Road Tested

It took an inning for Jaret Wright to gain control of his nerves Thursday night, after which he took control of the New York Yankees.

The 21-year-old rookie from Anaheim provided the foundation as the Cleveland Indians rallied for a 7-5 victory that tied the American League’s best-of-five division series at a game apiece.

Orel Hershiser couldn’t hold a 5-0 lead as the Yankees rallied to win Game 1, and Andy Pettitte couldn’t hold a 3-0 lead as the Indians scored seven runs--all with two outs--in the fourth and fifth innings of Game 2.

A suddenly flammable Cleveland bullpen provided a harrowing finish, but the Indians are alive again, with the next three games scheduled for Jacobs Field, and the Yankees facing the possibility that David Cone will be unable to start Game 4 after experiencing renewed shoulder pain throwing on the side Thursday night.

A Yankee Stadium crowd of 57,360 saw Wright, the youngest pitcher to start an AL division series game, permit three walks and three runs in the first, then battle back to pitch five shutout innings.

It was enough to make Daddy proud--and did.

Sitting with wife Vicki behind home plate, Clyde Wright, a winner of 100 games in the majors, including 22 with the Angels in 1970, said: “I’m prejudiced, but on the other hand I have a pretty good idea what’s going on, and I have to say the boy really amazed me.

“I mean, to have the composure to stay on top of the situation at 21 . . . I know I couldn’t have done it.

“I was always scared to death pitching here. I’d have rather been in a ring with 15 pit bulls and no clothes on.”

The senior Wright laughed, adding he knew his son was nervous getting on the team bus because there wasn’t much dialogue.

“He was in a zone,” Clyde said. “I was just hoping he didn’t embarrass himself in the first inning and could take it from there.”

Wright got Tim Raines, the leadoff man, on an infield grounder, but then walked Derek Jeter, Paul O’Neill and Bernie Williams to load the bases.

Tino Martinez slashed a two-run double, and Charlie Hayes hit a sacrifice fly before Chad Curtis grounded out.

Three runs. The last hurrah against Wright, who gave up a total of three hits, struck out five, walked only one (intentionally) after the first and finished with a flourish. He struck out the side in the sixth--his 100th and last pitch measured by speed guns at 99 mph, fanning Curtis.

Reflecting later on the high-decibel environment and pressure of that first inning, Wright said: “It was a situation I’ve never been in before and couldn’t prepare for. There’s no feeling like it. It feels like the fans are right in your ear, right on top of you. It was hard to stay focused.”

Manager Mike Hargrove went to Wright after the inning and said, “What’s gone is gone. Just be yourself, pitch your game.”

Said Wright: “I basically threw up a big wall. It’s what you’ve got to do. Just think of you and the catcher. When we took the lead it was a second chance. I knew I had to shut the door.”

Counting this victory, Wright is 9-3 since his recall and 8-0 in 12 starts after Cleveland has lost.

The Indians appeared headed for the postseason precipice as 18-game winner Pettitte worked three easy innings and had two outs with a runner at third in the fourth when a walk to Matt Williams was followed by four hits for a 5-3 Cleveland lead. David Justice, Sandy Alomar Jr. and Jim Thome singled, and Tony Fernandez ripped a line drive that Curtis misjudged in left. The ball carried over his head for a two-run double.

Pettitte, who was also bombed by the Indians in his only regular-season start against them this year, then had two outs in the fifth when Williams slugged a two-run homer into the Yankee bullpen in left-center, making the score 7-3 and ultimately proving decisive.

“You ought to be able to get an out when you need an out,” Pettitte said of his two-out problems. “I gave up a two-strike hit to Justice and a two-strike hit to Fernandez. I was deep in the count with almost every hitter in those two innings and I may have been trying to make perfect pitches and left them in the middle of the plate instead.”

Mike Jackson replaced Wright but needed seventh-inning help from Paul Assenmacher, who needed eighth-inning help from Jose Mesa.

The Yankees scored once in the eighth and got a leadoff homer by Jeter in the ninth, but Mesa got the final three outs to preserve Wright’s win.

Said Hargrove, of the rookie pitcher who started the season in double A: “I compare him to a young Roger Clemens in his poise and composure and the positive image he projects. He’s going to be something special.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

ASTRONOMICAL ODDS

If the Houston Astros can sweep a team that has won 103 games, their season can continue. C13

TODAY’S GAMES

ATLANTA at HOUSTON

* Pitchers: Atlanta’s John Smoltz (15-12) vs. Houston’s Shane Reynolds (9-10)

* Time: 1 p.m.

* TV: ESPN

FLORIDA at SAN FRANCISCO

* Pitchers: Florida’s Alex Fernandez (17-12) vs. San Francisco’s Wilson Alvarez (4-3).

* Time: 5 p.m.

* TV: Channel 4