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Bern, baby, Bern! Williams leads Yankees past Mariners in Game 3
SEATTLE (AP) -- The Yankees finally are playing like the Yankees. Bernie Williams and Tino Martinez hit consecutive homers in the second inning and David Justice drove in three runs, leading New York over the Seattle Mariners 8-2 on Friday night for a 2-1 edge in the AL championship series. Andy Pettitte improved to 8-4 in postseason play, Mariano Rivera broke Whitey Ford's record for consecutive scoreless postseason innings, and eight of nine starters got hits. After slumbering through the final three weeks of the regular season and the first 10 days of the playoffs, the Yankees have shaken their lengthiest slump in five seasons. On Wednesday at Yankee Stadium, they were six outs from falling behind 2-0 in the series before riding a seven-run eighth inning to a 7-1 win. They made their third cross-country trip in less than a week and fell behind in the first, then did everything right, from timely hitting to clutch pitching. New York got 13 hits and scored in four innings for the first time in this year's playoffs. And for the first time this October, the two-time World Series champions looked like they were in control, playing with renewed resolve rather than cringing from the weight of their past accomplishments. Even Paul O'Neill came through. The right fielder, the Yankees' warrior and backbone, had been 0-for-8 in the series, flailing at the plate in perhaps the worst slump of his career. After Seattle clawed back to 3-2 in the fifth, O'Neill came right back with a sharp two-out single in the sixth off Aaron Sele, his first RBI hit of the postseason. Chuck Knoblauch added an RBI single in the ninth against Brett Tomko, Justice followed with a two-run single and Williams added a sacrifice fly off Rob Ramsay. Pettitte allowed two runs and nine hits in 6 2-3 innings and Jeff Nelson followed with two-thirds of an inning. Nelson looked like he didn't want to come out after striking Edgar Martinez with a runner at second and no outs in the eighth. Rivera came in, retired pinch-hitter Stan Javier on a grounder and John Olerud on a flyout, then pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save of the playoffs. Rivera has 33 1-3 consecutive scoreless innings in the postseason since Sandy Alomar's homer in Game 4 of the 1997 division series, one more than Ford, the Yankees' Hall of Fame left-hander. Roger Clemens takes an 0-2 postseason record this year into Game 4 Saturday night, pitching against Paul Abbott. Some omens were against the Yankees. It was the 40th anniversary of Bill Mazeroski's home run that won Game 7 of the 1960 World Series for Pittsburgh, and the roof was closed at Safeco Field, where the Mariners were 10-3 in regular-season games that ended under cover. Above the roof and thick overcast, there was a full moon. And, it was Friday the 13th. Seattle, which has just five runs in three games, quickly went ahead. Consecutive one-out singles by Mike Cameron, Alex Rodriguez and Martinez put Seattle ahead in the first, but Pettitte retired Jay Buhner on a pop and the Yankees rebounded in the second with their first consecutive homers in 16 games since Sept. 23. Williams connected to right on a 3-0 pitch and Martinez, who played for the Mariners when they upset the Yankees in the 1995 playoffs, followed four pitches later with a drive just over a leaping Cameron in center. Neither had homered since Sept. 24 against Detroit, the Yankees' next-to-last home game of the regular season. New York made it 3-1 in the third, scoring in consecutive innings for the first time during this year's playoffs. Scott Brosius singled leading off, Derek Jeter hit into a forceout and David Justice doubled with two outs to the gap in left-center as Jeter came home. Seattle closed within a run in the fifth when Rickey Henderson doubled with one out and Cameron followed with an RBI single. But New York came right back in the sixth, aided by Sele's fielding miscue. Williams singled with one out and Martinez hit a slow roller between the mound and first. Sele got to the ball quickly, maybe too quickly. As his momentum carried him into foul territory, he couldn't get the ball out of the webbing of his glove. Jorge Posada flied to right, with Williams crossing to third, and O'Neill singled to right. Notes: Posada was the only Yankees starter without a hit. ... Sele gave up four runs and nine hits in six-plus innings, dropping to 0-3 in the postseason - with all three losses to the Yankees. ... Umpire Fieldin Culbreth replaced Randy Marsh (injured left elbow). ... The previous pair to hit consecutive ALCS homers were Harold Baines and Rafael Palmeiro for Baltimore against Cleveland two years ago.
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