitez could not hold the lead.
Benitez, who has had his troubles in the post-season - giving up the most homeruns in post-season history - conceded a sacrifice fly to designated hitter Chuck Knoblauch.
Then, in the 12th, the Yankees loaded the bases and Vizcaino, who had four hits in the game, played the role of the hero.
In a game of that length and excitement, many plays get lost in the mix, however, one may have been bigger than all the rest. With the score tied at zero in the sixth, Zeille hit a fly ball that appeared to be going over the wall, and Mets' right fielder, Timo Perez, didn't run hard on the play. The ball glanced off the top of the wall, just shy of a homer, but Perez was thrown out at the plate to end the inning. It was the one run the Mets needed.
