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Wednesday, October 25, 2000
Mets end NEW YORK -- The Subway Series threatened to become an express, a Yankee sweep. But last night, the Mets beat a pitcher who had been unbeatable in the postseason and won a game they had to win.
Yankees’ streaks
The 4-2 victory stopped the Yanks'
14-game World Series win streak
as well as El Duque's
postseason markBenny toast of the town.
Mets' manager happy with decision.
By Buster Olney
N.Y. Times
The Yankees' Orlando Hernandez struck out 12 batters and pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning, but in the eighth, Benny Agbayani snapped a 2-2 tie with a run-scoring double off El Duque, and the Mets prevailed, 4-2, in Game 3 of the World Series at Shea Stadium. The Yankees lead the series, two games to one, but the Mets could even the best-of-7 series tonight at Shea, when their right-hander Bobby J. Jones faces the Yankees' Denny Neagle, a left-hander.
"It seems like light years difference between 3-0 and 2-1," said Mets Manager Bobby Valentine, "and it's 2-1."
TODAY'S GAME
The defeat broke the Yankees' 14-game World Series winning streak, the longest such streak in championship play among the major sports, and Hernandez's perfect postseason record was blemished.
Hernandez had been to baseball what Joe Montana was to the Super Bowl, or what Bill Russell was to the National Basketball Association playoffs. When he pitched, the Yankees won, every time. He had made nine playoff and World Series starts and pitched in relief once, and the Yankees were 10-0 in those games. Hernandez was 8-0 -- the most victories without a loss in postseason history, two games better than Lefty Gomez, who went 6-0 for the Yankees from 1932-1939.
There was some question among his teammates about Hernandez's condition for Game 3, for he felt poorly Monday. Asked after the Yankees' workout about whether he was sick, El Duque said he felt OK as he dropped a towel over a bag of medication that had just been handed to him.But the air was warmer than expected at Shea, and Hernandez looked quite comfortable. He and the Mets' Rick Reed, pitchers with superlative control, both took advantage of the large strike zone being called by Jeff Kellogg, the home plate umpire. Hernandez struck out eight in the first four innings, Reed six in the first two innings.
Hernandez breezed through the seventh inning, easily retiring the top of the Mets' order. But his spot in the lineup was coming around in the top of the eighth inning, his pitch count was high, about 120, and Yankees Manager Joe Torre was thinking about replacing him.
Hernandez pleaded his case, imploring Torre to leave him in the game, and Torre went along with that, holding up one finger: One more inning. One more inning, for a pitcher in whom he has so much trust, who had never done anything but win in the postseason, high pitch counts or not.
"I was willing to try something else," Torre said afterward, referring to his bullpen, "and he wasn't into that.
"He deserved the right to get a decision in this game. He was pumped, and with what he has done for us, it was tough for me to deny him."
Ventura led off the eighth inning and Hernandez struck him out, his 12th of the game, the most ever by a Yankees' pitcher in the World Series, and Torre felt very good about his decision at that point. Zeile, who came into the game with five hits in 12 at-bats and had doubled home a run in the sixth, bounced a single through the middle that just bounced over Jeter's glove. Torre still felt comfortable with Hernandez.
Agbayani was next. All he had heard about the last two days, he said afterward, was how the Yankees hadn't lost a World Series game in four years, and how Hernandez had been so extraordinary in the postseason.
With one swing, Agbayani changed all that.
