The 2005 World Series

11/07/2001 05:12 PM ET

Diamondbacks win World Series


Randy Johnson pitched for the second straight game, winning his fifth contest of the postseason.
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Box score
PHOENIX -- The Diamondbacks found their own mystique and aura.

After being beaten in extra inning games twice in New York, Arizona got late inning revenge and a World Championship, too.

Luis Gonzalez hit a RBI single with one out in the ninth inning Sunday night off super closer Mariano Rivera to give the expansion Diamondbacks their first World Series win and upend the three-time defending champion Yankees.

"From Day One, our goal wasn't to get to the World Series. It was to win it," Gonzalez said.

The D-Backs wear purple, not classic pinstripes, and have a swimming pool in right field. The franchise is now the youngest to win a World Championship. The Yankees are older than the state of Arizona.

But this was Game 7 and magic things can happen.

"We beat the best team in baseball," Arizona starter and co-MVP Curt Schilling said.

Yankees
2 6 2

Diamondbacks 3 10 0
WP: Randy Johnson (5-1)
LP: Mariano Rivera (0-1)
SV: None

HR: Alfonso Soriano (2)

Trailing 2-1 in the ninth, Mark Grace singled to lead off against Rivera (2-1), who had converted 23 consecutive saves in postseason play prior to Sunday. Damian Miller then reached on a fielder's choice and pinch-runner David Dellucci was safe at second on a throwing error by Rivera, who fielded the bunt but overthrew second base. Pinch-hitter Jay Bell then bunted, forcing Dellucci at third.

Tony Womack doubled to right, scoring pinch-runner Midre Cummings and tying the game at 2. It was the first run off Rivera after six scoreless innings.

Craig Counsell, the only D-Back with a World Series ring -- and now has two -- was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Gonzalez who blooped a single over shortstop Derek Jeter into shallow center, scoring Bell for the game-winner.

"We had the lead and we had 'Mo' (Rivera) in the game and that's all we really wanted," New York manager Joe Torre said.

"I don't second guess anything I threw," Rivera said. "I think if I had made that play to second base, that was the whole game right there."

The Yankees knew they had to beat both Schilling and Randy Johnson to win the Series. They just didn't expect to have to do it in the same game.

It was an impossible task.

Schilling started, gave up six hits over seven innings. One day after throwing 100 pitches in Game 6, Johnson pitched 1 1/3 innings in relief and picked up the win, his fifth, which is a postseason record. The two were named co-Most Valuable Players. And deservedly so.

"I've seen (Johnson) do it before when I was with Seattle," New York's Tino Martinez said about the Big Unit's relief appearance. "Seventy-five percent of Randy is better than most."

Rookie Alfonso Soriano hit a tie-breaking home run leading off the eighth inning off Schilling to give New York a 2-1 lead.

The Yankees batted just .183 in the Series, the lowest average for a team in a seven- or eight-game Series, and were outscored 37-14 in the seven games. They needed more.

"We felt we outplayed the Yankees," Gonzalez said. "Our pitching staff shut down a good club."

Torre had hoped Schilling, pitching on short rest for the second straight start, was weary.

"We're looking for that crack in the armor," Torre said.

Soriano found it briefly.

Arizona had taken a 1-0 lead on Danny Bautista's RBI double in the sixth but the Yankees quickly tied it in the seventh on Martinez's RBI single.

Schilling, who retired 16 in a row at one point, served up Soriano's blast on a 0-2 pitch into the left field bleachers.

He faced two more Yankees before giving way to Miguel Batista who got one out and exited for Johnson. The Big Unit, making his second career postseason relief appearance, got pinch-hitter Chuck Knoblauch to fly out and end the inning. Johnson (5-1) retired the side in order in the ninth and picked up the win. Johnson's first postseason relief appearance came in the 1995 American League Division Series against the Yankees.

The Yankees have had to play deciding games in best-of-five series but not a Game 7 since 1964.

"The pressures are different, no question," Torre said. "You're finally here and after today it just stops. It's been 100 miles an hour for a few weeks now and it's been pressure-packed."

This was the 34th time the World Series has gone seven games and the 49,589 at Bank One Ballpark weren't disappointed. It was the third time this postseason the D-Backs won the clinching game of a series by a run.

Here's to whoever had 19 in the strikeout pool between the two 20-game winners. Schilling struck out nine and New York starter Roger Clemens had 10.

For Clemens, it was his sixth career World Series start and the first time he's had to pick up a bat in the postseason since Game 6 of the 1986 World Series when he played for Boston against the New York Mets. He gave up one run on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings before Mike Stanton took over.

Clemens had tested the BOB's mound on Friday, an off day, after the team arrived from New York. It must have been OK.

Clemens stymied the D-Backs until the sixth. Steve Finley singled to open the inning and Bautista smacked the first pitch from Clemens to the wall in center for a double. Finley scored but Bautista got greedy and was thrown out on an 8-6-5 relay.

