NEW YORK — Fourteen years ago, the Mets won a World Series with the help of a ground ball that found a hole under Bill Buckner's glove.
Last night, they lost a World Series on a ground ball that found a hole in their infield.
Al Leiter did his job. On his 142d pitch of the night, with two Yankees on base and two out in the top of the ninth inning, Leiter got pinch-hitter Luis Sojo to hit a ground ball.
If that ground ball had been five feet to the left or five feet to the right, Sojo would have been the third out of the inning. Instead, it rolled up the middle, between shortstop Kurt Abbott and second baseman Edgardo Alfonzo.
The hit scored two runs, giving the Yankees a 4-2 win, their third consecutive World Series title, and their fourth in five years.
In contrast to the joy in the Yankees' champagne-drenched clubhouse after the game was the quiet, almost funereal mood in the Mets' clubhouse.
It wasn't so much that the Mets had lost the Subway Series to the crosstown team with the storied history and the swagger to match.
It was that they had lost a game in which Leiter turned in an effort that could only be described as heroic.
"I feel so bad for him," reliever Dennis Cook said. "It's gut-wrenching to watch Al pitch like that, to see him battle like that, and have nothing to show for it. It's just a shame. There isn't any amount of money that can buy a pitcher like that."
Leiter turned 35 this week, but he showed the endurance of a young thoroughbred.
When Mets manager Bobby Valentine asked Leiter if he wanted to pitch the ninth inning, the lefthander, even knowing that his pitch count was soaring, didn't hesitate.
"I told Bobby I had four months to rest, that I wanted to keep going," Leiter said. "I'm grateful he let me."
Leiter pitched seven strong innings in Game 1. He left leading by 3-2, then watched in horror as Armando Benitez blew the save in the ninth. The Yankees ended up winning, 4-3, in the 12th.
Last night, Leiter's heroic effort unraveled in the top of the ninth inning.
Oddly enough, Leither had been at his best just moments before Sojo's hit. With his body growing weary, he struck out the dangerous Tino Martinez and Paul O'Neill. Then, with two out, Jorge Posada gave him fits. The Yankees catcher worked the count full, then fouled off two pitches before keeping the inning alive with a walk.
