Yankees up to their old tricks

SEATTLE -- Playing with the poise and patience that have become staples of their October success, the New York Yankees were charged up from the get-go.

And that meant real trouble for these Seattle Mariners.

Andy Pettitte pitched eight sharp innings, Paul O'Neill homered and the three-time defending World Series winners opened the AL championship series with a 4-2 victory Wednesday that was not nearly as close as the scoreboard showed.

"We're used to playing big games," O'Neill said. "We've got jitters and nerves like everybody else. But when we take the field, we've been successful"

The Mariners scored a run off Mariano Rivera in the ninth, bringing up Edgar Martinez as the tying run. But Rivera broke Martinez's bat on a game-ending groundout.

The Yankees, meanwhile, were ready from the first pitch -- even before it.

While the Mariners were still in the dugout preparing to take the field, Chuck Knoblauch and Derek Jeter already had sprung to the on-deck circle. Swinging their bats and studying Seattle starter Aaron Sele, they even nodded at each other, confident.

Knoblauch singled on the first pitch and Jeter followed with a long fly that had the sellout crowd of 47,644 at Safeco Field groaning. The ball was caught, but it was clear -- the Yankees were on their way.

Taking advantage of plate umpire Ed Montague's tight strike zone, the Yankees worked the count all afternoon. The slumping O'Neill hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning on Sele's 66th pitch.

Jeter didn't do much, other than hit the dirt on a high-and-tight fastball from Sele, but the Yankees didn't need him a lot on this day.

Especially with Pettitte holding Seattle hitless until the fifth inning and allowing only three hits, and Rivera finishing off the ninth for another postseason save.

"Obviously, when you've had success in the postseason, you can always lean on it," Pettitte said.

Too tired from three cross-country trips in five days? Nope. Too drained from their stirring comeback over Oakland in the first round of the playoffs? Not a chance.

O'Neill went to dinner with Pettitte on Tuesday night, and liked what he saw.

"He was ready to go," O'Neill said. "You just knew from the first pitch -- if he makes his pitches, we're going to win."

Instead, it was the Mariners, the team that tied a major league record with 116 victories and then saved its season with two wins against Cleveland -- who appeared back on their heels and flipped over them a couple of times.

Sure-handed Ichiro Suzuki stumbled fielding a ball in right field, third baseman David Bell slipped trying to chase down Knoblauch's RBI single and manager Lou Piniella shouted at three different umpires.

Suzuki, coming off his 12-for-20 performance against the Indians in the first round, went 1-for-4 with a ninth-inning double and scored on a pair of wild pitches by Rivera.

Sele lost a playoff game to the Yankees for the fourth straight year. He's 0-5 overall in the postseason, including a defeat in last year's ALCS.

Now, the Mariners must hope Freddy Garcia can get them even in the best-of-seven series when he pitches against Mike Mussina in Game 2 Thursday night.

"They've got good starting pitching, and we know that," Piniella said. "They spent quite a bit of money on it, and it shows."

Garcia will be working on three days' rest for the second time in his career -- on June 1, 1999, he gave up six runs in 5 1-3 innings against Baltimore.

With security tight at Safeco and a moment of silence to honor the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Piniella and Yankees manager Joe Torre exchanged an extra handshake after the pregame introductions.

Then, the Yankees went to work, as always.

"I put a lot of weight on postseason experience. I think it eliminates the unknown," Torre said.