A’s Play Long Ball and Win

New York owner George Steinbrenner stood in the back of the press box near the end of Wednesday night’s game at Yankee Stadium, fuming over his team’s play in the opener of the division series.

The Oakland Athletics were in the midst of beating the Yankees, 5-3, to snatch home-field advantage in the best-of-five series, and Steinbrenner appeared ready to fire the first employee who caught his eye.

“Who’s their general manager?” he said loudly, referring to Oakland’s Billy Beane. Steinbrenner praised Beane for acquiring outfielders Jermaine Dye and Johnny Damon, suggesting his own general manager was “asleep” when the deals were consummated.

When Bernie Williams grounded into a near double play in the eighth, Steinbrenner cried “Bernie, Bernie, Bernie ...” to no one in particular.

The Yankees are down by only one game, but if Steinbrenner’s reaction is any indication, the series is all but over. Mark Mulder held the Yankees to one run over 62/3 innings, Terrence Long hit a pair of home runs, Jason Giambi homered and drove in a pair while Damon had four hits.

“I still have butterflies,” Damon said. “This is a dream come true, to have a first game like that in Yankee Stadium, where legends are made.”

The Yankees started a legend in Roger Clemens, who was pulled after walking the leadoff hitter in the fifth, giving up two runs on four hits and three walks. The Yankees termed the move “precautionary,” saying Clemens will be re-evaluated today.

“If I don’t have a tear or something extremely bad in it and they’re going to let me go out there, I’m going to go out there and pitch and try to beat somebody,” Clemens said.

The Yankees had won 20 consecutive Clemens starts between May 26 at Cleveland and Sept. 19 at Chicago, but haven’t won in his last four starts. Though the A’s stranded several runners early on to let the Yankees hang around, the 24-year-old Mulder wouldn’t budge, holding them to seven hits while striking out five.

Damon started the game off with an opposite-field single and stole second on Clemens’ first pitch to Miguel Tejada. After Tejada advanced Damon with a grounder to second, Yankee Manager Joe Torre had his first major decision: Walk Jason Giambi or pitch to the reigning MVP? Torre opted for the latter, and Giambi’s sacrifice fly gave the A’s a 1-0 lead.

Clemens looked more like a goalie than a pitcher early on, using his quick reflexes to prevent runs in the second and third. He nearly had his head taken off in the second on a sharp comebacker off the bat of Tejada with the bases loaded, but managed to snag the ball and throw to first to escape the jam. One inning later, Jason Giambi reached on a two-base error in left by Chuck Knoblauch and advanced to third with one out. But Clemens robbed Jeremy Giambi of an RBI single with another catlike reaction on a hard-hit shot up the middle, and got out of the jam.

After a leadoff walk to Jason Giambi in the fifth, an obviously weary Clemens walked off the mound in pain and into the Yankee clubhouse.

The Yankees finally got to Mulder in the fifth on an RBI single by Knoblauch, but it could’ve been worse if not for a controversial call at the top of the inning. David Justice led off by dribbling one down the first-base line, appearing to beat it out for an infield hit. But plate umpire Dana DeMuth called Justice out for interference, claiming he ran inside the line.

“That’s the only thing that upset me,” Torre said. “Dana said it was his call, and to me it looked like Justice had already reached the bag and it didn’t matter if he was in the line or not, because you have to get back over on that side to touch the bag.”

Giambi’s solo home run off Sterling Hitchcock in the seventh, a line shot that bounced off the facing of the second deck, gave Mulder a two-run cushion. Long added another solo shot off Hitchcock in the eighth to make it 5-1, before Tino Martinez’s two-run homer in the eighth made it close.

A’s closer Jason Isringhausen shut the door in the ninth, and someone in the Yankee front office was feeling awfully nervous.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

AL PLAYOFFS

Division Series; Best of five

OAKLAND VS. N.Y. YANKEES

Game 1

Oakland 5, New York 3

Game 2--Today

at New York, 5:15 p.m., Channel 11

Starters--Athletic RH Tim Hudson (18-9, 3.37) vs. Yankee LH Andy Pettitte (15-10, 3.99)

*

SEATTLE VS. CLEVELAND

Indians lead series, 1-0

Game 2--Today

at Seattle, 1:20 p.m., Fox Family

Starters--Mariner LH Jamie Moyer (20-6, 3.43) vs. Indian LH Chuck Finley (8-7, 5.54 ERA)