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Mariners vs. Yankees |
Mets vs. Cardinals
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Wednesday, October 11
Garcia tames the Jungle in opener
By Wayne Drehs
ESPN.com
NEW YORK -- They call this place the Jungle, like some sort of sprawling rainforest where the Crocodile Hunter climbs around on shaky, lush vines, dodging danger at every turn in the beaten-down path before him.
Tuesday night, Seattle starter Freddy Garcia tamed the Jungle. The buzz had returned to the House that Ruth Built after a lethargic performance by the Yankees in Game 4 of the Division Series, but Garcia was not shaken, striking out eight and allowing three hits in 6 2/3 scoreless innings.
|  | | Freddy Garcia pumps his fist after pitching out of a jam in the sixth inning. |
After the game, while Garcia, Alex Rodriguez, and Joe Oliver were answering questions about Seattle's 2-0 victory in the ALCS opener, the Yankees were quiet, too; few were to be found in the home team clubhouse.
Garcia's performance leaves nobody quite sure what to make of this New York team. Are they the aging ballclub that struggled in September and barely got past the Oakland A's or are they an experienced group of veterans that knows precisely what it takes to win a series?
"I'm not making excuses for our guys, I don't want to take any of the credit away from Garcia, but we have not been hitting the ball," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "We have not been scoring runs."
Tuesday, it was Garcia who knew what it took to win. Though he was hardly perfect, backing himself into potential trouble a couple times with spats of wildness, his devastating curveball and unwavering support by his manager gave him the confidence he needed to avoid any major hazards.
"It's hard to pitch here, no question," Garcia said. "With the fans and everything, you have to be real focused. So I tried to not get too excited, not throw too hard and take it easy out there. And everything was working for me. All my pitches I was throwing for a strike."
In no situation was his confidence more apparent than the sixth, after surrendering a leadoff double to Chuck Knoblauch and walking Derek Jeter after being ahead two strikes in the count. Mariners manager Lou Piniella made the slow walk out of the dugout and everyone in the stadium figured he would call for left-handed reliever Arthur Rhodes, with the left-handed Paul O'Neill, switch-hitting Bernie Williams and left-handed Dave Justice due up.
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Game 1 gems
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Pitchers who have thrown shutouts in the opening game of an LCS dating back to 1969, the first season of LCS play:
1970: Cincinnati's Gary Nolan
Reds defeat Pirates 3-0
Reds win series 3-0
1973: Baltimore's Jim Palmer
Orioles defeat Athletics 6-0
Athletics win series 3-2
1974: L.A.'s Don Sutton
Dodgers defeat Pirates 3-0
Dodgers win series 3-1
1982: St. Louis' Bob Forsch
Cardinals defeat Braves 7-0
Cardinals win series 3-0
1983: Philadelphia's Steve Carlton and Al Holland
Phillies defeat Dodgers 1-0
Phillies win series 3-1
1984: Chicago's Rick Sutcliffe and Warren Brusstar
Cubs defeat Padres 13-0
Padres win series 3-2
1986: Houston's Mike Scott
Astros defeat Mets 1-0
Mets win series 4-2
1997: Baltimore's Scott Erickson and Randy Myers
Orioles defeat Indians 3-0
Indians win series 4-2
2000: Seattle's Freddy Garcia, Jose Paniagua, Arthur Rhodes and Kazuhiro Sasaki
Mariners defeat Yankees 2-0
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But in what turned out to be Piniella's best move of the night, he did nothing.
"I felt that when I went out there, I'd get the response that I got," Piniella said. "He had good stuff. I mean, his ball was live. He was pitching a shutout and given up, what, two or three hits to then.
"He felt very composed out there, and he felt strong, and the catcher reassured me that he was throwing the ball well."
The numbers supported Piniella's decision, as O'Neill and Justice were actually statistically better against left-handers than right-handers this season. Still, Garcia went on to strike out O'Neill and Williams on changeups, while surrendering a 404-foot flyball to Dave Justice that landed in center fielder Mike Cameron's glove -- about seven feet shy of a home run.
"It was a good pitch, a slider away," Garcia said of the pitch Justice gave a ride. "I wasn't too worried because I know that you have to hit that pitch real good to hit it out."
Oliver wasn't as confident.
"That was the only pitch that didn't move the entire inning," Oliver said. "It scared me and I went back to the dugout and told Stan Javier that it didn't move, and he told me it was a great pitch because it got us an out."
Garcia said he wasn't surprised Piniella left him in the game. In fact, he said he still wasn't tired when Piniella removed him two outs into the seventh after striking out Jorge Posada.
"I had everything working good tonight and really had a lot of confidence," Garcia said. "I threw my pitches when I wanted to. But he's the manager and when he takes me out and we still manage to win, everything is good."
It wasn't the only jam Garcia finagled his way out of. In the third, after a pair of 1-2-3 innings, he hit the leadoff man, Posada. Luis Sojo followed with a single, leaving first and second occupied with nobody out. But just as the Yankee fans rose to their feet in hopes of inciting a rally, Garcia coaxed Scott Brosius into a 1-4-6-3 double play. Posada advanced to third on the play, but Knoblauch grounded out to end the threat.
The Yankees were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position against Garcia. It was an impressive performance for a man who struggled in his playoff debut last week against the White Sox. In that game, he allowed four runs in the first three innings while taking a no-decision.
In his last regular season start Sept. 27 against Texas, Garcia allowed two runs in the first three innings. Prior to that, he allowed five first-inning runs against Oakland on Sept. 22.
Tuesday was the perfect time to turn things around for Garcia, who was 9-5 with a 3.91 ERA in the regular season. Last year, as a rookie, he finished in the top 10 in the American League in wins, ERA and strikeouts. He threw at least five innings in 29 of 33 starts, finishing with a 17-8 record and a 4.07 ERA.
"Tonight, that was the Freddie of last year," Rodriguez said. "He was great, just incredible. When he is that focused, it's a challenge to do much against him. I've always said that Freddy has a potential to one day be like a Pedro because he has three dominant pitches."
Just ask the Yankee hitters, or any of the 54,481 animals that were packed into the Jungle in the Bronx.
Wayne Drehs is a staff writer at ESPN.com.
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