Sports columnists used every adjective in the dictionary to hyperbolize the Arizona Diamondbacks' defeat of the New York Yankees in the first two games of the World Series this weekend - overwhelming, paralyzing, dominating, pulverizing. While the likelihood of Arizona sweeping the series remains slim, these descriptions were well deserved, as the D-Backs pitching was unyielding in the desert heat of Phoenix in Games One and Two this weekend.
On Saturday night, Curt Schilling dominated for seven innings to earn his fourth postseason victory this year. Schilling gave up only three hits while striking out eight, but was lifted by manager Bob Brenly after 102 pitches so that he would have enough energy to pitch later in the series.
The Yankees got on the board in the top of the first when Bernie Williams doubled to drive in Derek Jeter, who had reached base when he was hit by a pitch. Then Schilling caught fire, and New York's offense and defense fell apart. Sloppy fielding and inconsistent Yankee pitching let Arizona score five unearned runs in the 9-1 win, marking only the second time the Yankees have lost in their last 18 World Series games.
The turning point in the game was the third inning, when New York starter Mike Mussina unraveled. With the score tied 1-1, Mussina hit Tony Womack with a pitch and then began giving up hits when he was ahead in the count. Luis Gonzalez blasted a home run to right field to give Arizona the 3-1 edge and spark the Diamondbacks' offense. Arizona added two more runs in the inning and took advantage of a Scott Brosius fielding error in the fourth inning to tack on four more.
The game marked the first time the Yankees played baseball in Arizona since 1951, Mickey Mantle's rookie year, when they held spring training in Phoenix.
The Yankees suffered d?©j? vu in Game 2 on Sunday night. Once again, Arizona's pitching shut down New York's offense. The Yankees pulled out all the tricks - taking time to come into the batters' box, taking pitches, constantly stepping out of the box - but could not break Randy Johnson's concentration. The three-time Cy Young award winner struck out 11 and held the Yankees to three hits in the complete game 4-0 win.
With the win, Johnson is now 3-1 this postseason with a 1.36 ERA, a marked different from the last five years, during which he lost seven straight playoff starts.
Brenly started Danny Bautista in centerfield in place of Steve Finely - a move that paid off in the playoffs against St. Louis and had a similar effect on Sunday night. Bautista drove in the D-Backs' first run with an RBI double in the second. He reached base again on an infield single in the seventh and scored on Matt Williams' three-run home run.
Yankees starter Andy Pettitte gave a decent effort but came nowhere close to matching Johnson. Pettitte held the Diamondbacks to three hits over the first six innings but lost it in the seventh when he surrendered the shot to Williams.
The series now heads to New York, where Game 3 will be played at 8 p.m. tonight. While Arizona has a 2-0 lead, it will still be an uphill battle for the Diamondbacks. Facing a team that is known for thrashing postseason opponents, Arizona had to win at least one game with its two best starters pitching if it had any chance of stopping the Yankees.
The Diamondbacks are known for getting by on the backs of their two aces, and this strategy may not cut it in a series against a team with a pitching rotation almost as deep as its wallet. Arizona will send in second-string starter Brian Anderson, who hasn't started since Sept. 8, to face Roger Clemens. Clemens has five Cy Young awards under his belt and five times more wins than Anderson this year, as the lefty was 4-9 with a 5.20 ERA on the season.
While the Yankees are accustomed to early series leads, they are not incapable of turning the series around. They lost the first two games against Atlanta in 1996 but came back to win the championship, and they rallied against Oakland when down 2-0 in the best-of-five division series this year.
In the best-of-seven series, however, if the Diamondbacks' two All-Star pitchers can each win twice, Arizona will win a championship. Brenly is likely to start Miguel Batista against Orlando Hernandez tomorrow night in Game 4, but regardless of what happens in this game, a well-rested Schilling will be a force to be reckoned with in Game 5. If Arizona can win just one out of three games in New York and return home to put Johnson on the mound in the potential series-winner, the Diamondbacks will be in an enviable position and sports writers might get their first chance in years to come up with witty analyses of a Yankees loss.
