Come Sunday, the New York Mets had a chance to win the interleague-opening series against the New York Yankees at Shea Stadium, and the Chicago Cubs wanted only to salvage the final game of a series in which the Chicago White Sox had fanned their behinds in the Friendly Confines.
And Pedro Martinez probably left the New York Yankees wondering, "We're his daddy?" He had pitched seven magnificent enough innings, less on the punchouts than on using his fielders reasonably enough, and he had left his Mets with a reasonable enough 3-1 lead when manager Willie Randolph awarded him his well-earned rest.
Martinez within less than an inning of his reprieve could have been forgiven, if the arson squad came to Shea asking for the names of the litterbugs and firebugs, and Martinez himself had finked them out.
Shortly thereafter, Brandon McCarthy, a White Sox rookie with a reputation for rapid minor league advancement and unhittability enough, found himself being given his much-deserved rest, with one out and one on in the bottom of the seventh, after he had kept the Cubs tame enough while his mates staked him to a 2-1 lead against Mark Prior.
And after the second out was recorded, McCarthy watched with possible thoughts of calling the arson squad himself, as his relief turned that 2-1 lead into a single and an into-the-crosswinds three-run bomb by Jason Dubois, turning that 2-1 lead into a snap 4-2 deficit.
Martinez had started his afternoon rightly enough, pitching into and out of two-out trouble in the top of the first with no damage, and pushing home the first run of the game himself in the bottom. Very well, he had a little help from Alex Rodriguez mishandling his rap up the third base line. But then he went back to his usual place of business and kept the Yankees quiet enough, while Jose Reyes slashed home David Wright with a second-inning single and Cliff Floyd planted one solo over the center field fence with one out in the third.
That was how simple it was for the Mets to squeeze the early 3-0 lead off Carl Pavano. Martinez was not exactly his own vintage, spreading the ground outs and the flyouts through his seven with only six punchouts on his time sheet, while Pavano had a baserunner in almost every inning except the fourth and the seventh. But this was a sunny Pedro afternoon clearly enough, Pavano seeming grateful just to keep the Mets from getting past a three-run head start.
Prior in Chicago started the White Sox off just right, dropping strike three in on leadoff pest Scott Podsednik and swishing Aaron Rowand in a sandwich around Tadahito Iguchi skying one shallow to left. McCarthy had just a little trouble with the Cubs in the bottom, though he started them rightly enough. He dropped strike three in on Jerry Hairston, Jr. before Neifi Perez lured Jermaine Dye and Rowand into a right center collision, Dye spearing the fly as Rowand passed behind him with glove brushing back.
Then Derrick Lee walked on a pitch McCarthy thought just might brush the floor of the zone, and the Cubs played a little run-and-hit, Lee taking off on the pitch and Jeromy Burnitz firing one right up the line and past the pad, Lee unable to score when the White Sox pulled a mild deke, causing him to stop a second around second before settling for third. It ended up costing the Cubs, however, when Aramis Ramirez hit one into the wind blowing right but enough toward deep left field and not enough to reach the ivy, and that was the side.
Prior left the White Sox hanging in the second, and Henry Blanco — spelling Michael Barrett behind the plate for the Cubs on the day — hung one into the left field bleachers with two out in the bottom. From there, Prior and McCarthy dueled with only the pitter-patter of little home run feet to interrupt most of the flow, not to mention Prior's groove, when Iguchi planted one into the basket with one out in the fourth and Dye (what a surprise, with two bombs already in the weekend series) planting one under the center field batting-eye foliage an inning later.
Hither Shea, the Yankees finally pried one out of Martinez when Tony Womack, playing left field with Hideki Matsui in right (spelling injured Gary Sheffield), opened the top of the sixth with a leadoff knock, stealing second as Robinson Cano (covering for Womack at second on the day) swished and coming home as A-Rod sliced one up the middle. But Matsui flew out to Floyd and Bernie Williams grounded out to former teammate Miguel Cairo at second, and the Mets still had a 3-1 advantage.
Dae-Sung Koo took over for Martinez in the top of the seventh and got one swift out before David Wright at third booted Womack's grounder and Reyes over from short mishandled a throw to second on a grounder from Ruben Sierra. As Derek Jeter, resting a sore elbow muscle (from a Kris Benson pitch in Saturday's Mets win), pinch ran, Koo came out, Roberto Hernandez came in, Womack and Jeter stole third and second, and — after A-Rod fouled out to the first base side — Matsui singled them both home, before Williams doubled him home. Hernandez swished Jason Giambi to end it, but the Yankees suddenly had a 4-3 lead.
Meanwhile, back in the Friendly Confines, the Cubs tried and failed to even it up in their half of the fifth. Hairston did his part with two out, rifling what looked like a straightaway bomb at first, until the ball hit just under the rim of the wall basket, with Podsednik in center unable to see the carom, then finding the ball on the ground and getting the ground rule double call. But Perez flared one to short enough left for the side.
The Cubs had to wait until the bottom of the sixth, and the wait was worth it when McCarthy speared Derrick Lee leading off, then got Burnitz to sky to left before manager Ozzie Guillen gave him his rest. In came Luis Vizcaino and at first, it looked simple when he got Aramis Ramirez to fly out. Where it became complicated was Cory Patterson's single to right setting up first and third, and Jason DuBois finding the right side of the crosswinds for a three-run bomb to just about the back of the bleachers. And just like that, Cubs manager Dusty Baker found himself on the right side of an arson attack for a change, the Cubs holding a tight 4-3 lead.
Meanwhile, back in Flushing Meadow, Mike DeJean came in to spell Hernandez and he, too, started off the right way, getting John Flaherty, catching in Jorge Posada's stead on the day, to ground out to Reyes at short. But Rudy Sanchez beat one out deep in the hole at short and, after a walk, Womack singled home Sanchez. DeJean got Tino Martinez, coming into the game late to spell Jason Giambi, to force Womack at second, but he walked A-Rod with Matsui coming up, and into the game came Aaron Heilman to keep Godzilla in the park on a deep fly to left. Except that The Mariano, looking a little more like The Mariano than he had done for awhile enough at the season's opening weeks, did what The Mariano has done customarily.
Yonder back to the Confines, if Brandon McCarthy could take any comfort it was that the Cubs probably had more well-practiced arsonists themselves. Except that Prior was probably thinking the same thing, short of not going out to pitch the ninth before he ripped the phone to the bullpen out of the dugout wall.
Paul Konerko made Prior work for his self-save with one out in the ninth, launching one onto Waveland Avenue. But A.J. Pierzynski skied one to Patterson in center, up came Dye, and up on their feet went the Wrigley crowd. And into the 0-2 hole Prior sent Dye in a hurry. He missed upstairs for ball one, then went down on the deck and drilled a hole into Dye's low-swinging bat for the game, 4-3.
"I told Bake and Larry (Rothschild, pitching coach) I wanted to finish it in the seventh inning," Prior drawled after the game.
He could say kinder things to himself than Pedro Martinez in New York, who could say only that, this time, it was not the Yankees spanking him to bump his winless streak against them to six with the 5-3 Mets loss. This time, Daddy spanked his brothers in arms, for playing with matches after littering their room.
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