After a dramatic walk-off win in Game 1, the Yankees doubled their advantage in Game 2 of the 2000 World Series. However, the road there was a bit of a roller coaster.
The first inning featured arguably the most memorable moment of the series for anyone who’s not a Yankee fan. The Bombers mostly dominated the game after that, but by the time the ninth inning came around, they had to crawl their way over the finish line. However, a win is a win, and the Yankees got a crucial one on this day 25 years
ago.
October 22: Yankees 6, Mets 5 (box score)
Record: Yankees lead World Series 2-0 (96-78 overall)
Game 2 of the 2000 World Series is probably most remembered for one incident that didn’t even really have much of an effect on the final result of either the game or the series. Earlier in the season, the Yankees’ Roger Clemens and the Mets’ Mike Piazza were involved in an incident where Clemens hit the catcher on the head with a pitch, causing a concussion and a injured list stint for Piazza. Eyes were glued to their first meeting in the World Series, and there was more action. Piazza fouled a pitch off and broke his bat in the process. A shard of the bat headed towards the mound, and Clemens picked it up and threw it towards Piazza, who was headed up the baseline.
The benches cleared, but seeing as it was the World Series and there was much more to play for, things eventually settled down. After the game, Clemens claimed he initially thought the bat was the ball and threw it out of confusion and adrenaline. I know this is a Yankees’ website, but even as a Yankees fan I have to say I find that claim dubious. Whatever happened there, when things calmed down, Clemens got Piazza to ground out, beginning what would be a very big day from him.
Facing NLCS MVP Mike Hampton, the Yankees quickly ensured that he would not also be in contention for World Series MVP. While Hampton retired the first two Yankees’ batters of the game, he issued two-out walks to David Justice and Bernie Williams. Tino Martinez and Jorge Posada then followed those with a single each, with both hits scoring a run to give the Yankees a quick 2-0 lead. Then leading off the second inning, Scott Brosius went deep to extend the lead.
Meanwhile, Clemens got into a groove, allowing just two baserunners in the first five innings, neither of which got past first base. The Yankees’ offense then gave him some more breathing room, when another couple batters reached with two outs, leading to a run scoring on a Paul O’Neill single.
After that, Clemens worked around a runner each in both the sixth and seventh innings. The one in the sixth was self-inflicted as Clemens made a throwing error on a Timo Pérez bunt attempt. With Clemens still rolling, the Mets went to their bullpen for the seventh, but the Yankees picked up some insurance there as well. With Posada and O’Neill on after hits, Brosius hit a fly ball deep enough for Posada to tag up and score. An inning later, Martinez recorded yet another two-out RBI when his single scored Derek Jeter. Those runs seemed superfluous in the moment, but ended up being quite big.
Wrapping up his day with a 1-2-3 inning, Clemens ended up putting in a very strong showing. In his eight innings, he allowed just two hits — both singles — and a hit by pitch. For non-Yankees fans, his day will always be remembered for whatever the hell happened with the broken bat, but it’s undeniable that he got the Yankees a giant step closer to the title after that moment.
With a 6-0 lead going into the ninth inning, Joe Torre and the Yankees seemingly didn’t need to use the big gun in Mariano Rivera, so Mike Stanton was sent out to try and finish things off. Stanton quickly got himself into trouble, as after an Edgardo Alfonzo single, Piazza struck with a homer to get the Mets on the board.
Following another single from Robin Ventura, Torre decided not to take any further chances and went to Rivera. He seemingly got things back on track by getting Todd Zeile to fly out, although it did require a catch at the wall from Clay Bellinger.
Benny Agbayani then added a single, and a passed ball after that suddenly had the Mets set up. However, Rivera got Lenny Harris to ground one right back to him, and he fired back home to get Ventura out for a fielder’s choice play at the plate. Jay Payton stepped to the plate next with the Yankees just an out away. However on 1-1 pitch, Payton poked at one and got it to fly to deep right field. It just cleared the short porch, and suddenly the Mets had scored five runs in the inning and were down just a run.
Fortunately for the Yankees, light-hitting utility infielder Kurt Abbott was due up next, having come in as a defensive replacement for a pinch hitter an inning earlier. Rivera had no issues with him, striking him out on three pitches, catching him looking for strike three. While the ninth inning made things far more interesting than they should’ve been, it was a win and the Yankees had a solid 2-0 lead in the series.
Read the full 2000 Yankees Diary series here.
