World Series Tied at 2 Games Each
NEW YORK (AP) - Derek Jeter already saved the New York Yankees' season in October. He might have saved the World Series for them in November.
Jeter homered with two outs in the bottom of 10th inning, celebrating with a two-footed jump onto the plate and giving New York a thrilling 4-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The first game-ending home run of Jeter's career tied the Series at 2-2.
A game that belonged to Curt Schilling most of Wednesday night slipped away when Tino Martinez hit a two-run homer to tie it with two outs in the ninth.
Shortly after the Yankee Stadium scoreboard flashed, ``Welcome to November Baseball,'' Jeter connected at 12:04 a.m.
``We always feel as though we have a chance to win a game,'' Jeter said. ``When you get to the postseason, you can throw everything out that you've done in the regular season.''
Martinez and Jeter both homered off Byung-Hyun Kim. The Diamondbacks' closer came on in the eighth to relieve Schilling, pitching on only three days' rest.
Sitting in the dugout, Schilling watched it all unravel with a look of utter disbelief as the Yankees won their record ninth straight home game in the Series.
The defending three-time champions will send Mike Mussina against Miguel Batista in Game 5 Thursday night. No matter who wins, the Series will go back to Bank One Ballpark.
Jeter usually shines in October, and it was his incredible, backhanded flip that helped the Yankees avoid elimination by Oakland in the first round.
Facing the homer-prone Kim, Jeter sent an opposite-field drive into the seats in right. The Yankees spilled out of the dugout to greet him at the plate, and Jeter hopped home as baseball's first Mr. November.
``Yeah, I think I broke my foot,'' he said.
The crowd, already crazed on Halloween night, went wild while Jeter's parents were hugged by everybody sitting near them in the stands.
``Surprising things happen,'' Yankees manager Joe Torre said. ``Yet, when you think about it, it doesn't surprise you, because this ballclub never quits.''
It was the first time in World Series history that a team tied a game with a ninth-inning homer and won with a homer in extra innings, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Schilling, moved up by rookie manager Bob Brenly, did everything Arizona could have asked. But when Kim relieved, the game turned spooky for his team.
``We had a lead, we had six outs left to go in the ballgame,'' Brenly said. ``That's the way we hoped it would work out. Unfortunately, it didn't.''
Mariano Rivera broke three bats in a perfect 10th inning for the win.
A sellout crowd of 55,863 that included Mr. October - Reggie Jackson - turned quiet in the ninth inning with the Yankees in trouble.
Kim, who struck out the side in the eighth, gave up a one-out single to Paul O'Neill in the ninth before striking out Bernie Williams.
Martinez, hitless in nine Series at-bats, launched a drive over the center-field fence to tie it. The fans roared, and several Yankees jumped over the railing in front of the dugout to celebrate.
``We knew we had our work cut out for us,'' Martinez said.
Kim set down the first two batters in the 10th. But Jeter, only 1-for-15 in the Series, rose to the occasion.
Jeter fouled three two-strike pitches and then homered.
Making Brenly look like a genius, Schilling showed no ill effects in giving up three hits for seven innings.
``I felt good. I told him there was no reason take me out right there,'' Schilling said.
Schilling's bid for a record fifth win in a postseason, however, ended when the Yankees rallied.
``Schilling might pitch tomorrow night, too,'' Jeter said. ``He did his job.''
Since 1999, starters working on three days' rest had been just 1-9 with a 9.73 ERA in postseason play.
Everyone at Yankee Stadium was energized, a sharp contrast to the subdued crowd on hand for President Bush's visit for Game 3. And while Mayor Rudolph Giuliani hollered from the front row, Yankees starter Orlando Hernandez was the most excitable of all.
El Duque shouted at plate umpire Ed Rapuano, firmly shook off catcher Jorge Posada and accidentally smacked into Arizona's Tony Womack.
Hernandez made up with Rapuano when he was pulled in the seventh. He made a beeline to meet the umpire along the first-base line and patted him on the chest, and both men smiled.
With Hernandez gone, the Diamondbacks scored twice in the eighth for a 3-1 lead.
Reliever Mike Stanton retired 22 straight batters in Series play before Luis Gonzalez singled to start the inning, and Erubiel Durazo followed with a go-ahead double.
Pinch-runner Midre Cummings later beat Jeter's throw home on Matt Williams' grounder for another run.
Before then, the only runs came on homers. Shane Spencer connected for the Yankees in the third and Mark Grace tied it in the fourth.
Spencer also contributed another big defensive play. A day after making a sliding catch, he threw out Womack at the plate on a short fly to left in the fifth.
Notes: Chad Curtis was the last player to end a Series game with a home run, doing it for the Yankees in 1999 against Atlanta. ... David Justice struck out in his first eight at-bats against Arizona. He broke the Series record of five straight strikeouts held by several players, including Mickey Mantle. Justice had an infield single in the ninth. ... Womack led off the game with his first hit of the Series. He had been 0-for-11. ... Spencer hit his first Series home run. ... Craig Counsell had three sacrifice bunts, tying the Series record set by the Cubs' Joe Tinker in 1906.
Originally published November 01, 2001.