METS 4, YANKEES 2
NEW YORK (A) NEW YORK (N) ab r h bi ab r h bi JVzcno 2b 4 0 0 0 Perez rf 3 0 0 0 Polonia ph 1 0 0 0 Alfonzo 2b 4 0 0 0 Jeter ss 4 1 2 0 Piazza c 4 1 1 0 Justice lf 3 0 1 1 Vntura 3b 3 1 2 1 BeWms cf 4 0 0 0 Zeile 1b 4 1 2 1 TMrtnz 1b 3 1 1 0 Agbyni lf 3 0 1 1 Posada c 4 0 0 0 McEwg lf 0 1 0 0 O’Neill rf 4 0 3 1 Payton cf 4 0 1 0 Brosius 3b 2 0 0 0 Bordick ss 3 0 1 0 GHill ph 1 0 0 0 LHarrs ph 0 0 0 0 Sojo 3b 0 0 0 0 Trmmll ph 0 0 0 1 OHrndz p 2 0 0 0 Benitez p 0 0 0 0 Stanton p 0 0 0 0 Reed p 1 0 1 0 Knblch ph 1 0 1 0 Hmlton ph 1 0 0 0 Wndell p 0 0 0 0 Cook p 0 0 0 0 JFrnco p 0 0 0 0 KAbbtt ss 1 0 0 0 Totals 33 2 8 2 Totals 31 4 9 4
New York (A) 001 100 000--2 New York (N) 010 001 02x--4 DP--New York (N)1. LOB--New York (A)10, New York (N)8. 2B--Justice (2), O'Neill (2), Piazza (1), Ventura (1), Zeile (2), Agbayani (2). 3B--O'Neill (1). HR--Ventura (1). S--OHernandez, Reed. SF--Trammell.
New York (A)
ip h r er bb so OHrndz L,0-1 7 1/3 9 4 4 3 12 Stanton 2/3 0 0 0 0 1
New York (N)
ip h r er bb so Reed 6 6 2 2 1 8 Wendell 2/3 0 0 0 1 2 Cook 1/3 0 0 0 1 1 JFranco W,1-0 1 1 0 0 0 0 Benitez S,1 1 1 0 0 0 1
The top single-game strikeout performances in World Series history with pitcher, strikeouts, team, opponent and date: Word Series strikeouts -- game
Bob Gibson, 17, St. Louis (NL) vs. Detroit (AL), Oct. 2, 1968.
Sandy Koufax, 15, Los Angeles (NL) vs. New York (AL), Oct. 2, 1963.
Carl Erskine, 14, Brooklyn (NL) vs. New York (AL), Oct. 2, 1953.
Howard Ehmke, 13, Philadelphia (AL) vs. Chicago (NL), Oct. 8, 1929.
Bob Gibson, 13 (10 inn.), St. Louis (NL) vs. New York (AL), Oct. 12, 1964.
Ed Walsh, 12, Chicago (AL) vs. Chicago (NL), Oct. 11, 1906.
Bill Donovan, 12 (12 inn.), Detroit (AL) vs. Chicago (NL), Oct. 8, 1907.
Walter Johnson, 12 (12 inn.), Washington (AL) vs. New York (NL), Oct. 4, 1924.
Mort Cooper, 12, St. Louis (NL) vs. St. Louis (AL), Oct. 8, 1944.
Tom Seaver, 12 (8 inn.), New York (NL) vs. Oakland, Oct. 16, 1973.
Orlando Hernandez, 12, N.Y. Yankees (AL) at N.Y. Mets (NL), Oct. 24, 2000.
