The New York Yankees won their 35th American League pennant on a rainy evening filled with a mixture of tension and joy. In a season in which they've been as resourceful and as smart as almost any team in history, the Yankees had to be all of those things once again tonight to defeat the Cleveland Indians, 9-5, and win Game 6 of the American League Championship Series in front of a rollicking crowd of 57,142 at Yankee Stadium.
When they'd finally finished off the resilient Indians, they celebrated on the same hallowed ground where Berra jumped into Larsen's arms, where Gehrig stood so proudly and where Ruth and Mantle circled the bases so often.
"Getting here is such a tough mountain to climb," Yankees Manager Joe Torre said of reaching the World Series. "It's very satisfying. . . . I felt the pressure leave us after Saturday, once we evened the series."
Left-hander David Wells was named the series most valuable player for his victories in Games 1 and 5, but tonight the Yankees used a three-run home run by Scott Brosius and four shutout innings by relievers Ramiro Mendoza and Mariano Rivera. And the Yankees scored five unearned runs thanks to a pair of Cleveland errors, including one by the American League's best defensive shortstop, Omar Vizquel, who had gone 46 postseason games without making one.
Right fielder Manny Ramirez also appeared to misjudge a two-run triple by Derek Jeter during a three-run rally that broke the game open for the final time in the sixth. In all, the Indians made three errors.
These Yankees aren't loaded with future Hall of Famers like previous Yankees teams, but this season they've usually been able to come up with whatever play they needed to win and probably would have done so again tonight.
After winning the best-of-seven series 4-2, the Yankees have three days to relax before opening the World Series here on Saturday against either San Diego or Atlanta.
Nothing less was expected of a team that has wom more games than any in history -- 121 and counting. Now, the Yankees will try to win their 24th World Series.
They seemed on their way to an easy victory with 20-game winner David Cone on the mound and a 6-0 lead after three innings. But the Indians got a grand slam from Jim Thome to close to 6-5 after five innings. The Yankees finally secured the victory with a three-run rally in the sixth.
"We played with fire all night long with the three errors," Indians Manager Mike Hargrove said. "And we got burned by it. You can't give any big league team extra outs and expect to win. That's the first time in three or four years I've seen Omar make a throw like that."
The Yankees had 11 hits, including three by American League batting champion Bernie Williams. Seven of the nine starters had at least one hit, and four drove in runs. Brosius had the biggest hit, but he also made a couple of key defensive plays, including one on a grounder by Sandy Alomar that kept the tying run from reaching scoring position in the sixth. Jeter's triple helped the Yankees regain control in the bottom of the inning.
The Yankees also needed some luck. Brosius wouldn't have batted in the third if second base umpire Ted Hendry hadn't missed a call that cost the Indians an out. Enrique Wilson was charged with an error on the play, making two of the three runs on Brosius's homer unearned.
Hendry was also in the middle of another play in the fifth when a hard grounder by Vizquel struck him near second base. Vizquel was credited with a hit and scored moments later on Thome's slam.
Cone got the victory, but yielded five runs in five innings. He stranded a runner on third base in each of the first three innings, but seemed to settle down in the fourth when he retired the Indians in order. Then came his fifth-inning disaster that let the Indians back in the game.
Thome's grand slam was the biggest hit of the inning, but Cone also issued a bases-loaded walk to David Justice. Cone had a cushion because the Yankees jumped on Indians starter Charles Nagy for six runs on eight hits in three innings. They scored two in the first on four singles, then got another in the second.
They seemed to break it open in the third after Williams led off with another single, and Chili Davis hit a grounder to second baseman Wilson, who threw wide to Vizquel trying for the force on Williams.
Hendry ruled the throw had pulled Vizquel off the bag, but television replays showed Vizquel's foot was on the bag when the throw arrived.
Hendry's mistake cost the Indians three runs. Tino Martinez struck out and Ricky Ledee flied out for the first two outs of the inning. Nagy then left a pitch in the middle of the plate for Brosius, who hit it over the center field wall for a 6-0 lead.
"All I know is what I'm told the replays showed," Hargrove said. "I'm told it should have been an out."
Yet the Yankees still had trouble closing it out. Thome's grand slam finished a five-run rally that closed it to 6-5 in the fifth.
The Yankees finally broke it open in the sixth. Vizquel, perhaps the league's most reliable shortstop, made a throwing error on Brosius's grounder to open the inning.
"We paid for that error," Vizquel said. "In a game like this you can't make errors. I'm still in shock after making that error. I just wanted to turn a double play or do something. They just busted it open right there."
Dave Burba walked Joe Girardi and struck out Chuck Knoblauch. Jeter then hit a drive to right that Ramirez either didn't see or couldn't get to.
Regardless, the ball hit off the wall, allowing two runs to score to make it 8-5. After Paul O'Neill grounded out, Williams singled in Jeter to make it 9-5. That was enough as Mendoza pitched three shutout innings and Rivera pitched a perfect ninth.
"What a great team we've got," Knoblauch said. CAPTION: Scott Brosius is congratulated after slamming a three-run homer in the third inning off Cleveland starter Charles Nagy that put the Yankees up 6-0. ec CAPTION: Catcher Joe Girardi hugs closer Mariano Rivera as the Yankees win their 35th American League pennant and go for their 24th World Series title. ec CAPTION: Jim Thome watches his fourth homer of ALCS, a fifth-inning grand slam off David Cone that cut Yankees' lead to 6-5. ec CAPTION: Omar Vizquel, whose sixth-inning error led to three runs, leaves Yankees' party. "We paid for that error," he said. ec