The Yankees answered quickly as Jeter singled to start the seventh. Paul O'Neill then singled and Williams hit into a fielder's choice, forcing O'Neill. Martinez singled to right to score Jeter and muffle the crowd. That was all until Soriano's home run, which had been enough for New York.

They won Games 4 and 5 in extra innings. But that was in New York. The home team won every game in this Series just as the Minnesota and St. Louis did in 1987 and Minnesota and Atlanta did in 1991. The D-Backs were back on their home desert turf and not to be denied.

The Yankees have had to deal with more than baseball this season although Sunday's game was not about the tragic events of Sept. 11, but only about baseball. Nobody ever says they dream about playing Game 4 in the World Series.

This was the ultimate game.

"There's no question what went on in New York inspired us a great deal," Torre said. "We fell short."

It was quite a Series. The Diamondbacks became the first team in World Series history to enter the bottom of the ninth inning trailing in a Game 7 and then rally to win before the game went into extra innings.

"It's had a little bit of everything," D-Backs manager Bob Brenly said. "It's had great pitching, it's had some of the most ungodly, timely hitting you're ever going to see in your life. We've had offensive explosions, we've had great defense and we've had shoddy defense.

"I think people are surprised that this series has gone the way it has," Brenly said, "but I can't wait to sit back and watch the tapes myself."

Us, too.

Box score 2001 World Series - Game 7

Diamondbacks 3, Yankees 2
at Bank One Ballpark


FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Yankees 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 6 3
Diamondbacks 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 3 11 0
YANKEES POS AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG.
Derek Jeter SS 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 .148
Paul O'Neill RF 3 0 2 0 0 1 0 .333
b- Chuck Knoblauch PH-LF 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .056
Bernie Williams CF 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .208
Tino Martinez 1B 4 0 1 1 0 1 0 .190
Jorge Posada C 4 0 0 0 0 2 2 .174
Shane Spencer LF-RF 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 .200
Alfonso Soriano 2B 3 1 1 1 0 1 0 .240
Scott Brosius 3B 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 .167
Roger Clemens P 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000
Mike Stanton P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
a- David Justice PH 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .167
Mariano Rivera P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 32 2 6 2 0 10 8 -
a-singled for Stanton in the 8th; b-flied to right for O'Neill in the 8th.
Batting:
2B - Oneill (1, Schilling).
HR - Soriano (1, 8th inning off Schilling 0 on, 0 out).
RBI - Martinez (3), Soriano (2).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Spencer 1.
Team LOB - 3.
Fielding:
E - Clemens (1, catch); Soriano (3, ground ball); Rivera (1, throw).
Outfield assists - B Williams (Bautista at 3rd base).
DIAMONDBACKS POS AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG.
Tony Womack SS 5 0 2 1 0 1 0 .250
Craig Counsell 2B 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .083
Luis Gonzalez LF 5 0 1 1 0 2 1 .259
Matt Williams 3B 4 0 1 0 0 2 2 .269
Steve Finley CF 4 1 2 0 0 1 2 .368
Danny Bautista RF 3 0 1 1 1 1 1 .583
Mark Grace 1B 4 0 3 0 0 0 0 .263
David Dellucci PR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500
Damian Miller C 4 0 0 0 0 3 4 .190
Midre Cummings PR 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Curt Schilling P 3 0 0 0 0 3 3 .000
Miguel Batista P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Randy Johnson P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .143
a- Jay Bell PH 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 .143
Totals 37 3 11 3 1 13 15 -
a-hit into fielder's choice for Johnson in the 9th.
Batting:
2B - Bautista (2, Clemens); Womack (3, Rivera).
RBI - Bautista (7), Womack (3), Gonzalez (5).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - M Williams 1, Schilling 1, Finley 1.
Team LOB - 11.
Baserunning:
CS - Womack (1, 2nd base by Stanton/Posada).
Fielding:
Outfield assists - Bautista (Oneill at 3rd base).
YANKEES IP H R ER BB K PIT B-S BF HR ERA
Roger Clemens 6.1 7 1 1 1 10 114 39-75 28 0
1.35
Mike Stanton 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 4 1-3 1 0 3.18
Mariano Rivera (L,1-1) (BS,1) 1.1 4 2 1 0 3 28 7-21 10 0 1.42
Pitching:
HBP - Counsell (by Rivera).
Ground balls-fly balls: Clemens 6-2; Stanton 0-1; Rivera 1-0.

DIAMONDBACKS IP H R ER BB K PIT B-S BF HR ERA
Curt Schilling 7.1 6 2 2 0 9 103 28-75 27 1 1.69
Miguel Batista 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0-1 1 0 0.00
Randy Johnson (W, 3-0) 1.1 0 0 0 0 1 17 5-12 4 0 1.04
Pitching:
Ground balls-fly balls: Schilling 1-11; Batista 1-0; Johnson 1-2.

Umpires: HP--Steve Rippley. 1B--Mark Hirschbeck. 2B--Dale Scott. 3B--Ed Rapuano. LF--Jim Joyce. RF--Dana Demuth.
Time: 3:20
Attendance: 49,589.
Weather: 87 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 18 mph, left to right.