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Closer Look Yankees snuffed Mets when it counted
Updated: Thursday October 26, 2000 7:58 AM
By John Donovan, CNNSI.com NEW YORK -- After Mike Piazza reached down and poked a Denny Neagle pitch into the left-field bleachers in the third inning Wednesday at Shea Stadium, the New York Mets had two opportunities to finish the comeback job Piazza started. They couldn't do it. They took the collar. They went 0-for-2 in those two chances, mainly because of high-pressure relief work from the New York Yankees' bullpen. And because the Mets' couldn't, the Yankees can clinch their third consecutive World Series title Thursday night. Oh, those oh-fers will get you. "We got three more games, and we just need to win one," Yankees second baseman Luis Sojo said after the 3-2 victory in Game 4 put them up 3-1 in the first-to-four World Series. "It's going to be tough for them to come back."
It certainly was Wednesday. The Yankees put up a run in each of the first three innings. But Piazza answered in the bottom of the third, homering some 380 feet to left with Timo Perez on base to make it 3-2. Both sides settled down, though, until the Mets came back in the sixth. With right-handed Jeff Nelson in for the Yankees, Todd Zeile singled to start the threat. One out later, with the hot-hitting Benny Agbayani at the plate, Nelson pulled off the defensive play the Yankees needed. Agbayani whistled a 0-1 pitch back toward Nelson, who snared the line drive on his glove side and threw to first baseman Tino Martinez for the easy double play. So much for that threat. "In a close game like that, you have to pitch tight," explained Nelson, whose unorthodox semi-sidearm delivery dropped him right into the path of Agbayani's liner. "You can't make any mistakes." An inning later, the Mets launched their last comeback attempt. Nelson walked pinch-hitter Lenny Harris with one out, putting left-hander Mike Stanton in the game. He got pinch-hitter Bubba Trammell to swing at a high outside fastball for his first strikeout, then got pinch-hitter Kurt Abbott to strike out on three consecutive pitches. "It doesn't matter how hard they are," said Stanton, who has pitched 3 1/3 innings of scoreless, hitless relief in the Series. "If you don't make quality off-speed pitches, they're going to catch up to you." That was it for the Mets. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera came in for the final six outs, allowing only a single in the eighth. It capped off a beautiful night for the Yankees' maligned pen, which pitched the final 4 1/3 innings without giving up a run, allowing only two hits and not letting a batter get past first base. "God, it was a tough ballgame tonight," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. "It really was. We needed every single bit of contribution that we got from every pitcher out there. It obviously feels good." With one more win, they'll feel even better.
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