Fox television could have saved money last night by replaying the tape of Game 4 instead of recording Game 5. For the second night in a row, Arizona Diamondbacks closer Byung-Hyun Kim blew a lead in the bottom of the ninth and allowed the New York Yankees to win the game in extra innings.
The victory gave the Yankees a 3-2 series lead over the Diamondbacks. With the momentum New York generated by the late-inning heroics in Games 4 and 5, Arizona will find reigning in the reigning champions a task almost as difficult as hailing a cab in New York.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Jorge Posada on second, and Arizona ahead 2-0, Scott Brosius lauched a two-run homer to left to save the Yankees from defeat. The feat was similar to Tino Martinez's blast to tie Game 3 in the bottom of the ninth, and both shots came off of Kim.
Three innings later, Chuck Knoblauch opened the bottom of the 12th with a single against pitcher Mike Morgan and moved to second on Scott Brosius' bunt. Rookie Alfonso Soriano, who also had a key defensive play in the top of the 11th drove him in with a single to give the Yanks the victory.
Arizona starter Miguel Batista pitched seven scoreless innings, but his efforts were in vain. Mike Mussina started the game for the Yanks and gave up two solo homers in the fifth.
The game story was much the same on Wednesday night, when ghosts, warlocks and an assortment of other nether world spirits came out at Yankee Stadium this week, disguised as Rivera, Derek Jeter, and Martinez
In Game 4 on Wednesday night, at four minutes past midnight, Derek Jeter stepped up to the plate in the tenth inning and smacked a home run to give the Yankees the 4-3 win. The shot over the right field fence came with two outs and completed Kim's destruction of Curt Schilling's dominating seven-inning start.
The Diamondbacks chose to start Schilling, who had been 4-0 in the post season, on three days rest rather than pitch Batista, who was 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA in two starts and one relief appearance in the post season. The move appeared to pay off, as Schilling held the Yankees to three hits over seven strong innings. He left with the score 3-1 in the Diamondbacks' favor, thanks to a Mark Grace fourth inning home run and RBI hits by Erubiel Durazo and Matt Williams in the eighth.
But in came Kim and the Halloween spirits, and out went Arizona's chances of taking a 3-1 lead over the defending world champions. With two outs and Paul O'Neill on first in the ninth inning, Tino Martinez launched a home run that saved the Yankees and tied the game. Rivera sent the Diamondbacks down in order in the top of the tenth to set the stage for Jeter, who was dubbed baseball's first Mr. November by sportswriters immediately after the game.
The victory was New York's record ninth-straight home World Series win. Number eight came the night before, when Arizona fed young starter Brian Anderson to the wolves that are the Yankees lineup and the New York fans. While Anderson did better than expected, surrendering only two runs in 5 and 1/3 innings, Arizona predictably couldn't break through against Yankees starter Roger Clemens.
Clemens proved why he's earned five Cy Young awards when he held the Diamondbacks to one run over seven innings in a game that was a must-win for the Yankees. Clemens held Arizona to just three hits and is now 3-0 with a 1.86 ERA in his five career World Series starts.
Rivera reminded Major League Baseball why he's the most dominant reliever in World Series history when he pitched two perfect innings for the save in the Yankees' 2-1 victory. Halloween spirits were evident in this game as well, as Arizona, which led the NL in fielding percentage this year, committed three errors which the Yanks capitalized on.
New York got on the scoreboard first with Jorge Posada's home run in the second inning, but Arizona tied the game on a sacrifice fly from Matt Williams in the fourth. Then, after Brenly lifted Anderson in the sixth inning, Scott Brosius came to bat with two outs and runners on first and second and drove in Bernie Williams for what proved to be the game-winning run.
Game 3, however, was as much a tribute to the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks than it was a celebration of great baseball. Many have said that a Yankees world championship this year would bring a special meaning to a city torn apart by tragedy, and sentiments of mourning were evident on Tuesday night. President Bush wore a New York Fire Department fleece when he threw out the first pitch before the game, and a tattered US flag that was recovered from the World Trade Center flew over Yankee Stadium during the game.
New York and Arizona now head back to the desert for Game 6 on Saturday - a repeat of the Game 2 match-up of Randy Johnson and Andy Pettitte.
