| | NEW YORK -- Nomar Garciaparra showed acrobatic grace and the daring of a thief.
His two leaping catches kept New York from scoring at least
three runs in the opener of the AL Championship Series Wednesday
night. Unfortunately for Boston, he was nowhere near Bernie Williams' drive that cleared the center-field fence in the 10th inning.
The homer on Rod Beck's second pitch gave the Yankees a 4-3 victory over the Red Sox.
"I live and die by the strike," Beck said. "I'm going to throw the ball over the dish and take my chances."
Garciaparra might have had a chance to drive in the winning run in the top of the inning. He was on deck when Brian Daubach grounded into an inning-ending double play.
The shortstop already had kept Boston in the game with his
catches in the first with runners at second and third and in the
third with runners at first and third.
"I just jumped and tried to make a play," Garciaparra said. "I'm glad the ball came down in my glove."
Later, though, he displayed the nimble-handedness of Bill
Buckner when he bobbled a routine grounder that gave the Yankees a
chance to go ahead in the seventh inning. However, New York
couldn't capitalize.
"He wants the ball hit to him," Boston manager Jimy Williams
said. "I will never, ever say he is a bad defensive player."
Early in the game, the spotlight was on the opposing shortstops.
Garciaparra won the AL batting title, homered in the decisive fifth
game of the AL Division Series in Cleveland and was still nursing a
bruised wrist.
Derek Jeter finished second in the batting race and, like Garciaparra, was an All-Star and one of the best fielders at his position.
Jeter won the batting competition Wednesday night with two hits
to none for Garciaparra. The Boston shortstop was better with the
glove, despite committing two harmless errors for the first time
since Aug. 23, 1998.
Jeter good-naturedly accused Garciaparra of showboating on his catches.
"He spread his legs a little bit to make it look like he was
higher," Jeter said.
The Red Sox are trying to get to the World Series for the first
time since 1986, when the New York Mets scored the winning run in
Game 6 as a grounder went through Buckner's legs behind first base.
New York won Game 7 two days later.
On Wednesday night, Garciaparra's errors didn't contribute to
any runs. Jeter's error in the first inning did.
Jose Offerman led off the game with a single, and John Valentin
grounded to Jeter, who threw toward second. But the ball flew into
right field and Offerman came around to score the game's first run.
"It was a tough play but it was a play I've made before. I just
threw it a little low," Jeter said.
The Yankees would have gone ahead in the bottom of the first had Garciaparra not perfectly timed a leap to end the threat.
They had runners on second and third after a walk to Jeter, a
single by Paul O'Neill and a groundout. Then Chili Davis hit a
rising liner toward Garciaparra. The shortstop rose to meet it,
extending his left arm straight up, coming down with the ball and
landing on his feet. The crowd, expecting two runs, was stunned to
silence at the sight of the robbery.
In the third, Garciaparra saved a run with two outstanding plays.
After Jeter doubled and O'Neill struck out, Williams hit a
grounder that Garciaparra gloved deep in the hole. His throw to
second to get Jeter went into right field for an error and Jeter
advanced to third. But he almost certainly would have scored had
the ball gotten by Garciaparra.
With Jeter still at third, Tino Martinez hit a liner just to the left of second base. Garciaparra, positioned perfectly, leaped
again. Not as high as the first time, but still with plenty of
space between the bottom of his shoes and the infield dirt.
"That just goes with the kind of player the kid is," Jimy Williams said. "He plays to win, gives you everything he has got."
In the seventh, Garciaparra's glove failed him.
The Yankees had tied the game 3-3 when Scott Brosius singled,
advanced on Chuck Knoblauch's sacrifice bunt and scored on Jeter's
single to right. Trot Nixon's strong throw beat Brosius to the
plate, but catcher Jason Varitek couldn't handle it as Jeter took
second.
"The ball started up the line and tailed back into me,"
Varitek said. "But I was in the right position to catch the ball
and make the play."
O'Neill followed with a grounder to Garciaparra, just to the
left of second base. He bobbled the ball and, after he got a grip
on it, Jeter was standing on second and blocking the path of a
throw to first. So Garciaparra held the ball.
He had another chance when the next batter, Williams, hit a
ground ball that Garciaparra threw to second to force O'Neill as
Jeter took third. Williams stole second, but the threat ended when
Davis struck out.
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Bernie blasts Beck, Sox in 10th
Yankees vs. Red Sox series page
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