Money may not be able to buy you love, but in baseball, it sure can buy you pitching - and perhaps a World Series title.
The Arizona Diamondbacks have already succeeded in buying their way to a World Series berth this fall, following the formula used by the 1997 Florida Marlins. Over the past few years, Arizona has lured two of the game's premier pitchers - Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson - with lucrative contracts and rode their backs through the division series and National League Championship Series (NLCS).
In the American League, the New York Yankees have used their own stash of cash to woo free agents and make the perfect mid-season moves. Strong pitching performances by Roger Clemens and Mike Mussina, two of the highest paid pitchers in baseball lead them to a 4-1 defeat of the Seattle Mariners in the best of seven series.
In last night's Game 5, the Mariners laid down the red carpet for the Yanks to walk to the series, as New York whomped Seattle 12-3. The Yankees chased Mariners starter Aaron Sele after scoring five runs against him over four innings, and added four more in the sixth. Bernie Williams and Paul O'Neill homered to lead the Yankees to the World Series for the fourth consecutive year.
Arizona, playing in just its fourth season, became the fastest team to reach the World Series on Sunday night when they beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2 to earn a 4-1 series victory.
Pitcher Randy Johnson, who had lost a record seven straight postseason decisions coming into the NLCS, snapped out of his slump in Game 1 in Arizona when he led the Diamondbacks to a 2-0 victory. Johnson allowed only three hits and struck out 11 in the complete game victory. Craig Counsell, one of the surprise heroes of Arizona's division series triumph over St. Louis, had two hits and scored twice - on RBI singles by Luis Gonzalez and Reggie Sanders.
Atlanta's only win came in Game 2, thanks to catcher Javy Lopez's triumphant return to the lineup. Lopez missed three weeks because of a sprained ankle but broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning of Game 2 with a two-run home run off Arizona starter Miguel Batista. Tom Glavine got the win for the Braves to tie teammate John Smoltz's Major League record of 12 postseason victories.
The Braves' eight runs in Game 2 were more than they scored in the other four games combined, as they fell to the Diamondbacks 5-1 and 11-4 in Games 3 and 4, respectively. Schilling was brilliant in his Game 3 start, pitching his third complete game victory of the 2001 postseason and holding Atlanta to four hits. He was also the offensive spark in the game, with his fifth inning single sparking a three-run rally.
In the series finale, it was all Johnson again. He struck out eight over seven innings, including a key fan of Brian Jordan with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, and allowed only two runs. Byung-Hyun Kim pitched two hitless innings in relief for the save.
Erubiel Durazo, pinch-hitting for the injured Mark Grace, hit a tiebreaking, two-run home run in the fifth off Glavine. Danny Bautista, starting on a hunch by manager Bob Brenly, had an RBI single. With the win, Brenly became the first manager to lead a team to the World Series in his first year since Kansas City's Jim Frey in 1980.
In the American League, the Yankees-Mariners series was all about the pitching. While Seattle sprinted past its opponents during the regular season, its pace slowed remarkably in the playoffs. The Mariners squeaked past Cleveland in the Division Series only to fall to the Yankees, and their stellar 116-56 season record failed to bring them a championship.
With the exception of the slugfest in Game 3, the Yankees' pitching has dominated this series. Andy Pettitte was untouchable for eight innings in Game 1, which New York won 4-2. Mike Mussina, who came to the Yankees in the offseason when they offered him $88.5 million over six years, was equally dominant in the 3-2 Game 2 win.
The Mariners' offense came alive in the fifth innings of Game 3 and pounded Yankees pitching for 14 runs for Seattle's only win of the series. Brett Boone had five RBIs in the game, and Seattle scored seven runs in the sixth inning alone to accumulate the most runs scored against New York in 285 postseason games.
But the Seattle offense had no more gas left after Game 3, and Game 4 was a tight pitchers duel. Yankees starter Roger Clemens allowed only one hit over five innings of work, while Mariners' starter Paul Abbott pitched hitless ball. He walked eight, however, and was pulled after the fifth inning, turning the game into a battle of the bullpens.
Each team hit a solo home run in the eighth inning, and the game went into the ninth tied at 1-1. But in the bottom of the inning, rookie Alfonso Soriano proved that veterans aren't the only reason why the Yankees always win in the postseason. With one man on base, Soriano blasted a Kazuhiro Sasaki pitch over the right centerfield fence to give the Yanks the 3-1 win.
The World Series does not begin until Saturday, so both teams will have ample time to rest their starters and arrange their pitching rotations.
