Yankees Vs. Mets: Flashback To 2000 'Subway Series' World Series Matchup

In precocious October 2000, New York City was the epicenter of the shot world, arsenic the New York Yankees and New York Mets faced disconnected successful the 2000 World Series.

With the 2 teams acceptable to face-off successful a three-game bid astatine Citi Field opening connected Friday nighttime (watch Game 2 of the bid connected Saturday astatine 7:15 p.m. ET connected FOX and the FOX Sports app), here's a look-back astatine the 2000 Subway Series.

Irony from the jump.

The Mets sent Al Leiter, who spent the archetypal two-plus seasons of his MLB vocation with the Yankees (1987-89), to the mound for Game 1 successful Yankee Stadium, and the left-hander carved up his aged squad the archetypal 2 times done the order.

Leiter kept the Yankees disconnected the committee done the archetypal 5 innings, giving up conscionable 4 baserunners connected 3 hits and 1 walk. Then, the Yankees broke the crystal successful the bottommost of the sixth inning.

After 2 of the archetypal 3 runners of the inning got connected base, near fielder David Justice laced a two-run treble to left-center field, giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead. With that said, aft six scoreless innings from Andy Pettitte, the Mets got to the Yankees' left-hander successful the apical of the seventh. After back-to-back singles and a walk, pinch hitter Bubba Trammell leveled the people astatine 2-all for the Mets with a two-run single. Two batters later, Pettitte was relieved by right-hander Jeff Nelson, who gave up a go-ahead azygous to 2nd baseman Edgardo Alfonzo.

The Yankees didn't sheet a tally successful the seventh oregon eighth innings, but they managed to nonstop the crippled to other innings connected a Chuck Knoblauch sacrifice alert successful the ninth. Both teams went scoreless successful the 10th and 11th innings, with the Yankees stranding 2 runners successful some innings and besides doing truthful aft tying the crippled successful the ninth.

In the bottommost of the 12th, the Yankees yet got the winning tally home, arsenic 2nd baseman José Vizcaíno deed a walk-off azygous with 2 outs successful the inning.

The 2000 World Series marked the archetypal clip that 2 New York shot teams met successful the World Series since 1956, erstwhile the Yankees bushed the Brooklyn Dodgers successful 7 games. (Photo by Al Tielemans/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (SetNumber: X61664 TK1 R13 F14)

Vizcaíno finished with a game-high 4 hits for the Yankees, who won 4-3.

Yeah, play was aplenty successful Game 2.

In the apical of the first, Mets prima Mike Piazza broke his bat connected a foul ball, and portion of the bat went to Yankees starter Roger Clemens, who hurled that portion of the bat down the first-base enactment wherever Piazza was lasting astatine the time. Both benches cleared temporarily, but nary 1 was ejected, and the inning resumed moments later, with Piazza grounding retired to extremity the inning.

The Yankees went 4-2 against the Mets successful the 2000 regular season. (Photo by John Iacono /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (Set Number: X61660 TK2 R7 F28)

That skirmish has continually distracted from the representation of Clemens dominating the Mets successful Game 2 from commencement to finish. The eventual seven-time Cy Young Award victor pitched 8 scoreless innings, posting 9 strikeouts and lone surrendering 2 baserunners (two hits).

As for the Yankees' bats, they went close to enactment connected Mets left-hander Mike Hampton, with archetypal baseman Tino Martinez and catcher Jorge Posada each driving successful a tally connected a azygous successful the bottommost of the first. Third baseman Scott Brosius past led disconnected the bottommost of the 2nd with a solo location run. A fifth-inning Paul O'Neill single, a seventh-inning sacrifice alert from Brosius and an eighth-inning RBI azygous from Martinez — who, on with Yankees prima shortstop Derek Jeter, had a game-high 3 hits — would springiness the Yankees a 6-0 pb entering the ninth inning.

But past it got dicey for the Yankees — like, wildly dicey.

Nelson began the ninth inning for the Yankees and proceeded to springiness up a single, a two-run location tally to Piazza and past different single, forcing manager Joe Torre to spell to Mariano Rivera, who besides struggled. While Rivera got retired 2 of the archetypal 4 batters that helium faced, MLB's eventual all-time saves person (652) proceeded to springiness up a three-run homer to halfway fielder Jay Payton, making it a 6-5 game.

All that said, Rivera got infielder Kurt Abbott to strikeout looking to extremity it, with the Yankees evading a catastrophe, winning 6-5 and taking a 2-0 bid pb to Queens.

One could reason that the ninth inning of Game 2 gave the Mets immoderate momentum that they capitalized connected successful Game 3.

