Arizona rips Yankees 9-1 in Game 1

PHOENIX -- Curt Schilling and his Arizona crew made the New York Yankees look like bumbling World Series rookies.

In a startling opener, the three-time champion Yankees completely broke down at Bank One Ballpark, making it easy for Schilling and the Diamondbacks to romp 9-1 Saturday night.

The sure-handed Yankees gave up five unearned runs -- the most in a Series game since 1973 -- and nearly all of manager Joe Torre's moves backfired. The Diamondbacks, playing their first Series game, were glad to take advantage.

Mark Grace, who had waited his whole career for this moment, led the Diamondbacks onto the field. When he hit a two-run double, it was 9-1 in the fourth inning and the rout was on.

October hero Craig Counsell and Luis Gonzalez homered off wobbly Mike Mussina, and that was plenty for Schilling.

Schilling brought high heat to the desert and improved to 4-0 this postseason. He held the Yankees to three hits, including Bernie Williams' bloop RBI double in the first, over seven innings and struck out eight.

The last time the Yankees were held to three or fewer hits in a Series game was in 1963, when Don Drysdale of the Los Angeles Dodgers threw a three-hit shutout in a 1-0 victory.

By the time it was over, even Mike Morgan had pitched for Arizona. The 42-year-old reliever had played for 22 pro teams over 24 seasons without reaching the World Series.

A noisy, record crowd of 49,646 at the BOB partied all night, and the fans were eager for more. Randy Johnson, the Diamondbacks' other ace, will start Game 2 tonight against Andy Pettitte.

David Justice, playing in place of benched Paul O'Neill, dropped a fly ball in front of the pool beyond the right-center field fence and reliable third baseman Scott Brosius misplayed a grounder for the Yankees errors.

Williams and Justice objected to third-strike calls and Torre and bench coach Don Zimmer challenged umpires' rulings.

When Tony Womack accidentally threw his bat toward the mound after a swing in the fifth, Yankees reliever Sterling Hitchcock flipped it back with disdain -- at least he didn't throw at the hitter, as Roger Clemens did last year with Mike Piazza in the Subway Series.

In the last three years, the Yankees had rallied in the late innings to win Series openers in games started by aces Kevin Brown, Greg Maddux and Al Leiter.