The Florida Marlins beat the New York Yankees 3-2 to win the first game of baseball's World Series.
The Marlins' youth and spirit played in their favor Saturday night.
Facing the 26-time world champion New York Yankees, Florida's hitters beat the odds, overcoming the most successful team in history on New York's home field in the first game of the best-of-seven series.
Florida manager Jack McKeon said his young players were not in awe of the Yankees. "We play them one night at a time, whether we are playing Woodbridge, New Jersey, or New York City or Chicago. It's one game at a time. They're not awed. These guys are bunch of professionals that know their job and go out there on a daily basis and do the best they can and have fun," McKeon said.
The Marlins wasted no time taking the lead. Florida's Juan Pierre scored the first run for his team in the first inning. Pierre, who now has a six-game hitting streak in the postseason, says he was only doing his job.
"Just to put them uneasy, you know. That's my job, to create a little havoc," Pierre said.
Derek Jeter of the Yankees hit an RBI single in the third to score Karim Garcia and even the score at 1-1.
Florida scored two more runs in the fifth inning, then New York's Bernie Williams hit a two-run home run in the sixth, bringing the score to 3-2.
The Marlins are one of baseball's newest teams. They won the World Series just once, in 1997.
Over the past 18 years, New York and Florida have played each other a total of 14 times in the regular season. The Yankees have won eight of those games.
Saturday night marked only the second time Florida has ever won at Yankee Stadium. That last victory was three years ago. The starting pitcher then was Brad Penny, the same pitcher who started Saturday night.
The two teams play Game Two later on Sunday at Yankee Stadium.
