2000 Subway Series New York Mets
 

 
 

Most Mets rooted for Subway Series
 
 

 
 

The Mets didn't want to get ahead of themselves. They didn't want to talk about the possibility of a Subway Series against the Yankees before getting rid of the Cardinals. They hinted about it before Game 5 began. Now, however, they can talk openly and freely about it, even though the Yankees had yet to advance.
New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani embraced fellow Brooklyn native John Franco in the Mets' clubhouse.
"It would be good for baseball," native New Yorker John Franco said. "Most got a taste of it during the year (with the interleague games). Now with something on the line, it'll be taken up a notch."
The majority of Mets would welcome the excitement of a World Series against the Yankees. Some even went as far as saying they'll actively pull for their rivals in the Bronx.
"I'm rooting for the Yankees, to be perfectly honest," Zeile said. "I don't see any reason to pull punches at this point. I'd love to see a Subway Series.
"I have unfinished business with the Yankees as far as I'm concerned, anyway. They've eliminated me the other three times I've had a chance to be in the postseason. They've celebrated on what was my home field all three times."
 

A preview of the Yankees, Mets Series

For the first time since 1956, the World Series will be a New York-only affair, as the Mets will play the Yankees. When they faced each other during the regular season, the Yankees took four out of six games. However, both teams had different lineups when they faced each other back then. For example, the Mets didn't have a leadoff hitter. That all changed during the postseason when Timo Perez emerged as the spark plug.
For the first half of the season, the Yankees were desperate for a left fielder and designated hitter, but they found their men in David Justice and Glenallen Hill, respectively.Chuck Knoblauch will play second base during the World Series.
So who is going to win the World Series? You can bet the people in New York will be fight over that one. Like Yankees manager Joe Torre said, "I hope every fan enjoys himself, because it's going to split a few families up, I think."
 

Here's how the Yankees and Mets match up in the World Series:
 

FIRST BASE
Tino Martinez, Yankees: He had his worst season as a member of the Yankees, but you would never know that by the way he has been swinging the bat in the postseason, hitting .363. In order for the Mets to keep him off the bases, they must bust him inside with fastballs and breaking stuff. During the regular season, the Mets had a tough time keeping Martinez off the bases. He hit .350 in with a home run and four RBIs.
Todd Zeile, Mets: He was in a hitting funk during the second half the season, and it carried over against the Giants in the division series. The National League Championship Series against the Cardinals, however, was a different story. He hit .368 with eight RBIs. How did he get out of his slump? The Cardinals pitched him on the outside part of the plate with fastballs and Zeile was allowed to extend his arms and drive the ball all over the place. The Yankees must throw him nothing but breaking balls because he is known to swing out of the strike zone at will.
EDGE: Yankees
 

SECOND BASE
Chuck Knoblauch, Yankees: This is going to be very interesting. Torre announced during the ALCS that Knoblauch will play second base during the World Series. The last time we saw him play there was during the regular season and he still had throwing problems. Furthermore, Knoblauch is the same guy who refused to take infield practice when he was the designated hitter during the division series against the Oakland A's. At this stage of the season, you know he's going to be rusty, so don't be surprised if he makes a few errors that allow the Mets to win a couple of ballgames.
Edgardo Alfonzo, Mets: Unlike Knoblauch, Alfonzo has no weaknesses. All Alfonzo does is hit in the clutch, and he proved that against the Cardinals, hitting .444 and driving in four key runs. However the Yankees found a way to stop Alfonzo during the regular season. He hit .167 in 24 at-bats against them. And if the Yankees want to continue to leave Alfonzo off the bases, they must make him chase off-speed pitches out of the strike zone.
EDGE: Mets
 

SHORTSTOP
Derek Jeter, Yankees: After watching the ALCS, we've come to this conclusion: He's the second-best shortstop in baseball. Seattle Mariners shortstop Alex Rodriguez outplayed Jeter in every way. But let's not sell Jeter short. While Rodriguez ponders his free-agent status, Jeter will play in his fourth World Series in five years. He has a .315 batting average in World Series competition and the Mets must find a way to stop him. They did a terrible job trying to figure him out during the regular season, for Jeter hit .407 in 24 at-bats.
Mike Bordick, Mets: He will try to get out his hitting funk in the World Series and since Bordick is more familiar with the American League, it wouldn't be shocking to see him shine with the bat. In fact, before the Baltimore Orioles sent him to the Mets before the trade deadline, he was hitting .297. Bordick had a tough time adjusting to National League pitching, hitting just .260. It will be interesting to see if Bordick has recovered from the thumb injury he sustained when he was hit by a Mike James pitch during Game 2 of the NLCS.
EDGE: Yankees
 

THIRD BASE
Scott Brosius, Yankees: The man has been lost at the plate all season. It has now gotten to the point where Torre had to pinch-hit for him during the ALCS. Brosius has even made some bonehead plays on the bases, getting picked off, for example, in Game 2 against the Mariners. With Luis Sojo driving in key runs throughout the playoffs, it wouldn't be a shock if you saw him play most of the innings and Brosius coming into the games as a defensive replacement or pinch-hitter.
Robin Ventura, Mets: He has only one strikeout in 28 postseason at-bats, but he still is not hitting on a consistent basis and that has been the case all year. Part of the problem is that Ventura has been battling shoulder problems. At least the injury hasn't affected his fielding.
EDGE: Mets
 

