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Freddy Garcia, 3 relievers combine on 6-hitter in Seattle's 2-0 Game 1 victory.
By MARC TOPKIN
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 11, 2000
NEW YORK -- Lou Piniella hasn't been wrong about much this season. And when the Seattle manager said firmly and confidently that his Mariners weren't going to be intimidated about coming into Yankee Stadium to open the AL Championship Series, he obviously knew what he was talking about.
Playing on a raw night before an occasionally raucous crowd of 54,481, the Mariners calmly snatched a 2-0 victory in the first game of the best-of-seven affair.
They won because they got a big game from pitcher Freddy Garcia, who allowed three hits through 62/3 innings, and big hits from ageless star Rickey Henderson, who singled in a run in the fifth, and boy wonder Alex Rodriguez, who homered in the sixth.
Garcia, a 24-year-old right-hander acquired in the July 1998 Randy Johnson trade, was dazzling, striking out eight and pitching out of three two-on jams.
"He sure as heck pitched well, and he overcame some situations," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "He pitched well when he had to. He pitched well when he didn't have to."
Garcia missed nearly three months of his second major-league season because of a stress fracture in his right leg, but he had a strong second half and went 5-1 in September as the Mariners battled for the AL wild-card berth.
The Mariners chose him to start the division series opener, which didn't turn out so well, but he lived up to his billing Tuesday.
"For a young pitcher to come in here and start the playoffs like Garcia did, he should be proud of his effort," Piniella said.
Said Rodriguez: "I've always said Freddy has to the potential one day to be like Pedro (Martinez) in that he has three dominant pitches."
Three times the Yankees threatened to break through against Garcia, and three times he emerged unscathed.
In the third, with two on, he got a big helping hand from second baseman Mark McLemore. After showing bunt, Scott Brosius smacked a grounder up the middle that ticked off Garcia's glove. But McLemore, who was breaking to the base, reversed field and made a nifty grab, then flipped to shortstop Rodriguez, who completed a crucial double play.
In the fifth, a two-out walk and a single put men on first and third, but Garcia got Brosius on a slow grounder to third.
But it was in the sixth that Garcia was most impressive, coming back after a leadoff double by Chuck Knoblauch and a walk to roar through the middle of the Yankees lineup. He struck out Paul O'Neill and Bernie Williams, then survived a David Justice fly to the warning track in center.
Piniella had considered taking him out, but Garcia said he still felt strong. Catcher Joe Oliver concurred. "He got three really tough hitters out," Piniella said.
Yankees starter Denny Neagle, a suspect choice given his late-season struggles, overcame a shaky start to post four no-hit innings. But a high pitch count and a couple of Seattle hits ended his night after 52/3 innings.
The Mariners got started with two outs in the fifth, when McLemore doubled and Henderson followed with a single to right, McLemore racing home ahead of O'Neill's throw.
Rodriguez doubled the lead with one swing in the sixth, sending a 3-and-2 pitch from Neagle on a majestic flight, striking high off the leftfield foul pole.
"I didn't know if it was going to stay fair or not," Rodriguez said. "It was a sense of relief."
Piniella went to the bullpen in the seventh, and Jose Paniagua, Arthur Rhodes, and Kazu Sasaki finished it off, though Sasaki made it a little tense by putting the tying runs on with one out in the ninth.
Seattle relievers have posted 14 scoreless innings in the playoffs. "They're a big reason why we're here," Piniella said.
Offense has been a problem for the Yankees for weeks now, and they don't show any sign of heating up as the weather cools. They have 19 runs in six post-season games and had 59 over their final 18 regular-season games.
"It's frustrating," Torre said. "The players are as frustrated as anybody else on our ballclub as far as the coaches or the manager. We are prepared and we go up there. When I put their names in the lineup, I still have confidence that they are going to get the job done. They grind it. They work at it. They worked it right down to the last out.
"When you realize that the names you write down every day are the ones that are playing, and they have played for you, when they don't hit, it surprises you."