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FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- Momentum is now on the New York
Mets' side, and they can even up the "Subway Series" at two
games apiece tonight with a victory in Game Four against Denny
Neagle and the New York Yankees.
The Mets returned to Shea Stadium, where they owned the best
record in baseball and came out of Game Three with a 4-2 triumph
on Tuesday. The victory also snapped the Yankees' 14-game World
Series winning streak dating to Game Two of the 1996 Series
against the Atlanta Braves.
"There are a lot of teams that don't like to play here because
of the planes, the noise and the sometimes unruly fans," Mets
first baseman Todd Zeile said. "If it's even the slightest
advantage, we'll take it. The key to us at home is that we have
the tendency to win close games."
Zeile was one of the heroes of the important victory, delivering
a run-scoring double that tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth.
But the key blow came two innings later when Benny Agbayani
smacked an RBI double that scored Zeile with the eventual
game-winning run. Pinch-hitter Bubba Trammell added some
insurance with a sacrifice fly.
The Mets are trying to become the first team to rally from a 2-0
series deficit to win since 1996, when the Yankees won the next
four games for their first of three World Series Championships
in the last four years.
Meanwhile, the Yankees are bidding to become the first team to
capture three straight World Series titles since the 1972-74
Oakland Athletics.
So the Yankees now are facing adversity again and they turn to
Neagle (NR) to help them regain a two-game series lead. The
lefthander was chosen by manager Joe Torre, who was deciding on
either Neagle or David Cone for this game. Cone is 2-0 in five
career World Series outings, but was just 4-14 with a woeful
6.91 ERA in the regular season.
Neagle is 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA in this postseason. Both of his
starts came in the American League Championship Series against
the Seattle Mariners. In 10 innings, Neagle allowed five earned
runs and six hits with seven walks and seven strikeouts.
Neagle did not pitch against the Mets during interleague play,
but did face them when he was with Cincinnati. He fired seven
scoreless innings with two hits allowed and nine strikeouts for
the win in a 12-1 rout of the Mets at Shea Stadium on April 26.
The Mets send to the mound righthander Bobby Jones (NR), who has
been on a rollercoaster ride in this postseason. He fired a
one-hit shutout in Game Four of the National League Division
Series against San Francisco.
However, in Game Four of the NLCS against St. Louis, he was
roughed up for six runs and six hits in only four innings.
The Yankees had their way with Jones during his two regular
season starts, defeating him and the Mets in both outings. He
surrendered 10 earned runs and 13 hits in 11 2/3 innings.
But this version of Jones is the one which won seven of his last
eight decisions after a voluntary stint in the minors to work on
his mechanics.
Among the many celebrities and familiar faces scheduled to be in
the crowd for tonight's contest is President Bill Clinton. He
will be the first Commander-In-Chief to attend a World Series
game since 1983, when President Ronald Reagan attended a game
between the Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles.
