Mets win third World Series

Taylor Smith is hardly a power hitter, with 109 home runs in six seasons. So when he came to the plate in the bottom of 12th inning as the potential winning run in Game 7 of the World Series, hitting one out of the park was the last thing on his mind.

"I just wanted to get a good pitch to hit and drive it," Smith said. "Just get on base and let the big boys behind me try to do their job."

The big boys never got a chance to hit, however, as Smith crushed the 311th pitch of the game over the center-field fence, giving the Mets a 6-5 win and their third World Series title.

"I still can't believe it," the pending free agent said. "I love this city and hopefully they want me back. But if not, to win three rings and go out like that, you can't ask for anything more."

With Cy Young winner Red Wainhouse on the mound for Game 7, Mets fans could be excused for expecting another championship. But nobody could have anticipated the way they got it.

Wainhouse took a no-hitter into the fourth. He then walked the first two batters before giving up his first hit to load the bases with nobody out. A lineout and a strikeout nearly got him out of the inning unscathed, but rookie Kelvim Lyons smacked a single into right field to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

"I put myself in a bad spot with the walks, and you're not going to get out of that very often," Wainhouse said. "Lyons hit a good pitch and with the guy they had going, that could have been enough. I just wanted to keep it there and give the offense a chance to come back."

He did just that, pitching through the eighth inning without allowing any more runs.

The offense finally got things going in the fifth thanks to Smith, who hit a two-out RBI single after former Yankee Toby Pulsipher led off with a double.

"Winning the World Series is enough," Pulsipher said. "But to be a part of the comeback and do it against a team that basically said they had no use for me last offseason, that makes it even sweeter."

Andres Silva got through the sixth without any trouble, but John Hardy singled leading off the seventh. He went to third on Pulsipher's second double and scored on a sacrifice fly from Benito Ramirez, ending Silva's night.

Game 4 starter Jay Cosby finished the inning, but he couldn't keep the game tied in the eighth. Trent Gordon walked, moved to third on a Geoffery Bates single and scored on a passed ball from Lyons. After Richard Stocker singled, Ralph Jackson grounded into a run-scoring double play for a 4-2 lead that looked insurmountable with Fireman of the Year J.D. Jackson coming in.

But Jackson clearly didn't have his best stuff despite retiring the first batter he faced on a ground out. Darron Kirkland and Daniel Jefferson followed with back-to-back homers to tie the game and tag Jackson with just his second blown postseason save.

After an infield single and a walk put the go-ahead run in scoring position, Jackson's night was finished and Stretch Creek came in to get two huge outs and keep the game tied.

"You never like to take your closer out, but things are a little different in Game 7 of the World Series," Mets pitching coach Jesse Lane said. "J.D. wasn't real happy there in the ninth, but Stretch picked him up and then Taylor did his thing. It was really a complete team effort all year to win this thing."

The teams traded scoreless frames in the 10th and 11th until the Mets brought in Preston Stinnett for the 12th. Chris Hill hit a one-out double and scored on Don Monroe's single.

"From the high of sliding across home plate to the low of watching that ball go over the fence, you can't even describe it," a still-in-uniform Hill said in a somber Yankees clubhouse. "You can't help thinking that you're three outs from being world champions, and then it's over just like that and they're celebrating on home plate."

Had the Yankees taken the lead in ninth, they may have gotten those three outs they needed. But near-perfect closer Brian Murata was unavailable for the 12th, having already pitched a scoreless ninth and 10th.

Paul Pearson came in to pitch a scoreless 11th, and he stayed out there for the 12th. A leadoff walk to Stan Lennon set up Smith for his heroics.

"I'm used to being out there in those situations, and it was tough standing there in the dugout not having any control over things," Murata said. "Paul did the best he could, but it looked like maybe he got a little more of the plate than he meant to because he didn't want to walk another guy with the heart of the order coming up."

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