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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) -- While the Seattle Mariners looked like a team of
the future in the opener of the AL Championship Series, the New
York Yankees looked like grumpy old men.
Freddy Garcia dominated for 6 2/3 innings in a six-hitter, and
Alex Rodriguez and Rickey Henderson supplied the offense as the
Mariners put the Yankees back in their postseason funk, beating New
York 2-0 Tuesday night.
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GAME 1 AT A GLANCE
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Every game a hero
Bottom of the sixth inning. No outs. Chuck Knoblauch singled. Derek Jeter walked. Freddy Garcia received a visit from Lou Piniella and stayed in the game. He struck out Paul O'Neill and Bernie Williams and then got David Justice to fly out to deep center field. The second-year right-hander pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out eight and giving up just three hits.
Key play
Piniella brought in closer Kazuhiro Sasaski for the ninth and the Yankees got two hits, bringing up Jorge Posada with one out. Posada was 2-for-3 against Sasaki this year -- with two home runs. Posada lined a 1-1 pitch foul down the right-field line before flying out routinely to right field. Luis Sojo then flied out to Mike Cameron to end the game.
Key number
Seattle's bullpen has now thrown 14 consecutive scoreless innings in the playoffs. It didn't allow a run in 11 2/3 innings against Chicago in the Division Series.
ESPN analysis
The turning point of the game came in the sixth when Lou Piniella stuck with Freddy Garcia and let him work out of a jam. Getting out of that inning without any runs and letting the bullpen come in and shut the door just as they did against the White Sox was key.
With a victory in Game 1, John Halama can feel comfortable about his start. The Yankees are struggling, they look frustrated and they can't get anything going. The way the Yankees are swinging the bats, Mariners pitchers can't wait to get to the mound. They want to get out there and continue to go right after them.
-- Brian McRae
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"There's no secret: We got shut down," said Paul O'Neill, who
feebly went 0-for-3 and even got pinch hit for.
Garcia struck out eight as Seattle pitchers fanned 13, including
Derek Jeter three times. Bernie Williams and Scott Brosius shot
nasty looks at plate umpire John Hirschbeck when he called them out
on strikes.
"If they pitch like they pitched tonight, then we're not going
to win the series," Yankees reliever Jeff Nelson said.
While the Yankees are struggling, the Mariners are spurting with
a mixture of youth and experience as they try to get to the World
Series for the first time.
Despite trading Ken Griffey Jr. before spring training, they
qualified for the playoffs as the wild card, then swept Chicago,
the team with the AL's best record, 3-0 in the first round.
Seattle tries to go home with a 2-0 lead Wednesday night when
John Halama pitches against Orlando Hernandez.
"They are going to come out fighting," said Rodriguez, whose
solo homer in the sixth nearly went into the left-field upper deck.
"We have to attack him, attack him early and be ready to go to
war, because they are going to come out real hungry."
Garcia, one of the young pitchers obtained two years ago from
Houston in the Randy Johnson trade, allowed just three hits and
handled the two-time World Series champions like an old pro.
"He certainly pitched well when he had to," Yankees manager
Joe Torre said. "He pitched pretty well when he didn't have to."
The 24-year-old right-hander, who missed nearly three months
with a broken right leg, stranded runners at third base in the
third and fifth innings and escaped a two-on, no-outs jam in the
sixth.
With the crowd on its feet, Mariners manager Lou Piniella went
to the mound.
"I was feeling pretty good, and I had a lot of confidence,"
Garcia remembered telling his manager.
Piniella stuck with Garcia, who struck out O'Neill and Williams,
then retired David Justice on a flyout Mike Cameron caught one step
in front of the center-field fence.
"He got three tough hitters out," Piniella said. "To have a
young pitcher come into a playoff game for us like Garcia did, he
should be very proud of his effort tonight."
|  | | Alex Rodriguez watches his shot to left hit the fair pole in the sixth. His solo homer gave the Mariners a 2-0 lead. |
Jose Paniagua, Arthur Rhodes and Kazuhiro Sasaki combined for
three-hit relief. Sasaki, possibly the AL Rookie of the Year, got
his third save of the playoffs but filled the ninth inning with
drama.
