Yankees EPIC 2001 World Series comebacks! | MLB Vault

For tonight's ceremonial first pitch and please welcome the President of the United States. You can see Damian Miller when a catcher is set up outside and he has to go to his left. That's bad news. Usually they don't catch those balls. This one an 85 mile an hour fastball. Brian Anderson giving up 25 home runs on the year and one here in the series. So Rivera has to get six outs and the World Series would be 2-1 Diamondbacks. It's 2-1 Yankees right now on the 8th. And here is Rivera to Craig Council who bunts, drags up the first baseline. Rivera fields and tags Council. What an athletic play by Rivera. Rivera is as athletic and as graceful as Fred Astaire. He grabbed it with a glove, raced to the baseline and tagged Council diving slide. Pretty play. 2-2. He struck him out. So two away. Now Rivera is set. And the 1-2. Strike three is called. Fastball on the inside. Three out, three down. At the end of seven and a half, it's 2-1 Yankees. Rivera is set. And the 1-2. He struck him out swinging. Boy was he late on a fastball up. Infield straight away. Brocious at third. Chino at first. Guard the lines. The 1-2. Struck him out swinging. 3-2 with two men out. Rivera deals. Hit on the ground. Up the middle. Jeter fields. Throws to first. In time. Ball game over. Yankees win. The Yankees win. Well the New York Yankees climbed off the mat to just beat Arizona by the score of 2-1. This postseason a record of 1-1 and ERA up over five. He won game four of the division series out in Oakland. He lost game three of the ALCS here against Seattle. Two out. Hitting over. Hitting over. Cincinnati. Williams hits it hard but run at Brocious. The second and the inning is over. Spencer deep to right. Fastball away. Run away. And the Yankees take the lead. What has been a characteristic of this run for the Yankees has been Joe Torres amazing ability to play haunches. It was one to nothing Yankees after a half inning and Sanders grounds one to short. Here's another 2-2 pitch to Durazo. One out. Strikeout number four. Here's a 3-0. Williams swinging on 3-0 and he pops it up. Posada. Two out. Got the corner in it. Five strikeouts for Hernandez. Bottom of the sixth inning. More work for Curt Schilling. When Martinez came over and the catcher comes out you talk about how that used to be an awkward conversation. Oh man. Try to get a pitcher's confidence and a manager sends you out there to talk to him knowing he's coming out of the game. And Joe Belling did a fine job and he did. The Diamondbacks are one out away from taking a three games to one lead in this 2001 World Series. Game five tomorrow night. Messina and Bautista. One on two out. Martinez hits one to deep right center field. At the wall. Tie game. Mercy. A two out two run game time home run in the ninth inning. First pitch Martinez sees from Kim. Tie game. Tino Martinez carried this team in the second half of the season was their most consistent hitter all year. Martinez also the only Yankee to hit 275 since September 1st. Mariano Rivera takes over for the Yankees in the 10th. Here are the numbers for Mr. Automatic who has five saves in this postseason. 24 in his postseason career. He has saved 23 straight. This is obviously a non-save situation. The 2-2 from Rivera. Broken back. And Jeter takes care of council. One out bases empty. The 0-1 pitch. Another broken back. That's easy. Two out. Trying to deliver for Arizona. 3-3 in the top of the 10th. Up the middle. One hop. Good pickup by Soriano. Bottom of the 10th inning. Bottom two in the order. We'll start it for the Yankees. Tied at three. Back after this from your local Fox station. I was going to say against the right hand hitters, he throws from right to left. And so if you get a pitch away, especially if it's up, a right handed hitter can't go that right into right field. Jeter is great at that. So if Kim makes a mistake and gets a pitch up and away, Jeter might ride that pitch to the right field seats. Jeter tried to bunt against Kim. That was in the ninth inning. Jeter is 0 for 4, 1 for 15 in the World Series. By far his worst postseason series since entering the big time in 1996. Third guarding against the bunt, the pitch. His fisted foul behind the plate onto the screen 0-1. And the scoreboard clock in left center field reads 12 o'clock. And for the first time in the history of baseball, this is November baseball. Swung and a miss. Blew a fastball by him upstairs 0-2. Kim still has some life on his pitches. Bottom of the 10th inning, Arizona 3, the Yankees 3. Handy 0-2 from Kim. Breaking ball low and away, a slider in the count 1-2. On deck is Paul O'Neill. Now with two strikes obviously, Matt Williams backs up. Outfield playing deep. The closest to the plate is Steve Finley in center field. 