Mussina overcomes rain, bats as Yankees pull away

Mike Mussina pitched New York to a 2-1 series lead over the Florida Marlins.
MIAMI (AP) -- Even when he's at his best, every pitch appears to be pure torture for Mike Mussina. His pained expression seems to be permanent.
It was especially true Tuesday night. Trailing early, getting hardly any run support and working on a messy night, Mussina looked to be well on his way to another tough-luck loss.
In the World Series, no less.
And yet somehow, the ace who could never quite win these games won Game 3. He out-dueled Josh Beckett and the New York Yankees pulled away for a 6-1 victory over the Florida Marlins and a 2-1 series lead.
"I'm leaving here with a better feeling than I've had in some past games," Mussina said.
This shaped up as an excellent chance for the Marlins to reclaim their edge. Back at home and with Beckett on the mound, they liked their chances.
Kept it together
Yet after giving up a first-inning run, Mussina overcame the rain and the Florida hitters.
"Moose just kept it together," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.
Mussina's first World Series win came thanks to that old October tandem of Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams.
Jeter doubled for his third hit and scored the go-ahead run on Hideki Matsui's single in the eighth inning. Aaron Boone homered in the ninth and Williams hit his record 19th postseason homer to clinch it.
Mariano Rivera finished it off with two innings for a save as the Yankees won before a crowd of 65,731 that had mostly left Pro Player Stadium by the final out.
"Every situation that you can have in a postseason, me and Bernie have been through it," Jeter said. "We've been in big games. We've won, we've lost. I think the experience helps in terms of keeping your emotions under control."
Extra-base hit
Florida finally managed to get an extra-base hit after 13 singles, but has scored only five runs in three games.
"It's not an easy task against those guys," Marlins manager Jack McKeon said.
Mussina began the game with a 4-5 career postseason record despite a sharp 3.19 ERA.
"He had about three pitches working, his curveball, knuckle-curve and splitter. He kept us off-balance," Marlins leadoff man Juan Pierre said. "We never could get a read on him."
A 39-minute rain delay in the fifth inning did not disturb Mussina, at least not judging by the results. He is a creature of habit and routine, and was pawing at the damp mound but did not let it deter him.
Jeter's third hit
It was 1-all with one out in the eighth when Jeter doubled for his third hit -- the only ones off Beckett. Jeter went the other way, grounding the ball down the first-base line past Derrek Lee, who was well off the line.
"The guy's played out there all his life and that's the program we had," McKeon said.
Rookie Dontrelle Willis relieved and with two outs, Matsui slapped an opposite-field single to left.
"It's a compliment that everybody thinks I'm a big-game player, but what I just focus on is to just try to do, based on the situation, what's best for the team," Matsui said through a translator.
Boone hit a solo homer off Chad Fox and Williams connected for a three-run shot off Braden Looper. Williams had been tied with Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson for the most postseason homers.
"I think it is a function of how many times I've been fortunate enough to be on a team to be in the postseason so many times," Williams said.
Beckett fans 10
Beckett struck out 10 in 71/3 innings, yet took the loss. He breezed through New York's first 10 batters before Jeter doubled in the fourth.
Beckett walked Jason Giambi and hit Matsui with a pitch, loading the bases with two outs. With a 2-2 count, Beckett threw a fastball to Jorge Posada that veered off the outside corner.
Plate umpire Gary Darling called it a ball and McKeon spread his arms in the dugout, wondering what was wrong with that pitch.
Beckett came back with another fastball, the kind some umpires would call a strike. Darling saw it a bit low for ball four and a bases-loaded walk that tied it at 1.
Pierre hit a bloop double in the first and scored on Miguel Cabrera's two-out single. Cabrera hit three homers in the NLCS, but the 20-year-old rookie was 0-for-7 in this Series until then.
NEW YORKFLORIDA
abrhbiabrhbi
ASrano 2b4100Pierre cf3120
Jeter ss4330LCstillo 2b4000
JaGbi 1b2000IRdrgz c4010
Dllucci rf1000Cbrera rf4021
BWllms cf5113DeLee 1b4000
Matsui lf3011Lowell 3b4000
Posada c2001Conine lf4020
KGarca rf3000AGnzlz ss3010
Sierra ph1000JEcrcn ph1000
MRivra p0000Beckett p2000
ABoone 3b4111Willis p0000
Mssina p3000CFox p0000
NJhnsn 1b1000Looper p0000
Hlndsw ph1000
Totals33666Totals34181
New York000100014--6
Florida100000000--1
E--ABoone (3). LOB--New York 8, Florida 8. 2B--Jeter 2 (2), Pierre (1), IRodriguez (1), AGonzalez (1). HR--BWilliams (2), ABoone (1). CS--Pierre (1). S--Beckett.
IPHRERBBSO
New York
Mussina W,1-0771119
MRivera S,1210002
Florida
Beckett L,0-17 1-3322310
Willis1-310020
CFox2-312211
Looper2-312201
HBP--by Looper (Jeter), by Beckett (Matsui). PB--Posada. Umpires--Home, Gary Darling; First, Jeff Kellogg; Second, Ed Rapuano; Third, Tim Welke; Left, Randy Marsh; Right, Larry Young. T--3:21. A--65,731.