With the crowd again on its feet, Williams singled leading off
the ninth as Sasaki repeatedly stepped off. Justice struck out, and
Tino Martinez singled up the middle to bring up Jorge Posada, who
homered off Sasaki twice in three at-bats in the regular season.
But Sasaki got Posada to fly out to right and Luis Sojo, after a
long foul down the right-field line, flied to center for the final
out. Sasaki bowed to teammate Jay Buhner.
The biggest signal of the Yankees' desperation was when Torre
batted Glenallen Hill in the eighth for O'Neill, just 4-for-22 in
the playoffs, including three infield hits. With a runner on first
and two outs, Hill whiffed.
"Paul's been struggling a little bit and I just felt it was a
chance to maybe pop one where the lefty had to pitch to the
right-hander," Torre said. "It's not something I like doing and
may not do again."
Even Piniella was surprised.
"Joe caught us totally off guard," Piniella said.
The Mariners bullpen has been stellar, pitching 14 scoreless
innings in the postseason.
"They've been there for us all year," Piniella said. "I'm
fortunate in that I've got some good power arms out there and
they're all resilient. It's one of the reasons we're here."
New York, which hit just .244 and scored only 19 runs in its 3-2
win over Oakland in the Division Series, was 0-for-8 with runners
in scoring position.
After taking a 6-0 lead over the Athletics in the first inning
of Game 5, the Yankees have scored one run in their last 17
innings, looking like the team that lost 15 of its last 18 games
during the regular season.
Seattle had just five hits off Denny Neagle, Nelson, Randy
Choate and Jason Grimsley, but three of those hits led to runs.
Neagle, bypassed in the first round after ending his regular
season with three straight supbar starts, pitched for the first
time since Sept. 27, and was wild but pretty effective. He started
six of 32 batters with 3-0 counts but walked just three and gave up
three hits in 5 2/3 innings.
"He pitched well enough to win," Torre said.
Neagle kept it scoreless until the fifth, when Mark McLemore
doubled with two outs and Henderson, cast off by the crosstown Mets
this spring, slapped a single in the hole between first and second
and through into right.
Oakland showed during the first round that O'Neill's arm isn't
what it was. O'Neill stutter-stepped as he picked up the ball, and
McLemore scored easily ahead of O'Neill's bouncing throw.
Rodriguez then led off the sixth with a smash that hit high off
the screen attached to the left-field foul pole.
"I thought it was going to go foul," he said.
Down 2-0, Yankees' fans were nervous. A two-run deficit seems
insurmountable these days.
Meanwhile, the Mariners keep gaining confidence.
"It does," John Olerud said, "take a little pressure off."
Game notes
Pregame introductions were canceled because it was 48
degrees and Yankees owner George Steinbrenner didn't want his
players standing out in the cold. ... The teams combined for 22
strikeouts, an ALCS record. ... Jeter ranged from shortstop to make
a great over-the-head, inning-ending catch on David Bell's looper
to left in the second.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Seattle Clubhouse
NY Yankees Clubhouse
Big Freddy delivers big win
Henderson lets bat speak for him
Yankee attack anemic again
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Listen to what Alex Rodriguez and Freddy Garcia had to say after the Mariners' Game 1 win in New York.
RealVideo: | 28.8
 Karl Ravech, Harold Reynolds and Brian McRae recap Game 1 of the ALCS and look forward to Game 2.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Denny Neagle says he would like another chance to pitch against Seattle.
wav: 158 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Joe Torre says the Yankees are frustrated with their bad play.
wav: 173 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Alex Rodriguez talks with ESPN's Peter Gammons after Seattle's 2-0 win in Game 1.
wav: 562 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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