LEFT FIELD
David Justice, Yankees: Granted, he drove in key runs in the ALCS, but he did not deserve the series MVP award. Roger Clemens should have won it because of his one-hit, 15-strikeout performance in Game 4 against the Mariners. Justice hit only .231 against the Mariners, but let's give him some credit: He basically carried the Yankees with his bat ever since he arrived from the Cleveland Indians before the trade deadline. He even showed that he still has range in left field.
Benny Agbayani, Mets: Look for the Yankees to take the extra base because Agbayani has a below-average throwing arm and lacks range. However, the Yankees better be concerned about him as a hitter. During the first two rounds of the playoffs, Agbayani hit .343 and drove in his share of key runs. The Yankees should never throw him fastballs. It's almost automatic that he'll get a base hit. However, he is known to swing at off-speed stuff on the outside part of the plate.
EDGE: Yankees
 

CENTER FIELD
Bernie Williams, Yankees: It's funny. He puts up great numbers, but he has flaws in his game. He is not a good baserunner and he's living proof that you can win a Gold Glove by driving in 100 runs. His range out there is nothing to brag about. Nobody can ever question his hitting, though. He always seems to step it up a notch in the postseason, and this year was no different, hitting .435 against the Mariners in the ALCS.
Jay Payton, Mets: Like most of the hitters on the Mets, don't throw this guy a fastball. However, as the Cardinals and Giants found out, but didn't do often enough, Payton will chase off-speed pitches on the outside part of the plate. And the Yankees have the right pitchers who can baffle Payton on a consistent basis. It will interesting to see how Payton handles Clemens' slider and Orlando Hernandez' breaking ball.
EDGE: Yankees
 

RIGHT FIELD
Paul O'Neill, Yankees: To put it bluntly, he has been awful with the bat during postseason. Some people believe that he got into some bad habits because of his hip injury. Others think he is still injured. O'Neill continues to pull outside pitches for weak grounders on the right side of the infield. He doesn't look that great in the outfield either. He looks slower and slower chasing balls in the gaps.
Timo Perez has been a sparkplug for the Mets during the postseason
Timo Perez, Mets: Because of Perez' performance in the postseason, you can bet your house that Derek Bell is not coming back next season. It seemed like almost every game, Perez was starting a rally. And by the time the NLCS came to an end, he scored a team-leading eight runs and was defensive wizard in right field. If the Yankees scouts did their homework, however, they realized that Perez is not a patient hitter and will swing at the fastball up and in for outs.
EDGE: Even
 

DESIGNATED HITTER
Glenallen Hill, Yankees: He went on a tear when he first became a Yankee. However, he has looked clueless during the postseason. Torre likes to go with the hot hand, so he should give Jose Canseco a chance. Torre has nothing to lose. Canseco has plenty of postseason experience and might be the better choice.
Darryl Hamilton, Mets: He was the regular center fielder in 1999, but spent most of the season on the disabled list because of foot problems. When he came back, Hamilton found himself on the bench. Of all the Mets reserves, Hamilton knows the American League, having played there for eight years.
EDGE: Yankees
 

CATCHER
Jorge Posada, Yankees: Catching too many innings may have caught up with him, for he is hitting .194 during the postseason. But it might get better during the World Series. He hits much better against left-handed pitching and he'll face plenty of that against the Mets.
Mike Piazza, Mets: He finally broke that choke-artist label, hitting .412 with two home runs and four RBIs. But the spotlight will be on him for a different reason. His confrontation with Clemens in Game 2 will be the hot topic. If you remember, Piazza was hit in the head by a Clemens pitch in July. Piazza thought he was hit on purpose.
EDGE: Mets
 

BENCH
Yankees: Expect Sojo to see a lot of action. He might start a few games at third and will definitely replace Knoblauch in the late innings at second base. Jose Vizcaino, Glenallen Hill and Jose Canseco (if he is on the postseason roster) also will see their share of playing time. Depending on who is the hot hitter is, Hill or Canseco will see time as the DH. Vizcaino will probably be a pinch-hitter or defensive replacement.
Mets: You're not going to see many defensive changes, but you will see Hamilton, Lenny Harris and Matt Franco hit for the pitcher and most likely come though in the clutch. Joe McEwing has been the pinch runner in the postseason and Kurt Abbott will be a defensive replacement for Bordick.
EDGE: Even
 

STARTERS
Yankees: Although he won two games against the Mariners in the ALCS, Orlando Hernandez pitched with his brain, not his arm. It looks like he is running out of gas. His fastball is getting slower and slower. Clemens and Andy Pettitte are in top form. Denny Neagle could be the x-factor in the series. He hasn't pitched well at all. Don't give him too much credit for his Game 1 performance in the ALCS, which was considered a success. He was wild and threw a lot of pitches.
Mets: Mike Hampton got his act together in the NLCS and was named the MVP. Al Leiter, Rick Reed and Bobby J. Jones were not so hot and were bailed out by the relievers. But the key to success will depend on the way they pitch at Yankee Stadium. They had a 6.84 ERA in the Bronx during the regular season and they could play four games there.
EDGE: Even
 

