Marlins Win on a Rocket

Baseball does not permit you to choose heroes in advance. History is made in October, and the protagonists are wonderfully unpredictable.

Roger Clemens and Carl Pavano were the stars of Game 4 of the World Series on Wednesday, and the afterthoughts. The Florida Marlins roared back from the brink of elimination behind Alex Gonzalez and Braden Looper, the shortstop who appeared clueless at bat and the pitcher displaced from his closer role.

Gonzalez stunned the New York Yankees, hitting a 12th-inning walk-off home run that delivered a 4-3 victory to the Marlins and drove a crowd of 65,934 into delirium. After closer Ugueth Urbina coughed up a 3-1 lead in the ninth inning, former closer Looper inherited and cleaned up a bases-loaded mess in the 11th and earned the victory.

“Tell you what,” Looper said, “it’s the most exciting time I’ve ever had in baseball.”

Clemens sparkled in the final scheduled start of his distinguished career, one that the Marlins ensured would extend to a return engagement at Yankee Stadium this weekend. Florida tied the series at two games apiece and turned it into a best-of-three -- and Clemens might pitch again, because New York Manager Joe Torre said he would be available in relief for a possible Game 7.

The Yankees had setup men available when they turned to Jeff Weaver, whom they had banished to the bullpen and designated for emergency use only. Weaver had not pitched in postseason play and had not appeared since Sept. 24.

Gonzalez led off the 12th, the closest thing to a pushover the Marlins could offer without using a pitcher at bat. As he stepped to the plate, his postseason batting average was .094, with one walk and 15 strikeouts in 53 at-bats.

He took a strike, two balls, another strike, then ball three. He fouled off two pitches. Then he turned on a fastball from Weaver, launching a line drive down the left-field line. He thought the ball would hit the wall, he said, until first base coach Perry Hill told him the ball had cleared it.

“I jump,” Gonzalez said. “I feel so excited for that, to hit a home run in the World Series.”

Gonzalez raised a fist and kept it aloft as he circled the bases. The Marlins rushed to home plate to greet him, sprinting in from the bench and bullpen. He tagged home plate, then disappeared into a sea of men in black.

Life isn’t fair and baseball imitates life, and so the fates turned on Pavano. He pitched eight innings, walking none and giving up no extra-base hits. He threw as hard as 94 mph, right up there with the Rocket.

But victory would not be his. Pavano handed a 3-1 lead to Urbina in the ninth inning. With one out, Bernie Williams singled and Hideki Matsui walked. After a ground out, pinch-hitter Ruben Sierra tripled home the tying runs, and the game went into extra innings.

For Clemens, who gave up three runs in the first inning, memories would have to do in place of victory. Only once in major league history has a Hall of Famer made his final start in the World Series -- Sandy Koufax, with the Dodgers in 1966. But no one knew at the time, with an arthritic elbow forcing Koufax to retire that winter.

This time, everyone knew. The Yankees trailed by two runs in the seventh inning, with Clemens due up first in the eighth. He retired the first two batters, and Luis Castillo stepped to the plate.

The crowd, aware the Yankees would bat for him, recorded the moment for posterity, flashes coming from every direction, almost blindingly, turning night into day with each pitch.

Castillo took a ball, fouled off three, took ball two, fouled off two more. He took a called third strike, a fastball at 94 mph.

As Clemens walked off the mound, the crowd rewarded with him a standing ovation, long and loud. He removed his cap and waved it to the crowd, shook hands with teammates and coaches, hugged catcher Jorge Posada. The crowd continued to roar, longer and louder.

“I think we’d all like to be in his body to see what it felt like walking off the mound, maybe for the last time,” Torre said.

Clemens emerged from the dugout and took a curtain call, saluting fans in every direction. As the Florida players stood on the top step of their dugout and applauded, Clemens graciously saluted the opposition too.

“I was very appreciative of that,” Clemens said. “It just kind of hits you a little bit, everything that’s happened over you career.”

