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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) -- It was long. It was wild. And for a while, it
looked like it would never end.
Game 1 of the Subway Series finished just in time for the New
York Yankees and their fans to celebrate over breakfast.
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Game 1 at a glance
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Every game a hero
If you're the Mets, you're worried about Bernie Williams, or David Justice, or Derek Jeter, or Jorge Posada ... but certainly not Jose Vizcaino. Joe Torre put Vizcaino in the starting lineup because of his .526 (10-for-19) lifetime average against Al Leiter -- and what a move it turned out to be. Vizcaino had four hits, including a single that jumpstarted the Yankees' two-run rally in the sixth, a single in the bottom of the ninth and the game-winning single with two outs in the 12th.
Key play
With the game scoreless in the sixth, Todd Zeile hit a two-out drive that glanced off the top of the wall in left and bounced back onto the field. Timo Perez, on first base, wasn't running hard on the play -- thinking it was a home run -- until it was too late. He got thrown out at home, a play that would come back to haunt the Mets.
Key play, part II
OK, there were many key plays, but here's one long forgotten by the 12th. In the top of the ninth, the Mets were up 3-2 and had runners at second and third with one out against Mariano Rivera. But Perez failed to get the run in on an infield grounder and Rivera then retired Edgardo Alfonzo. The Yankees then tied it in the ninth.
Key number
The 12-inning game was the 11th such game in World Series history. Only one game has lasted more innings: a 14-inning affair in 1916 that saw the Boston Red Sox beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 2-1. The winning pitcher in that game? A young left-hander named Babe Ruth. He pitched all 14 innings.
ESPN analysis
The Yankees are happy to have that win, but they still know there is a long ways to go. I just thought the Mets were rusty. They weren't running on balls that were in play. They thought doubles were homers. It's been five days since they last played, and it took them awhile to catch up with Andy Pettitte. They started swinging the bats better in the latter part of the game. I look for them to come out Sunday and give Roger Clemens a good battle in Game 2.
-- Rick Sutcliffe
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Long after Saturday night turned into Sunday morning, Jose
Vizcaino singled home the winning run with two outs in the 12th
inning to give the Yankees a 4-3 win over the Mets and a 1-0 lead
in the World Series of battling boroughs.
The longest World Series game ever -- 4 hours, 51 minutes -- also
marked the Yankees' record 13th straight Series victory, bettering
the streak their Murderers' Row clubs set.
"We came in with very little World Series experience and got a
lot of it in one night," Mets manager Bobby Valentine said.
Vizcaino's first-pitch single off loser Turk Wendell was his
fourth hit of the game and it came at 1:04 a.m. ET as the teams
surpassed the 4:17 that Atlanta and the Yankees took in Game 4 in
1996.
"I'd like to believe we find a way to win," Yankees manager
Joe Torre said.
It's been 44 years since this city had its last Subway Series.
If the opener was any indication of what's to come, New Yorkers may
be talking about this one for quite some time.
A sellout crowd of 55,913 that often chanted and cheered for
both teams at the same time saw the Yankees tie it in the ninth on
Chuck Knoblauch's bases-loaded sacrifice fly off Armando Benitez.
The fans appeared almost too tired to shout at the end,
especially after the Yankees kept missing chances to win it.
"We knew we had to bounce back," Torre said.
Tino Martinez singled with one out in the 12th, Jorge Posada
followed with a double, and an intentional walk to Paul O'Neill
loaded the bases.
After Luis Sojo fouled out, Vizcaino got the crowd roaring by
slapping an opposite-field single to left off Wendell, a former
Chicago Cubs teammate, on the 396th pitch of the night.
"I just thought it was really another game. Everyone was just
screaming a little louder," Wendell said.
And once again, one of Torre's hunches paid off -- Vizcaino was a
surprise starter, only in the lineup because of his career success
against Mets starter Al Leiter.
"What can you say about Vizcaino? I kissed him on the cheek
after the game and said, 'Thanks for making me look smart,' " Torre
said.
Vizcaino was one of eight players acquired in midseason now on
the Yankees' roster. An ex-Met, he came from the Los Angeles
Dodgers in late June, taking the first flight to join his new team.
"I was thinking I would be going to the World Series, but I
didn't think I'd be the hero in the first game," he said.
Mike Stanton was the winner as Yankees relievers retired the
final 11 batters.
|  | | Yankees manager Joe Torre kisses Jose Vizcaino after Vizcaino drove in the winning run in Game 1 of the World Series. |
"It was great for the fans, it was great for the players,"
Mets catcher Todd Pratt said.
Game 2 will be Sunday night with Roger Clemens pitching against
NLCS MVP Mike Hampton. Clemens will be facing the Mets for the
first time since beaning Mike Piazza on July 9.