RELIEVERS
Yankees: Mariano Rivera was hittable during the regular season, but it has been a different story in the postseason. He broke Whitey Ford's scoreless inning streak and saved two games against the Mariners. Middle reliever could be another story. Jeff Nelson looked like he had recovered from his second-half woes, but then he was rocked by the Mariners in Game 5 of the ALCS. Stanton has been above average during the postseason, but it's obvious that Torre still doesn't have confidence in him when it comes to pitching in close games.
Mets: Armando Benitez has been hot and cold and Rick White was shelled by the Cardinals in Game 3. However, the rest of the relievers have been great. The biggest surprise has been Glendon Rusch, who pitched three solid innings in Game 3 against Cardinals.
EDGE: Mets
 

MANAGER
Joe Torre, Yankees: He is simply the best manager in baseball. Winning three championships in four years proves that. But unlike in past World Series, he will not have a easy time managing against the Mets. The Braves and Padres did not have the all-around pitching the Mets currently have. So look for Torre to juggle the lineup quite a bit in the Subway Series.
Bobby Valentine, Mets: He got the Mets to the World Series and there still hasn't been a contract offer by the Mets' front office. In a lot of ways, he is a better manager than Davey Johnson, who should have won more than one title with the Mets. Valentine has far less talent than Johnson had and managed to take them to the postseason the last two seasons. Johnson never did that with the likes of Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter on the roster.
EDGE: Yankees

WILD GAME ONE ENDS IN METS HEARTBREAK

Somehow, it lived up to the hype.
Jose Vizcaino, inserted in the starting lineup on a hunch by manager Joe Torre, singled with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 12th inning as the New York Yankees won their record 13th straight World Series game and took the opener of the "Subway Series" from the New York Mets, 4-3.
In a classic game that featured numerous ebbs and flows, Vizcaino capped a seesaw affair by slicing a single into left field to score Tino Martinez and end the longest World Series game of all-time.
Martinez singled off Turk Wendell (0-1) with one out in the 12th and took third on Jorge Posada's double to the right-center field gap. Paul O'Neill was intentionally walked and the Mets nearly escaped again as Luis Sojo fouled out. But Vizcaino, a former Met, lined Wendell's next offering the other way for the game-winner.
It was the fourth hit of the game for Vizcaino, who was placed in the starting lineup because he hit Mets starter Al Leiter well in the past.
Mike Stanton (1-0) followed closer Mariano Rivera and got the win with two dominant innings.
The Yankees broke a scoreless tie by getting two runs in the bottom of the sixth against Leiter. But the Mets rallied for three runs in the seventh against Yankees starter Andy Pettitte.
The Mets had a chance to pad their lead against Rivera in the ninth, but baseball's best playoff reliever escaped a jam. In the bottom of the frame, Mets closer Armando Benitez was not as fortunate as the Yankees strung together a walk, two singles and a sacrifice fly to tie it.
Rivera struck out Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile in the 10th before retiring Robin Ventura on a fly ball to center field. The Yankees nearly took advantage of reliever Dennis Cook in the bottom half.
David Justice walked on five pitches and Bernie Williams on four. Glendon Rusch came on and uncorked a wild pitch that moved both runners into scoring position. Tino Martinez popped out and the Mets opted to walk Jorge Posada. The strategy worked to perfection as O'Neill rolled into a double play on the next pitch.
The game featured a number of momentum swings but none bigger than the ninth. In the top half, Todd Pratt was hit by a pitch with one out and Kurt Abbott doubled over O'Neill's head in right. But Rivera got rookie Timoniel Perez on a bouncer to second with the infield in before striking out Edgardo Alfonzo.
Benitez got Posada on a line drive to deep center field to open the bottom of the ninth, but O'Neill worked out a 10-pitch walk. Pinch-hitter Luis Polonia lined a single to right and Vizcaino singled to left to load the bases. Chuck Knoblauch followed with a deep fly ball to left field to knot the contest, 3-3.
Benitez struck out Derek Jeter to end the inning, but the damage was done.
Both starting pitchers performed well. Leiter, who remained winless in the postseason since 1993, allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings. He walked three and struck out seven and left with a 3-2 lead.
Mets setup man John Franco, a Brooklyn native, tossed a scoreless eighth before Benitez took over in the ninth.
Pettitte allowed three runs and eight hits over 6 2/3 innings with a walk and four strikeouts. Jeff Nelson allowed one hit over 1 1/3 innings before giving way in the ninth to Rivera, who allowed one hit and struck out three over two scoreless frames.
Both pitchers were tough over the first four innings. Leiter faced the minimum in the first, third and fourth. His only trouble came in the second, when he escaped a first-and-third jam by getting Scott Brosius on a slow roller up the first-base line.
Pettitte stranded a runner at second in the third and never allowed two runners to reach in any of the first four innings.
The Mets got a leadoff double from Benny Agbayani in the fifth, but the next three batters failed to get the ball out of the infield. Rookie Jay Payton was tagged out after a squib at the plate and Pratt and Mike Bordick struck out.
The Mets got a leadoff single by Perez in the sixth, but Pettitte got Alfonzo and Piazza easily. The Yankees' starter got ahead of Zeile 0-2 before the Mets first baseman lined a ball off the top of the left-field wall. The ball just eluded the grasp of a fan and an alert Justice fired to shortstop Jeter, whose relay to the plate easily nailed Perez.
Replays showed Perez and Zeile were jogging initially, believing the ball left the playing field. With two outs, Perez should have scored easily and the Mets were denied a scoring opportunity.
The Yankees capitalized on the momentum swing in the bottom of the inning. Vizcaino, who was 10-for-19 against Leiter coming into the game, snuck a single into shallow left field. Knoblauch's sacrifice attempt turned into a forceout, but Jeter walked. Justice crushed a two-run double into the left-center field gap.
After an intentional walk to Williams, Leiter escaped further damage by getting Martinez on a grounder to first base and Posada on a fly ball to center field.
But the Mets rallied in the top of the seventh as Agbayani singled with one out and Payton followed with a base hit. Pratt walked on a full count and Bubba Trammell batted for Bordick. The move worked perfectly as Trammell lined a single to left field that knotted the game. Perez bunted the runners over and Alfonzo followed with a slow roller to third that he beat out for a 3-2 lead.
 

