Yanks Win As Gamble Goes Awry New York Knots Series With Amazing Comeback

Here was the dilemma facing Bobby Cox: Pitch to the hero who had brought the New York Yankees to the World Series, or face a future Hall of Famer with the bases loaded.

The Atlanta manager took one of the biggest gambles in baseball history, and the Yankees turned it into one of the most remarkable comebacks in World Series history.

Cox intentionally walked Bernie Williams with two outs in the 10th inning, runners on first and second and the score tied. Pinch-hitter Wade Boggs then drew a walk on a full count, giving the Yankees the go-ahead run in an 8-6 win Wednesday night that evened the Series at two games each.

“Smart thing to do,” Braves manager Cox insisted. “He’s the best hitter they’ve got. He carried them through Texas, he carried them through Baltimore and he’s knocked the living hell out of us.”

The strategy, however, went awry when losing pitcher Steve Avery couldn’t find the strike zone. Boggs has a bad back and is in a postseason slump that saw him sit the last two games against left-handers. However, he has 2,697 career hits and one of the best eyes in baseball.

“It hasn’t let me down in 15 years,” said Boggs, who batted for rookie Andy Fox. “It’s the biggest walk I’ve ever had.

“They weren’t walking to get to me,” he said. “They were walking to get to Andy Fox and that was probably Bobby Cox’s whole strategy.”

A three-run homer by Jim Leyritz in the eighth inning tied the game at 6 as the Yankees rallied from a six-run deficit. Two innings later, they matched the second-biggest comeback in Series play with a win that made them 7-0 on the road in this postseason.

The win in the longest game in World Series history - 4 hours, 17 minutes - ensured New York would return to Yankee Stadium this weekend.

Tonight, in what will be the last game ever at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Braves ace John Smoltz will start against New York’s Andy Pettitte in Game 5.

Wednesday night, with two outs in the 10th, Tim Raines drew a walk from Avery and moved to second on a single by Derek Jeter. Cox went to the mound and elected to walk Williams, the MVP of the A.L. championship series and a star in the Yankees’ victory the previous night with a home run.

Fox was on deck, but Cox clearly knew that Boggs was left on the bench as the Yankees’ last position player.

“You don’t want Bernie Williams to beat you,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said. “I don’t think this was anything to second-guess.”

Avery, now with no margin for error, got ahead in the count 1-2, but Boggs took three straight balls for the walk that put New York ahead.

Charlie Hayes followed with a pop that first baseman Ryan Klesko dropped for an error, allowing another run to score.

Graeme Lloyd escaped a jam in the ninth and was the winner, and John Wetteland got two outs for a save.

The biggest comeback in World Series history was the Philadelphia Athletics’ rally from an 8-0 deficit in a 10-8 win in Game 4 in 1929.

Needing just six outs for a win, Cox made the rare move of bringing in closer Mark Wohlers to start the eighth. Moments later, Atlanta’s 6-3 lead was gone.

Hayes led off with a dribbler down the third-base line that the Braves let roll, but it stayed fair for a single. Darryl Strawberry followed with a single and Mariano Duncan grounded into a force play that could have been a double play except for a bobble by defensive replacement Rafael Belliard at shortstop.

Up stepped Leyritz, in the game only because starting catcher Joe Girardi had left earlier for a pinchhitter. Leyritz lofted a high fly that carried over the left field wall, and his teammates rushed to greet him as he crossed home plate with tying run.

Last year, Leyritz hit a 15th-inning homer to beat Seattle in the first round of the playoffs.

“I thought of that homer as I was going around the bases,” Leyritz said. The Yankees loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth. Duncan hit a low liner that rookie right fielder Jermaine Dye caught as he staggered forward, tumbling to the ground after the grab.

The Braves had their chance in the ninth against Mariano Rivera after Mark Lemke singled with one out and Chipper Jones walked. Left-hander Lloyd relieved to face left-handed Fred McGriff and got him to ground into a double play.

