 |
| |
|
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
||
 |
|||
EVENTS
CENTERS
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|
 |
ALCS notebook Clemens gives Yankees all he can in Game 4
Updated: Monday October 22, 2001 3:22 AM
NEW YORK (AP) -- Roger Clemens gave the New York Yankees all he could. Struggling with a sore right hamstring, Clemens gritted his teeth through five scoreless innings Sunday night, and the Yankees went on to a 3-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners in Game 4 of the AL Championship Series. "He was overpowering the first three or four innings," Yankees catcher Jorge Posada said. "Then he kind of felt something in his hamstring. He went to a changeup and a split. He showed a lot of courage." The Rocket allowed only one hit -- John Olerud's leadoff single in the fourth -- and struck out seven. He was relieved by Ramiro Mendoza to start the sixth. "He was just running out," New York manager Joe Torre said. "He had a wrap on it and he had to take the wrap off because it was getting real tight on him. He gave us all I could ask for. That was five innings we didn't have to look for. It was a great outing for him." Clemens had trouble with his command, walking four. He could not duplicate his dominant performance from Game 4 of last year's ALCS against Seattle -- a one-hit shutout with 15 strikeouts -- but he was good enough to keep the Mariners off the scoreboard. "He may not have had his best stuff, but that's the sign of a good pitcher," Seattle's Mark McLemore said.
So sorryDerek Jeter and his New York Yankees teammates said they were sorry for skipping out early after Game 3 of the AL Championship Series. Many of New York's starters were pulled from the 14-3 drubbing Saturday and left the clubhouse by the time reporters were allowed in for postgame interviews. "First of all, on behalf of everyone that wasn't available yesterday, I want to apologize," Jeter said Sunday before a 3-1 win in Game 4 left New York one win from its fourth straight trip to the World Series. "We did not intentionally do it so you guys were not able to do your job, so hopefully you didn't take it personally." Yankees manager Joe Torre wasn't pleased by the actions of his players. "It's not the right thing," Torre said. "I talked to my players before we went out to batting practice. I wasn't in a great mood myself after the game yesterday, and I know they are better than that. I think they were frustrated, but again, that doesn't make it the right thing to do." Outfielder Bernie Williams, who hit a two-run homer to give New York an early lead in Game 3, was one of the players who left the locker room. "I can't speak for my teammates. I'm one that likes to get out of there as soon as I can," he said. "I think most of the guys left early because they were out of the game early. They figured some of the guys that stayed in the game were going to pick up the slack, and I guess nobody did."
A solemn visitSeveral hours before Game 4 on Sunday night, Mariners pitching coach Bryan Price discussed a visit he made to ground zero with about 30 players, family members and staff. "What we saw today," Price said quietly, "is what the people in this city have been living with since Sept. 11. There's no way you can block it out. There's no way you'd want to." Price said there is no way to be prepared for the scale of the destruction, even for people who have followed the events closely through the news. Even the impulse to help, he said, was overwhelmed by the enormity of the job facing emergency crews recovering bodies from the rubble and beginning the cleanup. But Price expected the Mariners would be ready to play by game time. "Yankee Stadium is such a big loud place, you can't help but feed off the energy," he said.
October dreamsAfter nine seasons in the major leagues, Seattle Mariners starter Aaron Sele will be looking for his first career postseason victory when he takes the mound in Game 5 on Monday night. "The starting pitcher's job is to go out there and to pitch ballgames and give your team a chance to win," Sele said. "I've pitched good in some games and I have not pitched good in some games, whether it's postseason or regular season. My biggest concern is getting my team a win." One loss from elimination, the Mariners are counting on Sele for a big effort. He is 107-68 in his regular-season career, but 0-5 in the playoffs with four of the losses coming against the Yankees. "They have got great pitching and great defense," Sele said. "When you have the starters that they do, that puts pressure on the other team because you cannot afford to make mistakes. One or two mistakes, and their starter is going to hold you down. And their hitters are balanced, 1-through-9." Andy Pettitte, who shut down Seattle with eight innings of three-hit ball for a 4-2 victory in Game 1, will start for New York. He is 9-5 career in the postseason, but feels it's difficult for a pitcher to face the same team twice in one series. "I think it's the hitters' advantage, to tell you the truth," Pettitte said Sunday. "Just because they kind of see what your ball is doing and stuff like that. But if you are able to make quality pitches, you are usually going to get guys out."
Around the hornRoger Clemens fanned Ichiro Suzuki to start Game 4 for his 47th career strikeout in the AL championship series. He passed Baltimore Orioles great Jim Palmer for the ALCS record. Clemens, third on the regular-season strikeout list behind only Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton, set the mark in his ninth ALCS start. Palmer pitched in eight games. Clemens entered 2-3 with a 4.10 ERA in the ALCS. ... Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra, joined by former Yankees shortstop and broadcaster Phil Rizzuto, threw out the first pitch. ... Teams that have won Game 4 have gone on to win the ALCS 18 of 24 times.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