Mets Just Miss In 9th of Game 2

Roger Clemens didn't get a chance to make postseason history with his second straight shutout, but his two-hit, nine-strikeout performance over eight innings further erased his past October woes. The Mets, who supposedly couldn't wait to face Clemens after he hit Mike Piazza in July, nearly came back once he left. Mike Piazza and Jay Payton homered in a ninth-inning charge, but the Yankees held on for a 6-5 victory in Game 2 of the World Series.
 

METS BATTLE LATE, BUT YANKS HOLD ON

Well, the Mets and the Yankees are giving New York fans just what they asked for -- unmitigated excitement.
Roger Clemens allowed two singles over eight scoreless innings, struck out nine and nearly incited a brawl as the New York Yankees extended their record World Series winning streak to 14 games by hanging on for a 6-5 triumph over the New York Mets in Game Two of the "Subway Series."
Clemens was dominant in holding the Mets to a pair of singles by Todd Zeile as the Yankees took a 2-0 lead in the first World Series matchup between New York teams in 44 years. The 38-year-old righthander held the Seattle Mariners to one hit in his last start on October 13 and the extra rest made him nearly as unhittable tonight.
The five-time Cy Young Award winner allowed just one runner reach to second base, and that was on a wild pitch in the seventh. He struck out a batter in every inning except the fifth and walked none in improving to 2-0 in his fourth World Series start.
Fourty-six teams have taken the first two games of the "Fall Classic," with 35 going on to win the championship. One of the 11 teams that rallied was the 1986 Mets and another was the 1996 Yankees, the team that began this current dynasty.
The Yankees dropped the first two games in 1996 at home but went on to win the next four. They swept the 1998 and 1999 "Fall Classics" and are poised to add the club's 26th world title, the most in professional team sports.
Jeff Nelson took over for Clemens in the ninth and allowed a two-run homer to Mike Piazza. Robin Ventura followed the blast off the left-field foul pole with a base hit up the middle.
Yankees manager Joe Torre quickly went to closer Mariano Rivera, who allowed a long flyout to Zeile. Benny Agbayani singled to left field and a passed ball moved both runners into scoring position. A comebacker resulted in Ventura being cut down at the plate before rookie Jay Payton lined a home run into the right-field stands to slice the deficit to one run.
But as a stunned crowd sat silent, Rivera struck out pinch-hitter Kurt Abbott to end the contest.
The highly anticipated matchup between Clemens and Piazza set the early tone. In his first at-bat against Clemens since the Yankees starter hit him in the head on July 8, Piazza got sawed off on a 1-2 pitch in the first inning and the broken portion of the bat bounced toward Clemens.
Clemens picked up the fragment and fired it at Piazza, who was jogging to first as the ball rolled foul. The bat skidded past the Mets' catcher and Piazza headed slowly for the mound. Both benches emptied, but order quickly was restored.
In his American League Championship Series start against the Mariners, Clemens knocked down Seattle superstar Alex Rodriguez and the two had words. After the game, Mariners manager Lou Piniella accused Clemens of being a headhunter and vowed payback. Clemens used the days leading up to tonight's matchup to apologize for the earlier incident with Piazza but was quick to lose his temper again.
Mets starter Mike Hampton (0-1) went out in the bottom of the first and put the Mets in a quick hole. After falling behind both Chuck Knoblauch and Derek Jeter, he retired both. But eight straight balls to David Justice and Bernie Williams followed. Hampton got ahead of lefthanded-hitting Tino Martinez but hung a 1-2 pitch and the Yankees' first baseman singled to left for a 1-0 lead.
Hampton continued to struggle finding the plate and fell behind Jorge Posada. He grooved a full-count pitch that Posada ripped into center field to score Williams. Hampton struck out Paul O'Neill to end the inning.
Hampton, who tossed 16 scoreless innings in the National League Championship Series and earned Most Valuable Player honors, allowed four runs and eight hits over six innings.
Never a fan of cold weather, Hampton walked five, including four in the first three innings. A free agent after the season, he could have been making his last start as a Met.
The Mets nearly tied it in the second inning, when Zeile singled with one out and, after Agbayani struck out, Lenny Harris lined a ball just to the left of the left-field foul pole. Clemens recovered to strike out Harris.
Brosius pushed the lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the second when he led off with his seventh career postseason home run. The Mets' deficit could have been much worse as Game One hero Jose Vizcaino reached on an error by shortstop Mike Bordick. Knoblauch apparently missed a sign and Vizcaino was thrown out trying to steal.
Knoblauch walked on the next pitch and Jeter lined a single into right field that rookie Timo Perez mishandled. Knoblauch tried to score but was thrown out at the plate. With Jeter at second, second baseman Edgardo Alfonzo made a diving play on Justice's ground ball that appeared ticketed for right field.
The Mets got Alfonzo on to open the fourth, but Clemens retired Piazza, Zeile and Ventura in order. After the Mets went in order in the fifth, the Yankees tacked on a run after two were out in the home half. Martinez dropped a double into right-center field and Posada was intentionally walked. But O'Neill foiled the strategy by singling into the right-field corner for a 4-0 cushion.
Perez reached on Clemens' error with one out in the sixth, but Alfonzo flied harmlessly to center field. Piazza lined to left, where Justice made a sliding catch.
After the Yankees stranded a pair of runners in the sixth, the Mets got another one-out single by Zeile. But Clemens struck out Agbayani and got Harris on a squib in front of the plate.
Brosius had a sacrifice fly off Rick White in the seventh before Martinez's RBI bloop single in the eighth as the Yankees picked up a pair of crucial insurance runs.
 