Legends do not grace the stage daily. Clemens failed to become the first 300-game winner to earn a World Series victory since Grover Cleveland Alexander in 1926. Only one other 300-game winner appeared in the Series between then and now -- Steve Carlton, in 1983.

In the first inning of his final start, Clemens gave up a home run to Miguel Cabrera. When Clemens made his major league debut on May 15, 1984, Cabrera was a Venezuelan infant, 12 months and 27 days old.

Derrek Lee added an RBI single, and Clemens appeared to be in for a struggle.

The Marlins did not score again, until their good-field, no-hit shortstop delivered the biggest hit of an amazing season, at 12:28 a.m. A long evening had turned into morning once again, a new dawn for the Marlins.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Dramatic Blasts

Players who have hit home runs to end World Series games

*--* Player Team Opponent (Pitcher) Year Game Inn. Score ALEX Florida N.Y. Yankees (Jeff 2003 Game 4 12th 4-3 GONZALEZ Weaver) DEREK N.Y. Yankees Arizona (Byung-Hyun Kim) 2001 Game 4 10th 4-3 JETER CHAD N.Y. Yankees Atlanta (Mike Remlinger) 1999 Game 3 10th 6-5 CURTIS *JOE Toronto Philadelphia (Mitch 1993 Game 6 9th 8-6 CARTER Williams) KIRBY Minnesota Atlanta (Charlie 1991 Game 6 11th 4-3 PUCKETT Leibrandt) MARK Oakland Dodgers (Jay Howell) 1988 Game 3 9th 2-1 McGWIRE KIRK Dodgers Oakland (Dennis 1988 Game 1 9th 5-4 GIBSON Eckersley) CARLTON Boston Cincinnati (Pat Darcy) 1975 Game 6 12th 7-6 FISK MICKEY N.Y. Yankees St. Louis (Barney 1964 Game 3 9th 2-1 MANTLE Schultz) *BILL Pittsburgh N.Y. Yankees (Ralph 1960 Game 7 9th 10-9 MAZEROSKI Terry) EDDIE Milwaukee N.Y. Yankees (Bob Grim) 1957 Game 4 10th 7-5 MATHEWS DUSTY N.Y. Giants Cleveland (Bob Lemon) 1954 Game 1 10th 5-2 RHODES TOMMY N.Y. Yankees Brooklyn (Don Newcombe) 1949 Game 1 9th 1-0 HENRICH

*--*

*Home run ended World Series

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PLAY BY PLAY

FIRST INNING

* Yankees: Carl Pavano pitching. Alfonso Soriano singled to center. Derek Jeter grounded into a double play, second to short to first. Jason Giambi flied to center. No runs, no hits.

* Marlins: Roger Clemens pitching. Juan Pierre grounded to second. Luis Castillo grounded to short. Ivan Rodriguez singled to right. Miguel Cabrera homered to right, his first. Jeff Conine singled to left. Mike Lowell singled to right, Conine taking third. Derrek Lee singled to left, Conine scoring with Lowell stopping at second. Alex Gonzalez flied to right. Three runs, five hits, two left. Marlins 3, Yankees 0.

SECOND INNING

* Yankees: Bernie Williams singled to left. Hideki Matsui singled to left, Williams stopping at second. Jorge Posada singled off pitcher Pavano’s glove, loading the bases. Karim Garcia struck out swinging. Aaron Boone flied to center, Williams scoring with Matsui taking third and Posada third. Clemens grounded to first. One run, three hits, two left. Marlins 3, Yankees 1.

* Marlins: Pavano grounded to first. Pierre grounded to short. Castillo struck out looking. No runs, no hits. Marlins 3, Yankees 1.

THIRD INNING

* Yankees: Soriano flied to center. Jeter grounded to third. Giambi singled to right. Williams singled to right, Giambi stopping at second. Matsui flied to left. No runs, two hits, two left. Marlins 3, Yankees 1.

