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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World Series recap: Fatboys repeat

The American League continued its dominance in the World Series with the Minnesota Fatboys defending their title by taking care of the Milwaukee Twindyans in five games.

Center fielder Nigel Whang was named World Series MVP after going 7 for 18 with four doubles, a triple, a home run, six walks, three steals, eight runs scored and two RBIs.

Whang got things going right away for the Fatboys, leading the series off with a single that sparked a three-run opening inning. Darwin Stocker added two solo homers and AL Rookie of the Year Jumbo Rijo added another solo shot in Minnesota's 6-3 win.

Starting pitcher Cliff Becker allowed Milwaukee to cut the lead to 4-2 in the fourth and 5-3 in the seventh, but Kevin Zhou and Joey Ward pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings to close it out.

Minnesota then romped in Game 2 to take a 2-0 lead back to the Twin Cities. The Fatboys pounded out 17 hits, including homers from Whang, Rijo and Trey Fonville, in a 13-3 victory.

The only thing going in Milwaukee's favor after the first two games was that NL Cy Young runner-up Vic Alfonzo was taking the ball for Game 3. Unfortunately, when the Twindyans needed their ace to be lights-out, he was simply decent. Alfonzo allowed three runs in six innings and left the game trailing 3-2.

Milwaukee then tied the game in the ninth inning when Neil Byrne took Ward deep and went ahead 4-3 in the 10th on a Hector Santos home run.

But Mac Bell couldn't close the door for Milwaukee. He got the first out before yielding a double and a walk, then recorded the second out on a strikeout. Fonville followed with a walk-off three-run homer down the left-field line to give Minnesota a 6-4 win and a 3-0 series lead.

Milwaukee avoided an embarrassing sweep with a 15-6 laugher in Game 4, but the Fatboys closed it out with a 6-3 win in Game 5.

The Twindyans took an early 3-0 lead after two innings, but Becker settled down for Minnesota and didn't allow anything else through the seventh. The Fatboys got one run back in the fifth, then exploded for five runs in the sixth, including a grand slam from David Cora. Zhou, who didn't allow a baserunner in 5 1/3 innings in the series, pitched the final two innings to close out the victory and the World Series.