METS LOOKING FOR SOME MAGIC IN GAME 3

No matter which way you cut it, any team trailing a World Series two games to none has dug itself a pretty big hole. But the untrained eye might believe the Mets are already buried in the face of a 2-0 deficit against the two-time defending champion Yankees.
After all, in order to win the World Series, the Mets will have to win four of the next five games against a Yankees club which hasn't lost a single World Series game since 1996. And they'll have to begin the comeback in tonight's Game Three against Orlando Hernandez, who hasn't lost a postseason game since...um, well, ever. But the seemingly long odds don't faze the Mets, who appeared confident and upbeat during Monday's workout day at Shea Stadium. The Mets might not have the Yankees right where they want them--hey, no one wants to be down 2-0 in a best-of-seven series--but no team in baseball is better prepared to mount a historic comeback than these Mets.
"I think if we can just get that one win under our belt, I think we're going to get that little magical kind of mystique back that we had against the Cardinals," says reliever Turk Wendell, the king optimist in a clubhouse full of upbeat thinkers. "We had something about us against the Cardinals that [made them believe] we're not gonna lose, we're kind of the big kahunas now."
The past two seasons have been full of dramatic Mets comebacks. This year, of course, the Mets scored 10 eighth inning runs on June 30 against the Braves to overcome a seven-run deficit and beat the Braves, 11-8. Last year, the Mets endured losing streaks of eight and seven games, respectively, but recovered from the first to go 40-15 over their next 55 games and bounced back from the second to win their final four regular season games and the NL wild card.
And how many Mets obits were written when they fell behind the Braves 3-0 in last year's NLCS? The Mets, of course, came back to win Games Four and Five and were twice within three outs of winning Game Six and forcing a Game Seven.
The Mets scored just five runs in those three games against the Braves last year, but they've already scored eight runs in two games against the Yankees--including five Sunday night in the ninth inning to turn a lopsided six-run game into a nail-biting 6-5 defeat.
What the Mets accomplished in the ninth inning of Game Two was unprecedented--in their previous 36 World Series appearances, the Yankees had NEVER given up more than four runs in the ninth inning of any game. In addition, the two runs the Mets scored against All-World closer Mariano Rivera represented the same number of runs Rivera had given up in his entire postseason career entering this year's ALCS, a span which covered 52.1 innings.
Asked if the Mets could gain momentum from Sunday night's ninth inning, Mike Piazza says "You score those runs against two of the toughest relievers in baseball [Rivera and fellow righty Jeff Nelson], I think it goes without saying [the Mets could gain some momentum]."
"I think that was huge for us," Wendell says. "When I came in [to the locker room], I said 'Now you guys know we can do it. Let's not lose sight of that.'"
And while it's not good for the soul to wonder "What if?," let's also not lose sight of the fact the Mets might very well be up 2-0 in this series if a handful of well-hit balls had just traveled a few inches farther. There was Todd Zeile's double off the top of the left field wall in the sixth inning of a scoreless Game One which could have gone for a two-run homer but instead netted the Mets nothing when Timo Perez was thrown out at home plate on the play.
There was Lenny Harris' foul ball just to the left of the foul pole in left field in the second inning of Game Two. Had he homered there, the Mets would have tied the game 2-2. In the ninth, Zeile's deep fly out to--you guessed it--left field was caught by Clay Bellinger at the top of the wall. Had Zeile homered there, the Mets would have closed the gap to 6-4 with none out.
"With a little good fortune, it could have been a different series," Piazza says. "Obviously, it's not. So that's the most frustrating thing of all."
"We should have won the first game, to be honest about it," Wendell says. "We could have won last night too, but we didn't. We can't dwell on any of that stuff...you can't change any of that stuff."
The only stuff the Mets can control begins tonight in Game Three. Hernandez is one of the greatest postseason pitchers ever (he's won all eight of his decisions and the Yankees are 10-0 in his starts) but the Mets have been renowned this postseason for jumping on the opposing pitcher quickly during home games. The Mets scored a total of 10 first inning runs in their first five games at Shea: Two runs in Game Four of the NLDS, one run in Game Three of the NLCS, four runs in Game Four of the NLCS and three runs in Game Five of the NLCS.
And don't forget this unique factoid: In three previous World Series Game Threes, the Mets have hit three leadoff homers. Timo Perez, this means you.
As for the Mets' starting pitcher, Rick Reed isn't exactly chopped liver. He's playoff-tested and had perhaps the best start of his life in Game Three of last year's NLCS, when Reed threw 55 of his first 70 pitches for strikes and allowed just one hit in the first seven innings.
"I've said it before: Reeder, in my eyes, is definitely a big-game pitcher," Wendell says. "He's the guy that you want in the foxhole if you're in a battle. He's the guy I'd want next to me."
And let's not forget this: Numerous Mets attended last night's game between the Jets and the Dolphins in which the Jets trailed by 23 points in the fourth quarter but pulled off the biggest comeback in team history to beat Miami in overtime, 40-37. ABC's Al Michaels compared the Jets to the Miracle Mets, and a dramatic comeback by the Mets in this World Series wouldn't be the first time the fates of the former co-tenants at Shea were intertwined. Remember, the Mets' miracle championship in 1969 occurred nine months after the Jets' miracle Super Bowl win.
The Mets might be down 2-0 in this World Series, but they aren't out. Games Six and Seven are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at Yankee Stadium, and the Mets aren't planning to be anywhere else.
 