The Metropolitans struck archetypal successful Game 3, arsenic 3rd baseman Robin Ventura deed a solo location tally to pb disconnected the bottommost of the second. Granted, the Yankees tied the crippled with a third-inning RBI treble from Justice and took the pb successful the 4th connected an RBI triple from O'Neill.

Mets archetypal baseman Todd Zeile evened the people astatine 2-all successful the bottommost of the sixth with an RBI double, and they took the pb for bully successful the eighth connected an RBI treble from near fielder Benny Agbayani. Later successful the inning, Trammell drove successful different tally connected a sacrifice fly, and Armando Benítez unopen the doorway connected a Game 3 triumph for the Mets successful the apical of the ninth.

The Mets won 94 games successful the 2000 regular season, portion the Yankees won 87 games. AFP PHOTO/Don EMMERT (Photo recognition should work DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images)

As for the pitching performances, right-hander Rick Reed got done six innings for the Mets, portion the Yankees stayed with Orlando Hernández (AKA "El Duque") done 7 ⅓ innings and had him propulsion 134 pitches; the right-hander was credited for each 4 earned runs. 

The aerial successful Shea Stadium evaporated connected the archetypal pitch.

Jeter smacked the archetypal transportation thrown by Mets' starter Bobby Jones into the left-field seats, giving the Bronx Bombers the aboriginal edge. The pursuing inning, Brosius drove successful a tally connected a sacrifice fly, with the Yankees tacking connected a 3rd tally successful the 3rd connected an RBI crushed retired from 2nd baseman Luis Sojo.

Those 3 runs would beryllium each the Yankees needed.

Now, the Mets did promptly respond, arsenic Piazza deed a two-run location tally successful the bottommost of the third, but it would beryllium the past runs scored successful a 3-2 Yankees victory.

Derek Jeter deed .317 successful the 2000 MLB playoffs. (Photo by Al Tielemans /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (Set Number: X61704 TK4 R13 F24 )

For the Yankees, starter Denny Neagle lasted conscionable 4 ⅔ innings, but David Cone, Nelson, Mike Stanton and Rivera combined for 4 ⅓ scoreless innings of alleviation and gave up conscionable 3 full baserunners (two hits and 1 walk) — and Rivera got a two-inning save.

The Yankees didn't conscionable triumph the 2000 Subway Series: They won it successful Queens.

Center fielder Bernie Williams brought successful the archetypal tally of the crippled connected a solo location tally successful the apical of the second, but the Mets scored 2 runs successful the bottommost fractional of the inning connected an infield mistake disconnected the bat of Leiter and past an infield deed by Agbayani. Later, "The Captain" evened the people astatine 2-all, arsenic Jeter deed a solo homer successful the sixth.

The Mets rode with Leiter until the cows came home, arsenic the southpaw was inactive connected the mound with 2 outs successful the ninth inning, but Sojo delivered the last stroke for the Yankees, hitting a go-ahead, two-run single, which knocked Leiter retired of the game; helium threw 142 pitches. Meanwhile, the Yankees got 7 innings from Pettitte, who threw 129 pitches.

Rivera closed retired Game 5 for the Yankees successful the bottommost of the ninth, putting a bow connected the archetypal three-peat successful MLB since the Oakland Athletics accomplished the feat from 1972-74, and it remains the sport's astir caller three-peat.

The Yankees won 4 World Series successful 5 years from 1996-2000. (Photo by Ken Sawchuk/Newsday RM via Getty Images)

Jeter was the 2000 World Series MVP, arsenic the Hall of Fame shortstop — who's sixth successful MLB past with 3,465 vocation hits — went 9 for 22, deed 2 location runs and finished the bid with a .409/.480/.864 slash line. Meanwhile, O'Neill finished the Subway Series with 9 hits and posted a .474/.545/.789 slash line; Brosius finished with a .308/.389/.538 slash line; Martinez deed .364; Pettitte pitched a combined 13 ⅔ innings implicit his 2 starts, signaling a 1.98 ERA.

For the Mets, Zeile had a team-high 8 hits, portion Piazza had 2 location runs and a series-high 4 RBIs; Leiter pitched a combined 15 ⅔ innings.

A five-game, best-of-seven bid is what it is: a convincing bid triumph for the victors. With that said, each 5 games successful the Subway Series were decided by 2 oregon less runs, the Yankees out-scored the Mets 19-16, and it marks the lone clip that the 2 teams person squared disconnected successful the World Series.

This was the closest happening the New York sports satellite has received since the Yankees, Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants did conflict successful countless World Series earlier the Dodgers and Giants moved to the West Coast.