NEW YORK (AP) -- The Josh Beckett gamble turned out to be pure genius.

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Josh Beckett gamble turned out to be pure genius.
The wild-card Florida Marlins wrapped up their wild ride with a most improbable World Series championship, stunning the New York Yankees 2-0 Saturday night behind the strong right arm and sheer determination of their young MVP.
Manager Jack McKeon was second-guessed the moment he said Beckett would start Game 6 on three days' rest. But the 23-year-old fastballer, called "Rook" by his manager, made McKeon look brilliant.
Starting on short rest for the first time in his career, Beckett threw a five-hitter to give the Marlins their second title in seven seasons.
"You'll believe me now that anything can happen," McKeon said. "This guy has the guts of a burglar."
Dynasty falls
Beckett outdueled Andy Pettitte and defeated a Yankees team that had won four of the last seven crowns, never allowing a runner past second base.
"That kid showed that he was going to be a great one down the road, if he hasn't already," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.
Not since 1981 had another team celebrated a Series championship on the field at Yankee Stadium. When the Los Angeles Dodgers did it then, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner apologized to the city for the dismal performance.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and former star Reggie Jackson, chins resting on hands, watched from a box with the same incredulous look on their face.
This time, credit the resilient Marlins for their performance. It was as if the sellout crowd of 55,773 couldn't believe what it was seeing -- then again, Florida has been an upset special this October in improving to 6-0 lifetime in postseason series.
The Marlins dropped the opener to Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants in the division before winning three in a row. They overcame a 3-1 deficit in the NL championship series, beating Cubs aces Mark Prior and Kerry Wood at Wrigley Field.
In this 100th World Series game at Yankee Stadium, Beckett and the Marlins never gave the Yankees much of a chance. Florida became the first team in the post-expansion era to win two titles, having joined the majors in 1993.
Beckett finished 1-1 in this Series. He lost Game 3 despite 7 1-3 impressive innings.
Run-producers
Luis Castillo snapped his 0-for-14 rut with an RBI single that saw Alex Gonzalez made a neat slide home in the fifth and Juan Encarnacion added a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
That was plenty for Beckett, who fielded Jorge Posada's tapper up the first-base line and tagged him for the final out. He struck out nine, featuring a 97 mph fastball, and walked two.
In the past five postseasons, pitchers working on three or fewer days' rest had been atrocious. In 37 such starts, they were 6-20 with a 5.93 ERA.
But Beckett and the 72-year-old McKeon threw that wisdom to the wind. It was just the kind of free thinking that made McKeon so successful this season -- the Marlins were 19-29 shortly after he took over for the fired Jeff Torborg in mid-May, and headed toward a last-place finish before he took them to the title.
"Nobody gave us a chance and here they are world champions," said McKeon, the oldest manager to win a World Series title.
Pettitte was sharp through the first four innings, working around an early double by former Yankees farmhand Mike Lowell.
Pettitte started strongly in the fifth, too, retiring the first two batters before the Marlins struck.
Gonzalez singled -- yet another hit from a ninth-place hitter whose bat is headed for the Hall of Fame, based on his 12th-inning homer in Game 4 -- and moved to second when Juan Pierre singled.
Key situation
That brought up Castillo, only 3-for-23 in the Series, and he quickly fell behind in the count 0-2. Posada then made a trip to the mound to visit Pettitte and while the catcher and pitcher talked, on-deck hitter Ivan Rodriguez took several steps toward Castillo to shout some sort of encouragement.
Moments later, Castillo poked an opposite-field single to right and third-base coach Ozzie Guillen immediately waved Gonzalez home.
Right fielder Karim Garcia made a strong, one-hop throw to the plate that beat Gonzalez. But Posada, who almost always tries to avoid collisions, caught the ball a step up the first-base line and had to reach back on a swipe tag.
FLORIDANEW YORK
abrhbiabrhbi
Pierre cf4010Jeter ss4000
LCstillo 2b5011NJhnsn 1b3000
IRdrgz c3010BWllms cf4010
Cbrera lf4000Matsui lf4000
Conine dh4100Posada c4010
Lowell 3b3020JaGbi dh2000
DeLee 1b4000KGarca rf3010
JEcrcn rf3001EWilsn 3b0000
AGnzlz ss4120ABoone 3b1000
Sierra rf1000
ASrano 2b3020
Totals34272Totals29050
Florida000011000--2
New York000000000--0
E--Jeter (1). DP--Florida 2. LOB--Florida 9, New York 5. 2B--Lowell (1), BWilliams (2), Posada (1). S--ABoone. SF--JEncarnacion.
IPHRERBBSO
Florida
Beckett W,1-1950029
New York
Pettitte L,1-1762137
MRivera210002
Umpires--Home, Tim Welke; First, Randy Marsh; Second, Larry Young; Third, Gary Darling; Left, Jeff Kellogg; Right, Ed Rapuano. T--2:57. A--55,773.