1-2 pitch is fouled away, upper deck, first base side. The count's still 1-2. Rivera pitched two innings yesterday. He's going to have to pitch at least two innings today. And then Joe Torre will have to tightly cross his fingers and somehow fashion something out of the bullpen with Tosic, Choate, and Hitchcock. The 1-2. Swung on and popped up right side. Giving a look is grace, but that'll make the seats out of play. Kim, the second pitcher used by Bob Bradley. Kirk Schilling started. He was brilliant. Seven innings, gave up one run, and that was a Shane Spencer home run, just three hits. Kim came on in the eighth inning. Pitched a 1-2, 3-8, striking out all the Yankees, and then he gave up the big two-run home run to Tino in the ninth. Now he's in his third inning And the 1-2. Way outside with the fastball, 2-2. Along with John Sterling, I'm Michael Kay. You're listening to Yankees baseball on what is now a Thursday morning in New York City. This is game four. The Diamondbacks lead the series 2-1. The game is tied at 3-3, bottom of the 10th. Here's the 2-2 to Jeter. Way outside, 3-2. So down 0-2, and the county has worked the count full. You know, Kim is doing a lot of pitches, because he's had a lot of 3-2 counts. Left-handed Greg Swindell is in the bullpen, and maybe he comes in to face O'Neal if Jeter reaches. And the 3-2 pitch. Swung on a line down the right field line. Ferrett's trouble, but it slices foul into the seats. They'll do it again. Jeter inside, out of the ball that way. And that's what I meant about taking Kim, who's pitching the ball, away. How do these fans come up with signs? There's a fan who has a sign, Mr. November. Jeter steps out, now back in. 3-3 game. Kim taking a long look. Now he's been working from the full windup, and he looks like he's about to go from the stretch. Very odd. He is going to go from the stretch on 3-2. And the 3-2 pitch. Swung on a drill to right field, going back Sanders, on the track, at the wall. As he rounded first, he'll hit on third base. He high-fives Willie Randolph, and he mobs him at home plate, as he leaps onto the dish with a 4-3 Yankee win. Oh, oh, what a ball game. A game-winning walk-off home run by Derek Jeter. He is Mr. November. Oh, what a big base hit by the Yankee shortstop. And he did just that. The pitch went right to left, and he went with it, and he got it just over the right field wall, in the lower deck. It's a phenomenal Yankee win, and don't forget, they only had to use Mariano for one inning, and a very short inning at that. They'll be ready for tomorrow. Tino Martinez, it's a two-out, two-run home run, the ninth to tie. Derek Jeter, it's a two-out, bases-empty home run, the tenth to win. And the Yankees, who are one out away from being down three games to one, now have tied the series at two games apiece. And Michael K., I will tell you this, I know you know it. I know you're a student of baseball, and of Yankee history. Those are two of the most dramatic home runs that Yankees have hit, and no team in any sport has ever played more dramatic championship games. Long will they remember Tino's home run to tie, Jeter's home run to win, and the Yankees implausibly have tied this series at two games apiece. They give Mike Messina the ball tomorrow with a chance to take a 3-2 series lead. As sportscasters, we use the words unbelievable too much. This, my friend, is unbelievable. On the mound, the veteran right hander Mike Messina in his first year with the Yankees during the regular season, 17-11, with an outstanding 3.15 ERA. This is his fourth start of the postseason, 2-1, 2.81. It'll be a 2-2 to Council. He struck him out swinging. Fastball away. So Council strikes out. There are two down. Dead straight away for the power hitting Gonzalez. The 1-0. His line. 1-1 up to Tino. Blocks it. Keeps it in front. Tags the bag. End of inning. So for Messina, 3-up, 3-down. 1. The 0-2. He struck him out swinging. Breaking ball down and away. A lot of pressure. These