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Notebook Mariners squander scoring chances in Game 2
NEW YORK (AP) -- If the New York Yankees were frustrated by a 21-inning scoreless streak, the Seattle Mariners weren't exactly pleased with their own offensive shortcomings. The Mariners had plenty of opportunities to score more than one run in Wednesday's 7-1 loss in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series. Seattle had the first two runners on base in the second inning when Al Martin flied out and David Bell hit a sharp liner that pitcher Orlando Hernandez turned into a double play. In the fourth, Edgar Martinez opened with a single but was wiped out on a double play, meaning there was no one aboard when Martin doubled. In the sixth, with two on and two out, Bell flied out, ending the inning. The next time Seattle had a runner was the ninth, when John Olerud doubled off Mariano Rivera. By then, the Yankees had seven runs.
Something newWhen the Yankees loaded the bases with no outs in the first against John Halama, they thought they'd finally break through. But then Bernie Williams topped the ball six inches in front of the plate, and catcher Dan Wilson turned it into a 2-3 double play. Yankees manager Joe Torre, sitting in the dugout with bench coach Don Zimmer, couldn't believe it. "I said to Zimmer, 'Have we seen everything yet?'" Torre recalled. "This was just added to the list. Again, it was more comical than feeling sorry for yourself. You get nothing done feeling sorry for yourself, but we looked and we figured ways how not to score runs, and this was another of those ways."
JugglingWhen Chuck Knoblauch flied to Mike Cameron in the third, the ball hit off the top of the center fielder's glove, then rolled down the back before Cameron lowered the glove and plucked the ball out of the air. Seattle third baseman David Bell made a great diving backhand stop on Luis Sojo leading off the seventh.
Silver liningSeattle manager Lou Piniella knew the Yankees were dangerous and they proved it in a seven-run eighth inning. But Piniella tried to see the upside of the Mariners' Game 2 loss. "They scored seven quick runs," he said, "but at the same time, we shut them out for seven innings, so let's hope that's the norm."
No quick endingTorre's advice for fans following the Yankees-Mariners playoff series is to settle in. There is no fast finish in sight. "This is something that's going to go on for a while," the New York manager said. "I think it's going to be a hell of a series. You just want to make the other team beat you as opposed to beating yourself."
Still perfectYankees reliever Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless ninth, stretching his postseason shutout streak to 31 2/3 innings over 22 appearances. It is the longest scoreless streak by a relief pitcher in postseason history and the longest by any pitcher since Hall of Famer Whitey Ford had 33 consecutive scoreless innings from 1960-62. The last run Rivera allowed in the postseason was a home run by Cleveland's Sandy Alomar in the 1997 division series.
Flying highChuck Knoblauch considered the Yankees' seven-run rally in the eighth inning and decided the timing was perfect. "If you're going to have an outburst, there wasn't a better time than in the bottom of the eighth," he said. "Down 2-0 going into Seattle would've been devastating. And right now we're riding a high with the eighth inning. It will be a great plane ride and hopefully we'll play well."
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