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Saturday, Jul. 8 1:05pm ET
Everything goes Yankees' way in sweep | |||||
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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) -- A long day of baseball in New York ended with the Yankees sweeping the majors' most unusual doubleheader in 97 years and Mike Piazza in the hospital. Dwight Gooden and Roger Clemens teamed up to shut down the Mets, giving the Yankees identical 4-2 victories Saturday in the Subway Series. Meanwhile, everything went against the Mets, including the traffic. They were especially angry after losing Piazza, who suffered a concussion when hit in the helmet -- the Mets claimed deliberately -- by Clemens' fastball in the second game at Yankee Stadium.
Clemens insisted otherwise. "I didn't hit Mike on purpose. I was going to pitch him in, that was the game plan," he said. "But that wasn't how I wanted to get him out." Piazza was taken to the Hospital for Special Surgery. Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said the catcher would miss Sunday night's series finale, and that his status for Tuesday night's All-Star Game was uncertain. Tino Martinez homered and drove in three runs to win the first game, then Chuck Knoblauch -- the center of controversy earlier in the day -- hit a three-run homer to take the nightcap. The Yankees won for the third consecutive time in this Subway Series, and took their fifth straight overall. Mariano Rivera saved both games, ensuring the World Series champions would head into the All-Star break in first place in the AL East. "It seemed like longer than one day," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "My daughter came in looking for cereal at 6:30 this morning and here we are at 11:10 at night." Valentine was tossed after the first pitch of the day for arguing an obstruction call. He played the first game under protest. "Long day," he said. This was the first double-ballpark doubleheader in the majors since Sept. 7, 1903, when the New York Giants played the Brooklyn Superbas, later the Dodgers. Both road teams won that day in games at Brooklyn's Washington Park and the Giants' Polo Grounds -- a year later, New York city's subways opened. After the opener, many in the sellout crowd of 54,165 at Shea immediately headed for Game 2, which drew 55,821. At both parks, loyalties were divided. For fans, it took them about one hour to ride the No. 7 Flushing train, change at Grand Central Terminal and catch the uptown No. 4 Lexington Avenue line to the Bronx. The Yankees, their bats and bags packed in an equipment truck, left less than an hour after the game. They rode a bus back over the Triborough Bridge to their park, taking only 14 minutes. A closed-off entrance to the Grand Central Parkway sped their path. The Mets had lunch at the Diamond Club at Shea while waiting for the clubhouse attendants to do laundry, then changed into their road uniforms and rode a bus to Yankee Stadium. A police escort helped, but none of the highways were cleared for them. Clemens (6-6), hit hard throughout his career by Piazza and the Mets, struck the first blow in the second game, which began 3½ hours after the opener ended. He hit Piazza in the helmet leading off the second inning, and the slugger immediately crumbled to the ground. Piazza, who had homered in three straight games against the Rocket, was down for about a minute and helped to his feet, and walked to the dugout. In the bottom half of the inning, Glendon Rusch (6-7) hit Martinez in the backside with his second pitch. With tension running high, Martinez calmly walked to first base and plate umpire Doug Eddings warned against further trouble. There wasn't any as the Yankees increased their interleague series lead over the Mets to 11-6. Derek Bell and Edgardo Alfonzo hit RBI singles in the Mets fifth. In the bottom half, Scott Brosius singled home a run and Knoblauch launched a drive that escaped left fielder Lenny Harris' glove when he hit the wall. "I couldn't tell if he caught it or not. It was so far away," Knoblauch said. Clemens went 7 1/3 innings, and Rivera pitched the ninth for his 21st save. Rusch struck out a career-high 10 in a complete game. Pitching from the very mound he once owned, Gooden (3-3) celebrated his return to the big leagues with a win. Gooden, traded by Houston and cut by Tampa Bay earlier this season, pitched at Shea for the first time since June 24, 1994. One of the most popular players in Mets' history, Gooden faced his former team for the first time. The Yankees signed him to a minor league contract June 11 and promoted him before the game. At 35, the 1985 NL Cy Young winner who helped the Mets win the 1986 World Series did not throw as hard as he once did, struggling to reach 90 mph with his fastball. Gooden gave up two runs and six hits, keeping the Mets off-balance with off-speed stuff. He struck out one and walked one. Bobby J. Jones (3-4) fell behind 2-0 in the first inning. Martinez's solo home run in the sixth made it 3-2. Knoblauch led off the game with a hit to center field and was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. But first base umpire Robb Cook ruled that first baseman Todd Zeile had gotten in Knoblauch's way, and awarded him second. Valentine sprung from the dugout and engaged all four umpires in an argument, tracing Knoblauch's steps in the freshly raked dirt. Replays showed that Zeile, though he never touched Knoblauch, stood in his path and made him take a wide turn. Valentine eventually was ejected, for the first time this year, by crew chief Dana DeMuth. Curiously, Zeile and Knoblauch met again in the fourth. Zeile was called out for interfering with the Yankees second baseman as he tried to field a grounder.
Game notes | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard NY Yankees Clubhouse NY Mets Clubhouse Klapisch: Mets-Yankees rivalry boils over
Ejected after one pitch, Valentine files protest
Nelson shines in face of All-Star snub
RECAPS NY Yankees 4 NY Mets 2
Chicago Cubs 9 AUDIO/VIDEO Ann Werner takes a look at the Mets-Yanks dual stadium doubleheader. RealVideo: | 28.8 Mets skipper Bobby Valentine sounds off on Roger Clemens' lack of control. wav: 153 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Manager Joe Torre comments on Bobby Valentine's accusations. wav: 246 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 A shaken up Roger Clemens talks about the incident. wav: 104 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Bobby Valentine was ejected from Game 1 of the doubleheader for arguing an impeding call. wav: 138 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Todd Zeile says everyone was surprised by the umpires' call on Saturday afternoon. wav: 188 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Dwight Gooden is happy to be back in a baseball uniform. wav: 176 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 |