Evening the Scores

The Baltimore Orioles kept the New York Yankees--and, especially, their aggressive fans--at arm’s length Thursday with a collection of bullpen arms that was supposed to be the difference in this American League championship series . . . for the Yankees.

The vaunted Yankee bullpen, a.k.a. John Wetteland and the Untouchables, blinked in Game 2, and an unheralded Oriole bullpen notorious for its late-game collapses subdued two Yankee uprisings to preserve Baltimore’s 5-3 victory before 56,432 in Yankee Stadium.

David Wells pitched a gutty 6 2/3 innings, surviving the Yankees’ two-run first and escaping a runner-on-third, none-out situation in the fifth, to improve his record in Yankee Stadium to 10-1, and Todd Zeile and Rafael Palmeiro each hit two-run home runs to pace the Orioles.

Palmeiro’s blast, against Yankee reliever Jeff Nelson, broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the seventh and helped Baltimore even the best-of-seven series, 1-1. Game 3 is tonight in Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

“We should be going home with a 2-0 lead, but we’ll take a split,” Palmeiro said. “That was the goal coming in. We play well at home, and hopefully our fans will get as excited as Yankee fans were here. They need to make it tough for them.”

The Orioles filed a written protest Thursday, asking the American League to nullify Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter’s eighth-inning, Game 1 home run because of fan interference, but there was no such controversy in Game 2. There was at least one close call, though.

With runners on first and second and one out in the ninth, Oriole reliever Armando Benitez got Cecil Fielder to hit a foul pop behind first base, not far from where 12-year-old Jeffrey Maier, the kid who pulled Jeter’s drive into the bleachers Wednesday night, was sitting.

Palmeiro went to the railing, though, and snatched the ball away from a souvenir-seeking photographer.

“He wasn’t going to get it this time,” Palmeiro said.

Tino Martinez then lifted a routine fly ball to right fielder Tony Tarasco, who thought he was about to catch Jeter’s Game 1 homer before Maier snatched it away at the wall.

Tarasco took one step back, fearing the worst, but then took a few steps in to make the easy, game-ending catch.

“I was prepared to go into the stands fighting,” Tarasco said. “You just never know what’s going to happen next. Just look what’s happening here--a 4-hour, 13-minute game? Like I said, expect the unexpected. I wouldn’t be surprised if every game goes extra innings.”

The sometimes volatile Benitez prevented this one from going extra innings and setting a record for longest nine-inning postseason game in baseball history. That was set in the 1993 World Series, when Toronto beat Philadelphia, 15-14, in 4:14.

Fielder’s ninth-inning at-bat seemed like an eternity. Jeter had singled and Bernie Williams walked against closer Randy Myers, and Manager Davey Johnson summoned Benitez to face Fielder, whose RBI single in the seventh had pulled the Yankees to within 4-3.

Benitez, a right-hander who has been touted as the Orioles’ closer of the future for about two years, only to fall victim to injuries and inconsistency, fell behind, 2-0, before coming back with two strikes.

Then Benitez dropped the macho routine that got him in trouble against Cleveland, when he tried to blow fastballs past Albert Belle, who hit a game-winning grand slam against Benitez in Game 3 of the division series.

Benitez came back with two sliders, which looked more like changeups, and Fielder fouled both off. Fielder then fouled off two more pitches before his popout.

“He didn’t give in to Fielder, and that’s his maturity showing,” Oriole catcher Chris Hoiles said of Benitez. “Instead of throwing all fastballs, he came in with a few sliders, which have a huge speed differential from his fastball. It definitely puts something in the minds of hitters.”

Benitez’s performance followed another strong bullpen outing by left-hander Jesse Orosco, who got Martinez to ground out with runners on first and second to end the seventh. Orosco then pitched a scoreless eighth before giving way to Myers.

“I tell you what, our bullpen isn’t bad at all,” Hoiles said. “It’s very comparable to most teams’ in the league.”

Except New York’s. Yankee relievers had a 4-0 record and an 0.38 earned-run average (one earned run in 23 2/3 innings) in the postseason, but with set-up man Mariano Rivera unavailable because he pitched two innings Wednesday night, the Yankees were suddenly undermanned.

Yankee Manager Joe Torre replaced starter David Cone with Nelson in the seventh inning of a 2-2 game, and Nelson gave up Roberto Alomar’s double to left and Palmeiro’s homer to right, a high fly ball that appeared to get a nice boost from the wind.

“The late-inning strategy doesn’t really change without Mariano, you just plug in a different name,” Torre said. “And tonight it was Jeff Nelson who was going to do the set-up job Mariano has done for us. We just didn’t get the job done.”

With first base open, Nelson said he was simply trying to waste a pitch, perhaps get Palmeiro to swing at a ball out of the strike zone, but he left a slider up and Palmeiro whacked it. Brady Anderson and Zeile each singled in the eighth, and Alomar added a sacrifice fly to give the Orioles a huge insurance run.