 Met his match

Todd Zeile doubled in the tying run and later tallied the go-ahead score.
Orlando Hernandez battled the flu for 134 pitches to set a Yankees World Series record with 12 strikeouts, but his postseason record finally has a blemish. Benny Agbayani's gapper into left field doubled in the winning run in the eighth as the Mets notched a 4-2 victory in Game 3 of the World Series. Hernandez had a record eight consecutive playoff victories.
 

STREAK-BUSTERS: RESILIENT METS SOLVE EL DUQUE

With a swing of the bat, Benny Agbayani ended the winning streaks of Orlando Hernandez and the New York Yankees and got the New York Mets right back in the World Series.
Agbayani's RBI double with one out in the eighth inning scored Todd Zeile with the go-ahead run as the Mets handed Hernandez his first postseason loss and snapped the Yankees' World Series winning streak at 14 games with a thrilling 4-2 triumph in Game Three of the "Subway Series."
With one out in the eighth, Zeile singled past shortstop Derek Jeter and Agbayani lined Hernandez's 134 pitch of the game into the left-center field gap as Zeile scored standing up. Jay Payton followed with an infield hit and pinch-hitter Bubba Trammell lofted a sacrifice fly to center field.
Armando Benitez, who blew a save in Game One, surrendered a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Chuck Knoblauch in the ninth but got pinch-hitter Luis Polonia to fly out. Derek Jeter struck out and David Justice popped out to second base as the Mets drew within 2-1 in the series.
The loss was the Yankees' first since Game Two of the 1996 World Series and ended the postseason winning streak of Hernandez (0-1) at eight games.
"Maybe breaking the streak is something special and we can ride a streak for a while," Mets manager Bobby Valentine said.
New York native John Franco got the win with a scoreless eighth inning. Benitez pick up just his second save in four chances in the 2000 postseason.
Game Four is Wednesday night with the Mets sending Bobby J. Jones to the mound against Denny Neagle.
 