* Marlins: Rodriguez grounded to short. Cabrera grounded to short. Conine singled to right. Lowell lined to second. No runs, one hit, one left. Marlins 3, Yankees 1.

FOURTH INNING

* Yankees: Posada grounded to second. Garcia grounded to second. Boone flied to center. No runs, no hits. Marlins 3, Yankees 1.

* Marlins: Lee singled to center. Gonzalez struck out looking. Pavano sacrificed. Pierre grounded to second. No runs, one hit, one left. Marlins 3, Yankees 1.

FIFTH INNING

* Yankees: Clemens singled to left-center. Soriano struck out swinging. Jeter grounded into a double play, second to short to first. No runs, one hit. Marlins 3, Yankees 1.

* Marlins: Castillo grounded to the pitcher. Rodriguez doubled to right-center. Cabrera grounded to short. Conine flied to center. No runs, one hit, one left. Marlins 3, Yankees 1.

SIXTH INNING

* Yankees: Giambi fouled to left. Williams flied to center. Matsui flied to center. No runs, no hits. Marlins 3, Yankees 1.

* Marlins: Lowell flied to center. Lee grounded to third. Gonzalez struck out swinging. No runs, no hits. Marlins 3, Yankees 1.

SEVENTH INNING

* Yankees: Posada struck out looking. Garcia grounded to first. Boone grounded to third. No runs, no hits. Marlins 3, Yankees 1.

* Marlins: Pavano struck out swinging. Pierre flied to left. Castillo struck out looking. No runs, no hits. Marlins 3, Yankees 1.

EIGHTH INNING

* Yankees: Nick Johnson, batting for Clemens, grounded to second. Soriano flied to center. Jeter struck out looking. No runs, no hits. Marlins 3, Yankees 1.

* Marlins: Jeff Nelson pitching. Rodriguez grounded to second. Cabrera struck out swinging. Conine singled to right. Lowell flied to left. No runs, one hit, one left. Marlins 3, Yankees 1.

NINTH INNING

* Yankees: Ugueth Urbina pitching. Giambi flied to left. Williams singled to center. Matsui walked. Posada forced Matsui, Williams taking third. David Dellucci ran for Posada. Ruben Sierra, batting for Garcia, tripled to right, Williams and Dellucci scoring. Boone grounded to short. Two runs, two hits, one left. Yankees 3, Marlins 3.

* Marlins: Jose Contreras pitching, John Flaherty at catcher, Dellucci in right. Lee struck out swinging. Gonzalez flied to center. Todd Hollandsworth, batting for Urbina, struck out swinging. No runs, no hits. Yankees 3, Marlins 3.

10TH INNING

* Yankees: Chad Fox pitching. Flaherty flied to center. Soriano struck out swinging. Jeter doubled to right. Giambi struck out swinging. No runs, one hit, one left. Yankees 3, Marlins 3.

* Marlins: Pierre walked. Castillo sacrificed. Rodriguez struck out swinging. Cabrera struck out swinging. No runs, no hits, one left. Yankees 3, Marlins 3.

11TH INNING

* Yankees: Williams doubled to right. Matsui walked. Dellucci sacrificed. Juan Rivera, batting for Contreras, was walked intentionally, loading the bases. Braden Looper replaced Fox, Juan Encarnacion to right. Boone struck out swinging. Flaherty popped to third. No runs, one hit, three left. Yankees 3, Marlins 3.

* Marlins: Jeff Weaver pitching. Conine flied to center. Lowell popped to the pitcher. Lee grounded to short. No runs, no hits. Yankees 3, Marlins 3.

12TH INNING

* Yankees: Soriano grounded to first. Jeter popped to second. Giambi singled to right. Williams grounded to second. No runs, one hit, one left. Yankees 3, Marlins 3.

* Marlins: Gonzalez homered to left, his first. One run, one hit. Marlins 4, Yankees 3.