Section B·Page 10
The University Daily Kansan
Wednesday, October 4, 2000
MLB
Cardinals win despite wild pitching
The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals opened the playoffs with a wild win, beating the bumbling Atlanta Braves despite the most out-of-control pitching in the major leagues in more than a century.
Rick Ankiel, a surprise game one starter for St. Louis, became the first pitcher in 110 years to throw five wild pitches in one innning, but St. Louis held on to a six-run, first-inning lead and beat the Braves 7-5 yesterday.
"Hey, I guess at least I set a record," Ankiel ioked.
With the help of two errors and a fly ball that Gold Glove centerfielder Andruw Jones apparently lost in the sun, St. Louis got its first five batters on in the first against Greg Maddux, who dropped to 10-11 in postseason play.
"A crazy inning where things kind of went haywire," Braves pitching coach Leo Mazzone said. "I guess that's the best way to describe it."
Placido Polanco hit a two-run single as the Cardinals tied a postseason record for runs in the opening inning. Jim Edmonds added a home run in the fourth.
Atlanta made three errors in all, contributing to two unearned runs, just two days after Chipper Jones' ninth-inning error cost the defending National League champions home-field advantage in the first round.
"A couple of mistakes cost us," said outfielder Brian Jordan.
Mike James relieved Ankiel and got the final out of the third, then pitched two more innings for the win. Dave Veres worked the ninth for the save, allowing an RBI single to Jordan.
"I don't care about the save," Veres said. "I wanted us to score four or five more runs in the eighth."
After a day off today, the series resumes with Darryl Kile pitching for St. Louis against Tom Glavine in a matchup of the National League's only
20-game winners, then travels to Atlanta for the weekend.
Ankiel originally was to pitch in game two, but La Russa made the switch Monday.
Given the 6-0 lead, Ankiel stumbled in the third and became only the second pitcher in major league history to throw five wild pitches in an inning. On Sept. 15, 1890, Bert Cunningham did it for Buffalo of the Players League in the first inning of the second game of a doubleheader.
All but one of Ankiel's wild pitches were fastballs, most of them high over the head of catcher Carlos Hernandez. The fifth was a curve that bounced about five feet in front of the plate.
Hernandez also made a leaping grab to prevent what would have been another.
"He threw some outstanding pitches and he threw some funny pitches," said manager Tony La Russa, who repeated Ankiel is his scheduled starter if a
fourth game is needed.
Ankiel threw 12 wild pitches in 175 regular-season innings. More than half (34) of his 66 pitches yesterday were hulls.
Mark McGwire, limited to one plate appearance per game because of knee pain, pinch hit in the eighth and was intentionally walked.
Notes: The Cardinals never have lost a game in a best-of-five series, sweeping the Braves in 1982 and the Padres in 1996. .. St. Louis had the best day record in the National League at 38-30, including 22-9 at home. .. The Braves, in need of offense, pinch hit Javy Lopez for Bako in the second inning. But Lopez lined into an inning-end double play on a diving grab by shortstop Edgar Renteria and ended up 0-for-4. .. The Braves were 11th in the National League with 129 errors. .. Braves pitchers didn't have a 1-2-3 inning until Terry Mulholland retired the side in order in the seventh.
Athletics upend Yankees 5-3 in AL playoff opener
The Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. — Even the comfort of the postseason couldn't break the New York Yankees out of their deep funk.
Ramon Hernandez drove in two runs, including a go-ahead double in the sixth inning off Roger Clemens, and the Oakland Athletics defeated the struggling Yankees last night in the opener of their American League playoff series, 5-3.
In a matchup of near-opposites, a small-market A's club making its first playoff appearance since 1992 was patient enough to outlast Clemens and a mega-rich Yankees club trying to defend its two-straight World Series titles.
Overpowered for the first four innings, the A's scored four times in the fifth and sixth off a tiring Clemens — he threw 111 pitches in his six innings. The A's held off the Yankees late and took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five AL division series.
The Yankees stumbled into the playoff this year, ending the regular season with a seven-game losing streak, which was the worst skid ever for a team entering the postseason.
