Closer Look

Posada's patience helps Yankees get to Beckett

By John Donovan, SI.com

MIAMI -- Jorge Posada has played in all three games of this World Series, been up to the plate 12 times, has seen just about every kind of pitch that the Marlins can throw at him -- and he has a .000 batting average to show for it.

No hits. No runs.

Ahhh. But what a contribution.

The Yankees catcher had a huge at-bat in Tuesday's Game 3 win over the Florida Marlins, battling Florida starter Josh Beckett until the young right-hander coughed up a bases-loaded walk that tied the score at 1-1 in the fourth.

The first run in a 6-1 stomping might not seem like a big deal. But Posada's walk showed the Yanks how to beat the best pitcher the Marlins will throw at them.

A little patience can go a long way.

"You don't know what he's going to do," Posada said of Beckett, who took the loss. "He's tough. You have to give him a lot of respect."

Beckett cruised through the first three innings in 31 deadly pitches, retiring the first nine batters he faced. In his first time up, Posada grounded out to first on the second pitch.

In the fourth, though, the Yankees started to get to the 23-year-old Beckett. Derek Jeter, who had the only three hits that Beckett would allow in his 7 1/3 innings of work, doubled down the left-field line with one out. Jason Giambi followed with a six-pitch walk.

SI.com's John Donovan In a game they had to have, nothing seemed to work for the Marlins. I don't want to say the Fish are cooked, but the Yankees have fired up the grill. SPOTLIGHT HERO: Derek Jeter The Yankees' captain had the only three hits off Josh Beckett and started the decisive eighth-inning with a one-out double. He also scored three runs. GOAT: Derrek Lee The Marlins' first sacker tapped back to the mound with runners on the corners and one out in the sixth. He also failed to guard the line on a Jeter's clutch hit. GO FIGURE 1 -- Team (out of 13) since 1970 that has lost Game 3 in a 1-1 series has come back to win the World Series (1979 Pirates). 3 -- Pitchers who have struck out 10 or more batters in their World Series debut: Beckett, Randy Johnson and Blue Moon Odom. 29 1/3 -- Innings pitched this postseason by Mike Mussina without a lead until Godzilla's tie-breaking RBI single in the eighth inning.

Bernie Williams popped up to shortstop for the second out, but then Beckett threw a wicked curve that dove into Hideki Matsui's lead foot, putting him on to load the bases. That brought Posada to the plate.

Beckett fell behind 1-0, but quickly got back in front when Posada fouled off a pitch then froze on an 88 mph curve for a strike. That brought the Pro Player Stadium crowd to its feet, anticipating another strikeout from the Marlins' ace.

But Posada fouled off another pitch, took one low to even the count, and then laid off a fastball he thought was high and away, and home plate umpire Gary Darling agreed. But the call enraged Florida manager Jack McKeon and pitching coach Wayne Rosenthal, who immediately started shouting at the ump from the Marlins dugout.

What really hacked them off, though, was the next pitch, a low curve that broke close to the knees. Beckett thought he had the strikeout after eight tough pitches. The ump gave Posada the walk, giving the Yankees their first run.

"One of them was away and up, the other one was down and in," Posada said of the two controversial balls. "I thought they were good calls. I thought he did a great job."

Not surprisingly, McKeon disagreed.

"We thought they were strikes. Certainly high enough," McKeon said. "We're not going to get into that.

"You saw both clubs arguing about the calls. So take it from there. That's all I have to say."

Posada is still looking for his first hit, but he has worked his way on base with five walks in the three games, more than any player on either team. He remains encouraged.

"I'm getting good pitches to hit, and I'm fouling off some good pitches," he said. "Tonight, I felt real good. You just got to keep battling."

It worked Tuesday. Even if Posada's batting average doesn't show it.