Yankees Let Mariners Step on Their Breaks

Yankee mystique? This was a Yankee mistake. The team that has performed like clockwork in October, the one that wills its way to autumn victories while others wilt, went haywire Saturday, and the Seattle Mariners pounced on the opportunity, turning normally raucous Yankee Stadium into the Bronx Public Library.

Fueled by a breakout night from their slumping offense and aided by two New York errors and one rare pinstriped stroke of misfortune, the Mariners shredded the Yankees, 14-3, in Game 3 of the American League championship series before 56,517 fans, most of whom left long before the final out was recorded.

The Mariners pulled to within 2-1 in the best-of-seven series and kept alive Manager Lou Piniella’s prediction after the Game 2 loss that the series would return to Seattle for Game 6.

Mariner second baseman Bret Boone, fighting a four-for-30 postseason slide, hit a bloop two-run single to tie the score in the fifth inning and capped a seven-run sixth with a mammoth two-run home run, as Seattle set an ALCS record for runs in a game and tied the ALCS record for runs in an inning.

Boone had an RBI single in the seventh, matching an ALCS record with five RBIs, John Olerud broke a 2-2 tie with a home run to lead off the sixth, and Mark McLemore keyed the sixth-inning rally with a three-run triple, sending the Yankees to their most lopsided playoff loss since a 13-1 defeat at the hands of the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of the 1999 ALCS.

Left-hander Jamie Moyer, who beat Cleveland twice in the division series, limited the Yankees to two runs and four hits, including Bernie Williams’ two-run homer in the first, in seven innings. Seattle is 6-1 in Yankee Stadium this season.

“But by no means by winning the game, 14-3, do we think we have a big edge [today],” Boone said after the Mariners, who went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position in the first two games, went seven for 18 Saturday. “These guys have been the epitome of what the postseason is about. We know they’re going to shake this off and be ready for us tomorrow.”

So much to shake, so little time.

Yankee reliever Mike Stanton made an error in the sixth, throwing wildly to third on Dan Wilson’s sacrifice attempt and opening the door for a Mariner rally, and reliever Mark Wohlers threw a potential double-play ball into center field during a two-run seventh.

But the most critical play came in the fifth, when the ground caused Yankee left fielder Chuck Knoblauch to fumble. Williams’ homer had given New York a 2-0 cushion, and Yankee starter Orlando Hernandez was frustrating the Mariners with his off-speed pitches and breaking balls.

But after Tom Lampkin’s single and David Bell’s fielder’s choice, Hernandez walked Ichiro Suzuki and McLemore to load the bases with two out. Boone, who popped out on the first pitch in his first two at-bats and was so frustrated he was cursing himself on the field and in the dugout, followed with a jam-shot to shallow left.

Knoblauch raced in and dived, and you knew what the Mariners were thinking. Everything goes right for the Yankees in the playoffs, whether it’s a critical pitch, clutch hit or a break that goes their way, so Knoblauch would make the catch and stifle the Mariners.

But when Knoblauch hit the ground and the ball squirted out of his glove, letting two runs score for a 2-2 tie, it was as if all of the tension and frustration from Seattle’s failure to hit in the clutch for 21/2 games was released.

“Knoblauch made a great play, and I was just thinking, ‘Man, that’s another break we missed,”’ Seattle designated hitter Edgar Martinez said. “Then the ball came out of his glove and it was a relief.”

Olerud led off the sixth with a home run off the right-field foul pole, giving the Mariners their first lead of the series, 3-2. Stan Javier, who robbed Alfonso Soriano of a homer with a leaping grab at the left-field wall in the third, singled to center, Mike Cameron walked, and Yankee Manager Joe Torre summoned Stanton to face left-handed-hitting Lampkin, who started in place of regular catcher Wilson. Piniella countered with Wilson, who dropped a bunt toward third.

Stanton got to the ball quickly and had time to force Javier at third, but he rushed his throw, pushing it wide of third baseman Scott Brosius and into foul territory, letting Javier score for a 4-2 lead as the runners advanced to second and third. Bell flied to shallow right, the runners holding.

Torre opted to intentionally walk Suzuki to load the bases for McLemore, a strategy that worked in the seventh inning of Game 2, when McLemore grounded to first to end the inning. This time, McLemore made the Yankees pay, tearing into Stanton’s first pitch and sending it to the gap in left-center for a three-run triple and a 7-2 lead. Boone then greeted Wohlers with a towering shot to center, a two-run homer that made it 9-2.

“I just gave that game to them; there’s no excuse for not making that play,” Stanton said. “I rushed it. Had I made a good throw, he’s out. It’s not about giving up runs, it’s about letting the team down. ... But as a reliever, you have to learn to put the bad behind you, just like you have to put the good behind you.”

The Yankees just wanted to put the whole debacle behind them. Starters Knoblauch, Brosius, Tino Martinez, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada were showered and gone before the media was allowed in the Yankee clubhouse. The Mariners, on the other hand, lingered long after the victory, soaking up a series that feels much different going into Game 4 today.

“A little two-out bloop hit started it all,” Cameron said. “That definitely changed the game. I don’t know if it changed the series, but it’s good to get back on the right track.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

On the Run

Teams that have scored 10 or more runs in an American League championship series game:

*--*

Year Team Runs Opponent 2001 Seattle 14 NY Yankees 1999 Boston 13 NY Yankees 1981 NY Yankees 13 Oakland 1983 Baltimore 11 Ch. White Sox 1970 Baltimore 11 Minnesota 1969 Baltimore 11 Minnesota 1988 Oakland 10 Boston 1986 Boston 10 Angels 1978 Kansas City 10 NY Yankees

*--*

Source: Times Wire Services