NEW YORK, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Tim Hudson baffled New York through eight tense innings Thursday night and Jason Isringhausen worked his way out of a jam in the ninth, carrying the Oakland Athletics to a 2-0 victory that pushed the three-time defending champion Yankees to the brink of elimination.
New York has won the World Series four of the last five years, but the Yankees now trail the Athletics two games to none as the series heads to Oakland for Saturday's Game 3. New York lost all six of its games in Oakland during the regular season and the Athletics have won 17 consecutive home contests dating to Aug. 24.
Ron Gant put Oakland ahead with a leadoff homer in the fourth inning and the Athletics added an unearned run off Mariano Rivera in the ninth as they closed in on their first playoff series win in 11 years.
During their run of postseason success, the Yankees have won with solid pitching, mistake-free defensive play and the ability to do the little things right.
Oakland used the same formula to win two games at Yankee Stadium and frustrate a New York team that again could not come through in the clutch.
Hudson allowed six hits, walked one and struck out three, constatly coming up with the big pitch when he had to. Through five innings, New York had only one hit -- a one-out single by Derek Jeter in the first inning.
The Oakland righthander then retired 12 in a row. Although the Yankees put five runners on base combined in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, they could not produce the timely hit.
Paul O'Neill flew out to center to end the sixth inning with runners on first and second, Scott Brosius grounded meekly to second with runners on first and third in the seventh and a one-out single by Chuck Knoblauch was wasted in the eighth.
Isringhausen, who earned the save in the opening game of the series, was called upon again Thursday night and promptly put himself in trouble.
With Oakland third baseman Eric Chavez playing well off the bag against the left-handed hitting Bernie Williams, the New York cleanup hitter hit a slow bouncer down the third base line to start the ninth.
The ball glanced off the glove of a lunging Chavez and trickled into foul territory down the line. Williams took a chance, but hustled his way to second base for a double. Isringhausen then walked Tino Martinez to bring the winning run to the plate with nobody out.
But with the Yankee Stadium crowd screaming for a comeback, Jorge Posada took a called third strike on a 2-2 pitch, David Justice popped out to shortstop and Brosius popped out to first baseman Jason Giambi to end the game.
No team in major league history has come back from a 2-0 deficit to win a five-game series after losing the first two games at home.
New York starter Andy Pettitte kept his team in the game by allowing one run on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings. That run came when Gant homered to left on an 0-1 pitch to start the fourth.
That was the way the game stood when Rivera came in to try to keep the deficit at one run in the ninth.
But with one out, Johnny Damon lined a shot into the right-field corner that he legged into a standup triple. Moments later, with the infield playing in, Miguel Tejada hit a sharp grounder that went right through third baseman Brosius for an error.
Damon was breaking at the crack of the bat and if Brosius had fielded the ball cleanly, he likely would have nailed Damon at the plate.