Despite the huge hype and buildup, fans were fairly civilized
toward each other, especially since there wasn't much to shout
about until the sixth inning.
Pockets of Mets fans could be heard throughout the ballpark, but
it hardly matched the cheers led by the Yankees' No. 1 fan, Mayor
Rudolph Giuliani, in the front row next to his favorite team's
dugout.
Benitez, with a history of October failure, could not hold a 3-2
lead in the ninth. He walked O'Neill with one out and gave up
singles to pinch-hitter Luis Polonia and Vizcaino that loaded the
bases for Knoblauch.
Guilty of lolly-gagging on the bases three times earlier --
especially on a disputed drive by Todd Zeile -- the Mets hustled to
a 3-2 lead in the seventh. Edgardo Alfonzo barely beat out an
infield single with two outs, capping a three-run rally.
The entire ballpark was on its feet during pregame
introductions, and nearly every Mets player moved to the top step
of the dugout to watch the first pitch.
But with Leiter and Andy Pettitte dueling, it was fairly quiet
and scoreless for five innings. Then in the sixth, it got real
interesting in a hurry.
With two outs and Timo Perez on first for the Mets, Zeile lined
a drive toward the jutted-in corner in left field. Zeile raised his
right arm as he approached first base and Perez jogged toward
second, both of them sure it was gone.
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Piling up the W's
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Longest winning streaks in World Series history:
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Team
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Dates
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Games
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Yankees
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'96-pres.
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13
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Yankees
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'27-32
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12*
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Yankees
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'37-41
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10
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Reds
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'75-pres.
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9
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Yankees
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'49-50
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7
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* four-game sweeps in 1927, '28 and '32.
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"That's a home run! That's a home run! That's a home run!"
Mets bench coach John Stearns yelled from the dugout.
But the ball hit the very top of the padding on the fence that
measures 7 feet, 5 inches, and bounced back into play. A longtime
Yankees fan said he let the ball go -- unlike young Jeffrey Maier in
the 1996 ALCS -- because he knew interference might cost his team.
"We needed Jeffrey Maier," said Zeile, whose Baltimore Orioles
were robbed by the boy. "Where was he when we needed him?"
Left fielder David Justice alertly pursued the ball and made a
nice relay to shortstop Derek Jeter, whose throw home cut down the
speedy Perez.
Valentine emerged from the dugout, twirling his finger to
indicate it should've been a home run, but the umpires did not
agree. Replays showed the umps called it correctly.
"I thought when he hit it, it was a home run," Torre said.
With the ballpark still buzzing, Justice reprised his role as
ALCS MVP in the bottom of the sixth. He lined a two-run double up
the left-center field alley, but Leiter limited the damage by
getting two outs to keep it at 2-0.
But the wild-card Mets were not finished. Held in check in key
spots all night by Pettitte, they broke through in the seventh.
Benny Agbayani and Jay Payton singled with one out and Pratt, in
the game at catcher with Piazza serving as the DH, walked on a
full-count pitch.
Up stepped Bubba Trammell, pinch-hitting because of his 7-for-18
lifetime success against Pettitte. Batting for ninth-place hitter
Mike Bordick, Trammell lined a two-run single to left that tied it.
After Perez was thrown out on a bunt, moving the runners to
second and third, Jeff Nelson relieved.
Alfonzo then delivered, not with a sharp single but instead a
tapper just past Nelson. Third baseman Scott Brosius charged the
ball and made a quick, barehanded throw that Alfonzo barely beat as
Pratt scored.
Game notes
The Yankees won 12 straight Series games in 1927, 1928 and
1932. ... Leiter has not won in 10 career postseason starts. ...
Mets players Matt Franco, Rick Reed and Kurt Abbott rode the subway
to Yankee Stadium. ... Mets reliever John Franco, in his first
Series game at age 40, pitched a scoreless eighth.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
NY Mets Clubhouse
NY Yankees Clubhouse
Stark: One for the record books
Gammons: Torre pushes right buttons
Frozen Moment: Yanks get all the breaks
At-bat of the night: O'Neill's walk
Question of the game
Stark: Useless facts from the World Series
RECAPS
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Joe Torre and the Yankees comment on their 12-inning victory over the Mets in Game 1.
RealVideo: | 28.8
 Mike Stanton talks to ESPN's Charlie Steiner after the Yankees' Game 1 win.
wav: 416 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Jose Vizcaino was happy to get the chance to prove himself in his first World Series game.
wav: 522 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
ESPN's Tim Kurkjian talks with Game 1's losing pitcher Turk Wendell of the Mets.
wav: 395 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Derek Jeter respects the play of the Mets.
wav: 83 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Andy Pettitte knows his team gives their all every game.
wav: 55 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Yankees skipper Joe Torre comments on his club's attitude during a game.
wav: 75 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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