They hoped the postseason would provide a panacea. After all, they had won 18 of their previous 19 postseason games heading into this series, including a record-matching 12-straight World Series victories.
The slump prompted Yankees owner George Steinbrenner to issue a statement earlier in the day about his team.
"Tired? Yeah, maybe. Struggling?
Yeah, maybe. But scared? That word ain't even in our vocabulary," he said.
The A's, on the other hand, won eight of their last 10 regular-season games and overtook Seattle for the AL West title, clinching the division title on the final day. Their 21-7 record in September was best in the major leagues.
Journeyman Gil Heredia, making the first postseason start of his nine-year
major league career, allowed three runs on seven hits in six innings for the win.
Oakland closer Jason Isringhausen got three outs for his first postseason save. The Yankees got only three hits in the last seven innings.
Clemens, who now has a 3-4 record in 13 postseason starts, allowed four runs on seven hits in six innings.
The yankees took their first lead in a week when consecutive RBI doubles by Luis Sojo and Scott Brosius gave New York a 2-0 lead in the second inning. That broke New York's streak of 63 innings without a lead.
Clemens struck out five and allowed only one hit, an infield single by Terrence Long, in the first four innings. But the A's finally broke through in the fifth.
Hernandez and Randy Velarde had RBI singles and another run scored on a wild pitch by Clemens, giving the A's a 3-2 lead.
Oakland regained the lead in its half of the inning on two-out singles by Eric Chavez and Jeremy Giambi and the RBI double by Hernandez. Giambi also tried to score on Hernandez's hit, but was thrown out at home.
on a sacrifice fly by Tino Martinez.
The Yankees tied it at three in the sixth
Oakland made it 5-3 in the eighth when Miguel Tejada moved up on a wild pitch by Mike Stanton and scored on a single by Chavez.
Notes: Oakland's Art Howe won in his first postseason game as a manager. ... The Yankees and A's were meeting in the postseason for the first time since the strike-shortened 1981 season. New York swept the A's in three games in the 1981 AL championship series. ... New York's David Justice appeared in his 78th post-season game, setting a major league record. Justice, who has been in the playoffs with Atlanta, Cleveland and now the Yankees, broke the record he had shared with former Yankees and A's star Reggie Jackson.
White Sox lose series opener to Mariners
The Associated Press
CHICAGO — Mike Cameron unnerved his former team with his speed, then Edgar Martinez and John Olerud provided the power for the Seattle Mariners.
Martinez hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning after Cameron's stolen base, and Olerud followed with a home run as Seattle beat the Chicago White Sox 7-4 last night in the opener of their AL playoff series.
The consecutive homers came off Chicago relief ace Kelth Foulke, who'd surrendered just nine home runs in 88 innings all season.
Cameron, traded away by the White Sox two years ago to Cincinnati and acquired by the Mariners in the Ken Griffey Jr. deal this February, singled in the tying run in the seventh.
He singled again to start the 10th. Alex Rodriguez popped out before Cameron, once projected as Chicago' next star, was nearly picked off first.
After manager Lou Piniella came out of the dugout and talked to him, Cameron stole second two pitches later.
Martinez, who led the AL with 145 RBI and had a career-high 37 homers, hit a two-run homer to left field. It silenced a crowd of 45,290 that came to see the White Sox's first playoff appearance in seven years. Olerud followed with a long shot to center.
Jose Mesa, who escaped a jam in the White Sox ninth, was the winning pitcher and Kazuhiro Sasaki pitched the 10th for the save. Foulke took the loss
Game 2 in the best-of-five series will be tomorrow at Chicago.
Notes: The White Sox have five players on their roster with previous playoff experience, and they're all position players. The Mariners have 13 who have been in the playoffs before, including four pitchers.
Backup catcher Mark Johnson was left off the roster in place of Josh Paul, even though Johnson spent the entire season with the White Sox and Paul didn't. Paul is a faster runner and can play the outfield, manager Jerry Manuel said.
Chicago's Mike Sirotka and Seattle's Paul Abbott will start Game 2.
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