Drama Begins

Awakening echoes of more-renowned Bronx Bombers, the New York Yankees defeated the Cleveland Indians, 8-6, Tuesday night.

They did it by rallying from a 5-0 first-inning deficit against Orel Hershiser--one of the most successful postseason pitchers in history.

They did it by establishing postseason history.

Tim Raines, Derek Jeter and Paul O’Neill hammered consecutive home runs in the decisive sixth inning, a postseason first.

The two-run homer by Raines tied the score, 6-6, and the solo shots by Jeter and O’Neill provided the margin of difference.

Call it an exhilarating victory for the Yankees and a disheartening loss for the Indians, who must rely on 21-year-old rookie Jaret Wright to get them even in Thursday night’s Game 2 of the best-of-five divisional series.

“It’s too soon to assess the emotional impact,” Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove said after his team failed to hold the lead, which was 6-3 entering the sixth.

“Any time we score six runs, we should win, but our pitchers just didn’t perform up to their capability tonight,” Hargrove said.

Too soon to assess the impact?

Not for a delighted and delirious crowd of 57,398, the largest in the 22-year history of the remodeled Yankee Stadium.

Not for David Cone, who gave up those five runs in the first.

“You get a five-run lead with Orel pitching . . . well, that’s got to be a tough loss for them,” Cone said.

“It’s definitely a huge lift for us, and I feel like the luckiest guy in the clubhouse.

“Rather than have to explain a loss, I get to explain a bad performance but a win.”

A bad performance, Cone explained, that did not stem from the shoulder tendinitis that sidelined him for a month and limited him to one five-inning start after coming off the disabled list Sept. 20.

“It was not the product of stiffness or an injury,” Cone said of the five-run first. “It was the product of bad pitching. I felt great, but I just couldn’t spot my pitches.”

He made 31 of them in that inning. A three-run homer by Sandy Alomar was the big blow.

Cone ultimately left after the Indians scored a sixth run on a triple by Marquis Grissom and single by Bip Roberts in the fourth, his legacy being six runs and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings.

He is still scheduled to start Game 4, but after this one the Indians may not survive until then.

Yankee Manager Joe Torre was asked what he was thinking when quickly down 5-0 with Hershiser and his 8-1 postseason record on the mound.

“I was thinking we had a long way to go and that we’ve been down so many times in the last couple years that I knew we weren’t going to roll over,” Torre said. “I knew that if we could chip away we still had a chance, and we did do some chipping.”

Two Hershiser walks and a single by Tino Martinez produced a run in the second, and Martinez hit a solo homer in the fourth. Three more hits led to a third run in the fifth.

There were two on and one out in that inning when Hershiser departed.

“He had hung two breaking balls to get in the trouble he was in, and I wanted to stop the bleeding,” Hargrove said of the decision to bring in Eric Plunk.

Hershiser didn’t argue.

“I’m a location pitcher, and I was having trouble finding the right location,” he said. “Our bullpen has been a strength.”

Plunk showed why.

He walked O’Neill to load the bases but got Bernie Williams on a popup and struck out Martinez on a full-count changeup, protecting the 6-3 lead--temporarily.

Singles by Wade Boggs and Rey Sanchez cut the Yankee deficit to 6-4 with two out in the sixth. Then Raines homered to right to tie it. Then Jeter then homered to left to untie it.

Then left-hander Paul Assenmacher replaced the stunned Plunk and was drilled for a two-strike homer to dead center by O’Neill, who had been three for 22 with nine strikeouts against Assenmacher in his career.

O’Neill shook his head later and said:

“I’m down 0 and 2 to Paul Assenmacher and I’m not thinking of history or even aware of it. I was just trying to make contact.

“I mean, the guy has been murder on me my whole career.”

Said Raines, of the three in a row: “I don’t think anyone expected that from the top of the lineup. Maybe the three, four and five hitters, but not the one, two and three. Then again, we’re line-drive hitters, and sometime the line drives go out.”

They carried out the Indians, with Ramiro Mendoza pitching 3 1/3 shutout innings after Cone left, keeping the Yankees within striking distance.

Then came Mike Stanton and Jeff Nelson, before Mariano Rivera, who saved 43 games during the regular season as successor to John Wetteland, ultimately wrapped it up--and maybe the series in the process.