A dynasty was ended last night when the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the New York Yankees 3-2 in the seventh game of the World Series. The tables were turned, for a change, as Arizona gave New York a taste of its own medicine when it came from behind in the bottom of the ninth to take away both a victory and the championship title from the Yanks.
The game may go down in history as one of the most thrilling and exciting ends to the World Series. Down 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth and facing Yankee closer Mariano Rivera, who prior to the inning had the lowest postseason ERA of all-time, the D-Backs got men on first and second with one out, thanks in part to a throwing error by Rivera. The error would prove to be costly, as next batter Tony Womack tied the game with his clutch double to right, scoring Midre Cummings and sending Jay Bell to third.
Then, after Craig Counsell was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Luis Gonzalez stepped up and deprived the Yankees of their fourth-straight championship with one swing of the bat. Gonzalez drove Bell home with a single to center field, and the champagne began flowing in the Arizona clubhouse.
Maybe it was the desert air. Maybe it was the change of time zones. Maybe they were just scared by Randy Johnson's hair. Whatever it was, New York could not find a way to win in Arizona during this series, and the Diamondbacks won the first two and the last two games at Bank One Ballpark to bring their franchise a championship in only its fourth year of existence.
Starter Randy Johnson, who won Games Two and Six, pitched part of the eight and the entire ninth inning to earn the save. He and Game Seven starter Curt Schilling, who won Game One and had a no-decision in Game Seven, were duly awarded the MVP award for the series - fitting, since the two were the main reason the D-Backs even made it this far.
While the offensive fireworks were the big story in Game Seven, the contest was a pitching duel throughout the evening. Schilling and Roger Clemens matched scoreless inning for scoreless innings for six sets, providing a stark contrast to Saturday's Game Six, when the Diamondbacks pounded Yankee pitching for a 15-2 win.
Arizona's first run last night didn't come until the sixth inning, which Steve Finley opened with a single, the host's fifth hit of the night. Danny Bautista then crushed a double to left-centerfield to drive home Finley, but Bautista was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a triple on an amazing defensive play.
The run was Bautista's sixth RBI in the last two World Series games.
However, the Yankees broke through against Schilling for the first time the next inning and tied the score on three hits. New York opened the inning with back-to-back singles by Derek Jeter and Paul O'Neill. Jeter advanced to third on a fielder's choice by Bernie Williams, and then came Tino Martinez, who will be a free agent after this season and is likely playing his final game in a Yankee uniform. Martinez lined a single to right-center to drive in Jeter, and Williams stopped at second.
The Yankees took the lead in the top of the eighth on a lead-off home run by Alfonso Soriano. They knocked Schilling out of the game three batters later, and the Arizona ace finished the game with 103 pitches, nine strikeouts, and having allowed six hits.
Clemens, meanwhile, allowed seven hits over his 6 and 1/3 innings and struck out ten. He was one of several Yankees to display shoddy defense in the loss, as he dropped a toss at first base when he tripped over the bag early in the game and later swung so hard that he stumbled across home plate.
New York made three errors in the game - not counting Rivera's final pitch to Gonzalez - and seven in the series. In the last three World Series the Yankees have played, they committed a combined total of just five errors.
But what was really uncharacteristic of the Yankees was the silence of the offense during this series. The three games the Yankees won were all by one-run, and New York held a lead for only eight of the 67 total innings played in the World Series. Arizona outscored the Yankees 37 to 13 to give manager Bob Brenly a title in his first year as manager.