METS FEELING BETTER AFTER BIG WIN

It would have been hard to blame the Mets for thinking it would take a perfect game to beat the Yankees, who entered Game Three of the World Series Tuesday night in the midst of a 14-game Fall Classic winning streak which has spanned four Octobers. But the Mets didn't play a perfect game in their 4-2 win over the Yankees which narrowed the Bombers' lead in this World Series to two games to one--just a perfect Mets game.
The Mets displayed the traits Tuesday night which allowed them to get to the World Series in the first place: Tough starting pitching, some much-needed and outstanding relief work, solid defense and just enough timely hitting to outscore the other guys.
More importantly, though, the Mets displayed the one characteristic which has made them one of baseball's most compelling teams the past two years: A resiliency, born out of the countless close games they've played the past two years and their recent history of dramatic comebacks, which not only prevents them from becoming overwhelmed in the face of seemingly long odds but also allows them to overcome a seemingly hopeless situation.
"That just says a lot about the caliber of guys that we have," Turk Wendell says. "Baseball is a see-saw game most of the time, a little teeter-totter, and you just hope you're on the upswing when it's all said and done."
And now the Mets may just have tilted this World Series in their favor. Sure, they still trail 2-1 with the effective Denny Neagle on the hill for the Yanks tonight, but the Mets accomplished a whole lot last night alone. Not only did they end the Yankees' four-year World Series winning streak, they also ended the perfect postseason run of Bombers starter Orlando Hernandez, who was 8-0 in the playoffs entering the game.
Just as importantly, the Mets stood toe-to-toe with the Yankees so long last night that the breaks which normally go the Yankees' way started going the Mets' way. Todd Zeile started the Mets' winning rally in the eighth with a one-out single which bounced over the glove of Derek Jeter. Later in the inning, Jay Payton beat out an infield single to send Joe McEwing to third, a play which would become doubly important moments later when McEwing scored an insurance run on Bubba Trammell's sacrifice fly.
"It's nice to get [breaks], but I don't think you can count on that stuff," says Robin Ventura, who homered in the second to give the Mets a 1-0 lead and got a break of his own in the fourth inning when his grounder to Tino Martinez took a wicked bounce and resulted in a double. "But it's nice to see it happen."
The relentless Hernandez did his best to break the Mets Tuesday night. The Mets put baserunners on in six of Hernandez' eight innings, but Hernandez battled out of jam after jam and ended up with 12 strikeouts, the highest single-game World Series total in Yankees history.
The most frustrating near-miss for the Mets occurred in the sixth, when they loaded the bases with none out, a run already in and the game tied 2-2. But Hernandez got out of the inning by striking out Jay Payton and Mike Bordick and by inducing Darryl Hamilton into a forceout.
"He really did a good job to get out of that sixth inning," Ventura says. "And we were just tied, so he looked pretty good."
But Mets starter Rick Reed, the polar opposite of Hernandez in almost every way, gave the Mets a chance to win. Unlike Hernandez, who arrived on these shores with tons of publicity and a straight-out-of-Hollywood story, Reed scuffled his way through a decade in the minors before he became an anonymous yet valuable member of the Mets rotation in 1997.
And in typical Reed fashion, he wasn't dominant on Tuesday night, but he was good enough to give the Mets a real chance to win. The Yankees nicked him for hits in all but one of his six innings, but Reed struck out eight batters and left six Yankees on base.
"I told the guys inside that Rick Reed did a hell of a job tonight," winning pitcher John Franco says. "He went inning for inning with El Duque. We knew that Rick Reed was capable of pitching a game like that. He kept us in the game, gave our guys a chance to score runs. That's all we ask of him."
"He's a quality pitcher that in my eyes is definitely a big-game pitcher," Wendell says. "And I'm just glad to be a friend of his and a teammate of his. To watch him work is masterful."
And in typical Mets fashion, they derived some positives from their difficulties against Hernandez. The Mets took Hernandez deep into the count on numerous occasions, most notably in the fifth, when Timo Perez worked out a nine-pitch walk three batters after Payton had fouled off five consecutive pitches before he popped out to Jorge Posada, and in the sixth, when Agbayani worked out a seven-pitch walk to load the bases.
None of those at-bats led to immediate runs, but there's little doubt the Mets' tenacity in those situations contributed mightily to their winning two-run rally in the eighth. After Zeile's single, Agbayani doubled to score Zeile and Payton followed with his infield single.
"We were just trying to capitalize on opportunities, we missed a few opportunities there earlier in the game," Payton says. "And we came [to the plate] in that bottom of the eighth inning and we just felt like we were going to be able to push one across the plate."
"You gotta give our guys some big-time credit, they kept battling, they kept battling," Todd Pratt says. "We couldn't lay down after he got out of it with the bases loaded and none outs. We kept battling and got some clutch hits by Zeile and Benny."
Maintaining such a resiliency might sound easy, but just ask the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres how tough it is to remain upbeat against a Yankees team which always seems to do the right thing at just the right time in the World Series. It can be a frustrating proposition and the easiest thing to do is to try and hit five-run homers, which of course plays right into the Yankees' hands and creates even more opportunities for the Bombers to bury their opponent.
But the Mets resisted the urge to panic, even though Pratt says the club realized Game Three "...was almost a must-win--it wasn't an elimination game, but it was as close as you can get. With a team that's won 14 World Series games in a row, if we lose tonight, we'd still have confidence, but it would almost be a Mt. Everest."
The Mets are still climbing a mountain, but after playing a perfect Mets game seasoned with a few breaks no Yankee World Series opponent seemed to get the pst four years, it looks a little less daunting today. "This is the way we've been doing it all year," Payton says. "We don't like doing it this way, of course, we'd like to get that big hit to put us up three or four runs. But this is the way we do it and as long as we come out with a win, you know, it doesn't really matter."
Payton grins. "We can afford a few more gray hairs--we'll take them," he says as he points to his prematurely graying scalp. Gray hair in exchange for World Series wins? It sounded like a perfect deal on a night in which the Mets played their version of a perfect game.
 