The Yankees lead the series 2-1 World Series Composite Box
BATTING SUMMARY
NEW YORK (N)
g ab r h 2b 3b hr rbi bb so avg Reed p 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 Trammell ph 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 1.000 Zeile 1b 3 13 1 6 2 0 0 1 0 3 .462 Agbayani lf 3 11 2 4 2 0 0 1 1 4 .364 Ventura 3b 3 12 1 3 1 0 1 1 1 3 .250 Abbott ss 3 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 .250 Payton cf 3 13 2 3 0 0 1 3 0 3 .231 Piazza dh-c 3 13 2 3 1 0 1 2 0 3 .231 Bordick ss 3 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 .167 Alfonzo 2b 3 13 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 5 .154 Perez rf 3 13 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 .077 Harris dh 2 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Hamilton ph 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Pratt c 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000 McEwing lf 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Benitez p 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- Cook p 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- JFranco p 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- Hampton p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- Leiter p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- Rusch p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- Wendell p 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- White p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- Totals 3 109 12 26 7 0 3 12 4 33 .239
NEW YORK (A)
g ab r h 2b 3b hr rbi bb so avg O’Neill rf 3 12 1 7 2 1 0 2 2 2 .583 Polonia ph 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 Jeter ss 3 13 3 6 2 0 0 0 3 5 .462 Martinez 1b 3 14 3 6 1 0 0 2 1 2 .429 Vizcaino 2b 3 14 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 4 .286 Posada c 3 12 1 3 1 0 0 1 3 3 .250 Brosius 3b 3 8 1 2 0 0 1 2 0 2 .250 Justice lf 3 10 1 2 2 0 0 3 3 1 .200 Knoblauch dh-ph 3 9 1 1 0 0 0 1 2 1 .111 Williams cf 3 11 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 .000 Hernandez p 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 Hill ph-lf 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Sojo 3b 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Bellinger ph-lf 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- Clemens p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- Nelson p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- Pettitte p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- Rivera p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- Stanton p 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- Totals 3 111 12 32 8 1 1 12 18 25 .288
PITCHING SUMMARY
NEW YORK (N)
g cg ip h r er bb so hb wp w l sv era Franco 2 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.00 Cook 3 0 0.2 1 0 0 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0.00 Leiter 1 0 7 5 2 2 3 7 0 0 0 0 0 2.57 Reed 1 0 6 6 2 2 1 8 1 0 0 0 0 3.00 Benitez 2 0 2 3 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 4.50 Rusch 2 0 2 3 1 1 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 4.50 Wendell 2 0 1.2 3 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 5.40 Hampton 1 0 6 8 4 4 5 4 1 0 0 1 0 6.00 White 1 0 1.1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 6.75 Totals 3 0 28.2 32 12 12 18 25 3 2 1 2 1 3.77
NEW YORK (A)
g cg ip h r er bb so hb wp w l sv era Clemens 1 0 8 2 0 0 0 9 1 1 1 0 0 0.00 Stanton 2 0 2.2 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 1 0 0 0.00 Pettitte 1 0 6.2 8 3 3 1 4 1 0 0 0 0 4.05 Hernandez 1 0 7.1 9 4 4 3 12 0 0 0 1 0 4.91 Rivera 2 0 3 3 2 2 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 6.00 Nelson 2 0 1.1 4 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20.25 Totals 3 0 29 26 12 12 4 33 3 1 2 1 0 3.72
SCORE BY INNINGS
New York (N) 010 001 325 000--12 New York (A) 211 112 111 001--12 E--Perez (1), Payton (1), Bordick (1), Clemens (1). DP--New York (N) 2. LOB--New York (N) 20, New York (A) 37. CS--Piazza (1), Knoblauch (1), Vizcaino (1). S--Bordick (1), Hernandez (1), Reed (1). SF--Knoblauch (1), Brosius (1), Trammell (1).
Cook pitched to 2 batters in the 10th (Game 1).
Cook pitched to 1 batter in the eighth (Game 3).
Nelson pitched to 3 batters in the ninth (Game 2).
IBB--off Wendell (O'Neill), off Rusch (Posada), off Leiter (Williams), off White (Williams), off Hampton (Posada).
HBP--by Pettitte (Pratt), by Rivera (Pratt), by Hampton (Justice), by Clemens (Alfonzo), by Cook (Justice), by Reed (Brosius). PB--Posada.
Umpires--(Games 1, 2 and 3) Montague, Relaford, Kellogg, Welke, McClelland, Crawford.
T--Game 1 at Yankee Stadium, 4:51.
T--Game 2 at Yankee Stadium, 3:30.
T--Game 3 at Shea Stadium, 3:39.
A--Game 1 at Yankee Stadium, 55,913.
A--Game 2 at Yankee Stadium, 56,059.
A--Game 3 at Shea Stadium, 55,299.