Yankees 8, Braves 6, 10 innings

New York AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Raines lf 5 1 0 0 1 1 .214 DJeter ss 4 2 2 0 2 2 .333 BeWillms cf 4 1 0 0 2 1 .125 Fielder 1b 4 1 2 1 1 0 .333 1-Fox pr-3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 —- f-Boggs ph-3b 0 0 0 1 1 0 .375 Hayes 3b-1b 5 1 3 1 1 0 .273 Strwbrry rf 5 0 2 0 1 2 .273 Duncan 2b 5 1 0 0 0 1 .071 Girardi c 2 0 0 0 0 0 .000 b-O’Neill ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .143 Leyritz c 2 1 1 3 0 0 .333 Rogers p 1 0 1 0 0 0 1.000 Boehringr p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —- a-Sojo ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .667 Weathers p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —- c-TiMrtnz ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .125 JNelson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —- d-Aldrete ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 MRivera p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Lloyd p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Wetteland p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —- Totals 42 8 12 6 9 9 Atlanta AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Grissom cf 5 0 1 2 0 0 .421 Lemke 2b 5 0 1 0 0 1 .353 CpJones 3b-ss 3 2 1 0 2 0 .308 McGriff 1b 3 1 2 1 2 0 .429 Clontz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —- JLopez c 2 1 0 1 1 1 .214 Wohlers p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —- Avery p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —- Klesko 1b 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000 AJones lf 4 1 3 1 1 1 .400 Dye rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .154 Blauser ss 3 1 1 1 0 2 .167 Belliard ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 —- e-Polonia ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Pendlton 3b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .167 Neagle p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Wade p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —- Bielecki p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000 EdPerez c 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 35 6 9 6 6 9 New York 000 003 030 2 - 8 Atlanta 041 010 000 0 - 6 a-singled for Boehringer in the 5th. b-struck out for Girardi in the 6th. c-struck out for Weathers in the 6th. d-grounded out for Nelson in the 8th. e-struck out for Belliard in the 8th. f-walked for Fox in the 10th. 1-ran for Fielder in the 9th. E-Klesko (1), Dye (1). LOBNew York 13, Atlanta 8. 2B-Grissom (2), AJones (1). HR-McGriff (2) off Rogers; Leyritz (1) off Wohlers. RBIsFielder (1), Boggs (2), Hayes (1), Leyritz 3 (3), Grissom 2 (4), McGriff (6), JLopez (1), AJones (6), Blauser (1). S-Dye, Neagle. SF-JLopez. GIDPBeWilliams, McGriff. Runners left in scoring position-New York 6 (Strawberry 3, Duncan 2, TiMartinez); Atlanta 6 (Lemke, McGriff, Dye 3, EdPerez). Runners moved up-Duncan, Dye. DP-New York 1 (DJeter, Duncan and Hayes); Atlanta 1 (Blauser, Lemke and McGriff).

New York IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Rogers 2 5 5 5 2 0 52 22.50 Boehringer 2 0 0 0 0 3 23 5.40 Weathers 1 1 1 1 2 2 26 3.38 JNelson 2 0 0 0 1 2 35 0.00 MRivera 1-1/3 2 0 0 1 1 26 2.45 Lloyd W, 1-0 1 0 0 0 0 1 9 0.00 Wettland S,2/3 2 1 0 0 0 0 10 0.00

Atlanta IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Neagle 5 5 3 2 4 3 92 3.00 Wade 0 0 0 0 1 0 6 0.00 Bielecki 2 0 0 0 1 4 34 0.00 Wohlers 2 6 3 3 0 1 28 9.00 Avery L, 0-1 2/3 1 2 1 3 0 25 13.50 Clontz 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 7 0.00 Rogers pitched to 2 batters in the 3rd, Neagle pitched to 4 batters in the 6th, Wade pitched to 1 batter in the 6th. Inherited runners-scored-Boehringer 2-1, Lloyd 2-0, Clontz 3-1, Wade 1-0, Bielecki 2-0. IBBoff Weathers (McGriff) 1, off Avery (BeWilliams) 1. Balk-Weathers. T-4:17. A-51,881 (52,710).