Yankees have not been scoring any runs. It'll be a payoff. He struck him out swinging. A pitch up. 3-up, 3-down again at the end of an inning and a half. No score. Now the 1-2. He struck him out swinging. Knuckle curve. Two outs top of the third. Pitch. Cut on and foul tip. No, he missed it. And he struck out. Posada tags him. No runs. One hit, two left. It'll be a 2-2. He struck him out swinging. Strikeout number six for the Moose. He is definitely much sharper than Saturday night. Well, he's pitching on four days rest rather than eight. He is a creature of habit and he feels more comfortable this way. And Messina deals. Swung on and fisted the third. Brocious makes the easy catch. Pretty easy inning. And Messina deals. The 1-2. Swung and a missed. He struck him out. Slow breaking ball. Strikeout number seven for Mike Messina. And a 1-2 pitch. Swung and a missed. He struck him out. Dropped by Posada. He tags Womack on the back. And the pitch is a check swing. Grounded softly. First base out of the mound. Messina off the mound. Fields. He will tag Durazo on the way by. And a 1-2-3 inning for Messina and the Yankees. The 0-2. Strike three. Outside corner. Sanders down looking. Fastball. Bends. Then straightens. And the 0-2. Swung on. Line drive. The left field. Coming on. Spencer. He makes the play. Chest high for the final out of the inning. So Barajas hit it hard again. But the right hander is set. Womack off third. Infield up. 3-2. Struck him out swinging. That's some comeback by Messina. He got a pitch up and in. Kind of under the hands to Gonzalez and struck him out. And the pitch is popped up. He's gonna get out of it. Soriano on the infield dirt. Makes the catch. What pitching by Messina. That's great. A runner at third. No one out. Gets stranded. Andy Johnson. Pitching game six on Saturday night against Andy Pettit. They're chanting Paul O'Neal's name. These terrific fans here in New York. Paul O'Neal just bowed his head a moment ago. O'Neal will give that a look as will Tito Martinez. Foul You can tell Paul O'Neal was touched. Oh boy. By that I know you as a long time major league player you get touched here in something like that. Certainly do. Back up the middle. Off the bag. And the third hit of the night for Finley. So Finley is on to start the ninth inning. Steve Finley with his third hit of the night. Half of the diamondback total. Point. Still chanting are these fans after the leadoff hit by Finley and now Reggie Sanders. To the left side. Brocious to Soriano. Double play. 5-4 on the fourth side at second. Ball was not hit hard. Brocious quickly to Soriano. But because the ball wasn't hit hard. Finley down on top of Soriano. You can see Steve doing his job. A lot of second basemen use that second base bag for protection. Watch how Soriano steps on the back foot. To make the throw to first base but in the process that takes time. Allowing Sanders to beat the play. It's a one on one out for Mark Grace. Over but low ball one. They're just joining us these fans are chanting Paul O'Neal's name. Because he has hinted that this will be his final year in the big league. Been in New York since 1993. Grace takes a strike. It's one on one. And when you talk about these fans. Before we get into the bottom of the ninth inning. How about a word about. The way the fans have acted. In this postseason. And the job done by Mayor Giuliani. And the law enforcement officials who have made this place. Not only safe. But very comfortable. You walk into Yankee Stadium. Even with this heightened sense of alert. And you feel comfortable and safe in this ballpark. They have done a wonderful job. One ball two strikes on Grace. Soriano. The dugout gets a standing ovation. The Yankees are now 1 for 24 with runners in scoring position in this World Series. Last night. Brocious faced. Younghun Kim twice. Struck out and flied to right. Tying run at the plate. Runner at second. Two out. Two nothing Arizona. Here in game five. Brocious hits one in the left. Back to Ward. I've never seen anything like it. It borders on the surreal. Here in the Bronx. Bautista. Durazo and Finley the runner. Field is in. Perhaps this ball's by Soriano. Every ounce of leather. It took for Soriano to make that catch. On two and one. Into right field. Base hit. Here comes Naglaa. The throw by Sanders. Play at the plate. Yankees win. They lead the series three games to two.