“We’re receiving energy from somewhere else,” Tarasco said. “Game 1 was a devastating loss, but we’ve come back with the same bounce we had when the series started.”

ORIOLES 5, YANKEES 3

GAME 2 AT A GLANCE

INNING BY INNING

FIRST INNING

Yankees 2, Orioles 0

Orioles--Anderson struck out. Zeile walked. Alomar flied to center. Palmeiro and Bonilla walked. C.Ripken flied to center. No runs, no hits.

Yankees--Jeter singled to center. Raines singled to center, Jeter stopping at second. Williams singled to right, Jeter scoring, Raines taking third. Fielder grounded into a double play, Raines scoring. Martinez flied to left. Two runs, three hits.

SECOND INNING

Yankees 2, Orioles 0

Orioles--Murray struck out. Surhoff grounded to first. Hoiles grounded to the pitcher. No runs, no hits.

Yankees--Duncan grounded to short. O’Neill singled to center. Hayes struck out. Girardi forced O’Neill. No runs, one hit, one left.

THIRD INNING

Yankees 2, Orioles 2

Orioles--Anderson walked. Zeile homered to left, his first. Alomar flied to right. Palmeiro and Bonilla struck out. Two runs, one hit.

Yankees--Jeter flied to left. Raines flied to right. Williams walked. Fielder flied to right. No runs, no hits, one left.

FOURTH INNING

Yankees 2, Orioles 2

Orioles--C.Ripken singled to left. Murray forced Ripken. Murray took second on Cone’s wild pitch. Surhoff grounded to first, Murray taking third. Hoiles grounded to third. No runs, one hit.

Yankees--Martinez was hit by a pitch. Duncan grounded into a double play. O’Neill walked. Hayes flied to left-center. No runs, no hits, one left.

FIFTH INNING

Orioles 2, Yankees 2

Orioles--Anderson flied to center. Zeile flied to right. Alomar singled to center. Palmeiro grounded to second. No runs, one hit, one left.

Yankees--Girardi tripled to right-center. Jeter struck out. Raines walked. B.Williams struck out. Fielder grounded to second. No runs, one hit, one left.

SIXTH INNING

Orioles 2, Yankees 2

Orioles--Bonilla struck out. C.Ripken singled to right. Murray flied to right. Surhoff singled to center, C.Ripken stopping at second. Hoiles walked. Anderson flied to left. No runs, two hits, three left.

Yankees--Martinez grounded to first, pitcher covering. Duncan hit a ground-rule double to left. O’Neill and Hayes struck out. No runs, one hit, one left.

SEVENTH INNING

Orioles 4, Yankees 3

Orioles--Nelson replaced Cone. Zeile grounded to second. Alomar doubled to left. Palmeiro homered to right, his second. Bonilla struck out. C.Ripken reached first on Duncan’s fielding error. Murray singled to left, Ripken stopping at second. Surhoff forced Murray. Two runs, three hits, one error, two left.

Yankees--Girardi singled to center. Jeter struck out. Raines lined to right. B.Williams singled to left, Girardi stopping at second. Mills replaced Wells. Fielder singled to left, Girardi scoring, B.Williams stopping at second. Orosco replaced Mills. Martinez grounded to second. One run, three hits, two left.

EIGHTH INNING

Orioles 5, Yankees 3

Orioles--Hoiles flied to right. Anderson singled to right-center. Zeile singled to right-center, Anderson taking third. Lloyd replaced Nelson. Alomar flied to right, Anderson scoring, Zeile out at second trying to advance on throw home. One run, two hits.

Yankees--Duncan struck out. Leyritz, batting for O’Neill, grounded to the pitcher. Hayes singled to left. Girardi flied to right. No runs, one hit, one left.

NINTH INNING

Orioles 5, Yankees 3

Orioles--Palmeiro grounded to first. Bonilla struck out. Weathers replaced Lloyd. C.Ripken grounded to short. No runs, no hits.

Yankees--Myers replaced Orosco. Jeter singled to right. Raines struck out. B.Williams walked. Benitez replaced Myers. Fielder fouled to first. Martinez flied to right. No runs, one hit, two left.

SERIES AT A GLANCE * GAME 1--Yankees 5, Orioles 4 (11 innings)

* GAME 2--Orioles 5, Yankees 3

* GAME 3--Today, New York (Key, 12-11) at Baltimore (Mussina, 19-11), 5 p.m.

* GAME 4--Saturday, New York (Rogers, 12-8) at Baltimore (Coppinger, 10-6), 4:30 p.m.

* GAME 5--Sunday, New York at Baltimore, 1 p.m.

* GAME 6--xTuesday, Baltimore at New York, 5 p.m.

* GAME 7--xWednesday, Baltimore at New York, 5 p.m.

x-If necessary.