PIAZZA GOES DEEP, BUT YANKS TAKE GAME FOUR

Mike Piazza slugged a two-run homer for the New York Mets Wednesday night, but the Amazin's came up a run short as the New York Yankees defeated the Mets 3-2 in Game 4 of the 2000 World Series at Shea Stadium.
After Piazza's long ball, there was no more scoring as both managers made early moves to their respective bullpens, which closed the door to any more runs.
Yankees starter Denny Neagle was pulled after 4 2-3 innings, with David Cone coming in to retire Piazza on a popup to end the fifth. In his first at bat, prior to blasting his second homerun of this World Series, Piazza hammered a ball deep into the left-field stands, only a few sections foul.
Reliever Jeff Nelson pitched 1 1-3 innings and was credited with the win, Mike Stanton struck out the only two batters he faced and Mariano Rivera pitched two innings for his first save of the series.
Losing pitcher Bobby J. Jones was lifted after five innings. Relievers Glendon Rusch, John Franco and Armando Benitez kept the Yankees from breaking away.
The Yankees scored single runs in each of the first three innings. They did it without a contribution from cleanup man Bernie Williams, who was hitless in four at-bats and dropped to 0-for-15 in the Series.
Playing on the 14th anniversary of one of their most famous games -- the Bill Buckner-assisted comeback in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series -- the Mets had no luck from the start.
Derek Jeter stepped in and, with many fans still getting settled, launched a drive to deep left for a solo homer on Jones' first pitch.
In the second, Paul O'Neill tripled and scored on Scott Brosius' sacrifice fly.
The Yankees made it 3-0 in the third. Jeter led off with a triple, giving him eight hits in this Series, and trotted home as Luis Sojo grounded out to deep second.
Mets fans did not seem daunted, probably figuring their team would have a chance to get back into the game against Neagle.
They were right. Timo Perez opened the third with a single up the middle and Piazza lined a 75 mph changeup into the bleachers in left-center field.
Piazza's second two-run homer of the Series also marked his fourth home run of this postseason -- a lot of production from the All-Star catcher who went into this October batting only .211 (12-for-57) with two homers in past postseasons.
 

N.L. CHAMPS COME UP SHORT IN FALL CLASSIC

After a superb pitching performance, Luis Sojo broke Al Leiter's heart with a two-out RBI single in the top of the ninth inning as the Yankees won their third straight World Series title and fourth in five years by edging the New York Mets, 4-2, in Game Five of the "Subway Series."
Leiter struck out the first two batters in the ninth but walked Jorge Posada in a nine pitch at-bat. Scott Brosius singled to left and Sojo, who was inserted for defense in the eighth, grounded a single up the middle.
Center fielder Jay Payton fired a strike to the plate but the ball hit Posada in the thigh and rolled away from catcher Mike Piazza and into the Mets' dugout, allowing Brosius to score.
After John Franco got pinch-hitter Glenallen Hill to end the ninth, Mariano Rivera struck out pinch-hitter Darryl Hamilton. Benny Agbayani walked, but Edgardo Alfonzo, who was 3-for-21 in the series, flied weakly to right field. That brought Piazza to the plate and the Mets' slugger launched a line drive to deep center field that was run down by Bernie Williams.
It was a brutal loss for Leiter (0-1), who threw 142 pitches in an attempt to force a sixth game at Yankee Stadium. The veteran leftthander, who has not won a postseason game since 1993, allowed four runs -- three earned -- and seven hits.
The Yankees opened the scoring in the second inning when Williams ended an 0-for-22 drought in World Series play with a long homer to left field. It was Williams ninth hit in 69 at-bats in the "Fall Classic."
But the Mets scored twice in the bottom of the second. Bubba Trammell walked with one out and Payton dropped a single into right-center field. A squib to shortstop by Kurt Abbott moved both runners into scoring position and Leiter, who had just three hits in 58 at-bats during the regular season, pushed a bunt toward Martinez. The Yankees first baseman double-clutched before tossing to Pettitte, who failed to catch the ball as Leiter crossed the bag.
Agbayani hit Pettitte's next pitch slowly down the third base line and Brosius tried to barehand the ball. But it bounced by the Yankees third baseman, allowing Payton to score. With a chance to break open the game, Alfonzo popped to second base.
Both pitchers settled in and the game remained 2-1 into the sixth, when Jeter smacked a 2-0 pitch to the back of the visitors' bullpen in left field to knot it. It was Jeter's second homer in as many days and extended his World Series hitting streak to 14 games, three shy of former Yankee Hank Bauer's record.
The Mets threatened against Pettitte in the bottom of the sixth. Payton singled with one out and Abbott, who walked on nine pitches in his previous at-bat, singled to center field on Pettitte's seventh offering. Leiter bunted the runners over, but Agbayani, who had been 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position in the postseason, grounded weakly to shortstop.
Alfonzo led off the seventh with a single, just his second hit in 20 career at-bats against Pettitte. But Piazza flied to center and Todd Zeile and Robin Ventura struck out swinging.
Yankees starter Andy Pettitte gave up two unearned runs and eight hits over seven innings. He walked three and struck out five before giving way to Mike Stanton (2-0).