Yankees and Mariners Encountered again

The New Yorkers, who have been terrified with the terrorist attacks, shouted for joy forgetting anxieties for a moment. In the midst of an agitated atmosphere of the city, the New York Yankees resurrected from the edge to be eliminated rewriting the history of the major league.

The division series final game between the New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics was held at Yankee Stadium yesterday. Chasing the fourth consecutive World Series champion, the `traditionally-distinguished` New York Yankees defeated 5-3 the Oakland Athletics with the spectacular defensive and offensive performances of Derek Jeter. The Yankees was put on the verge to collapse losing two straight games at home, but finally succeeded to move up to the Championship Series with three straight wins. It passed the first gate for the defense of the title by the skin of its teeth.

The Yankees became the first team in Major League history to lose the first two games of a best-of-five series at home and then win the series.

A Yankee Derek Jeter shot two hits to pass Pete Rose as the all-time postseason hit king (86 hits).

In 2-2 third inning, the Yankees succeeded to turn the table thanks to three straight errors of the opponent, and then seized a chance to win the game adding a run in the opportunity brought by the opponent`s error with one-out and a runner on the second in the fourth inning.

Having marched flushed with victories, the energetic young players of the Oakland lost the big fish in the hand making errors in every critical moment with the lack of experiences in the big series.

The New York Yankees will compete in the Championship Series for the second consecutive year with the Seattle Mariners, which also got rid of the Cleveland Indians in the final game of the division series. The Championship Series game one will be held at Safeco Field of the Mariners on 18th.

The Mariners recorded 3 wins and 2 losses in the division series defeating 3-1 the Indians in game five at Safeco Field. It was special rookie Ichiro and veteran pitcher Jamie Moyer (38) to lead to the Championship Series the Seattle Mariners that tied the most win record in the regular season with 116 wins.

The regular season hits and stole-bases champion Ichiro recorded 2 ER and 4 scored runs with 12 hits at 20 bats and 0.600 BA for five division series games. Even in the final game, Ichiro became a primary contributor to the team`s victory with three hits out of four bats.

In the mound, Moyer showed his brilliance. The second-game winner Moyer pitched six innings with three hits, one earned run, and 6 strikeouts to earn two wins in the division series. Mariners closer Sasaki shut out one inning to record his first postseason save.

Kim Jong-Seok kjs0123@donga.com