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Look back at: Divisional Playoffs |
League Championship
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Thursday, October 26
Question of the game: Game 4
ESPN.com
How can the Mets come back from their 3-1 deficit?
Peter Gammons
This is the way the Mets look at it: Al Leiter should win Game 5, and they are sure Mike Hampton will beat Roger Clemens in Game 6. If they can get into a seventh game, it will be tough to beat El Duque, but they will just need to go for it. The Mets are a funny team. They don't worry too much. They are not cocky, but they are sure of themselves. Robin Ventura is the leader of this team, and he's been through so much. I know he thinks they can ride Leiter on Thursday. He pitched great in Game 1 when he was ahead 3-2 and did his job. The Mets can win three in a row against the Yankees.
Buck Martinez
It all starts with Game 5. They need a good start from Al Leiter, and he's already proven in Game 1 that he is very capable. The Mets would much rather be 2-2, but Leiter can shut down the Yankees. The Mets also understand that they have to come up with a good offense to support Leiter or the Series will be over.
Dave Campbell
Obviously, they have to win Game 5 first. The Mets must have the same approach the Yankees do, and that's play every inning, every at-bat and every pitch like it's their last. They have to totally focus. It would help if they got somebody on base at the top of their order. They are 4-for-33 with Timo Perez, Kurt Abbott and Edgardo Alfonzo hitting in the 1-2 hole. That's not setting the table for Mike Piazza, Todd Zeile and Robin Ventura and makes it tough to score runs.
They have received some production from the bottom of the order, but Jay Payton's three-run homer came in a game when they were down 6-2, and they haven't gotten anything out of Mike Bordick yet. The biggest key is that Leiter has to pitch great and they have to find a way to get the first two runners on.
Tim Kurkjian
The Mets have to start swinging the bats a little bit better than they have. We know they don't have a great lineup. We know they win with their pitching and because they play the game right. But they didn't get a runner to second base after the third inning in Game 4. That's not good enough against a Yankees team that has good starting pitching and great relief pitching.
They know how good Mariano Rivera is. The Mets pitching has been good enough to win, but offensively some days they are a limited team. The only way they can beat the Yankees now is to outslug them at least once. The Mets are in a decent spot with Al Leiter and Mike Hampton, their two best pitchers, coming up. They have a chance to extend the Series, but they will have a hard time going very far until they start to score a few more runs.
ESPN analysts will provide their answers to a key question each day of the World Series.
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