By Kirby Arnold
Herald Writer
NEW YORK — Mike Cameron couldn’t believe his eyes when Alfonso Soriano’s ball sailed over the right-field fence. Thirty minutes later, he had to pinch himself to be sure the Seattle Mariners actually had lost.
"Amazing," Cameron said, shaking his head. "Amazing how one pitch can turn things around."
When Soriano hit a two-run homer off Kazuhiro Sasaki in the ninth inning to break a tie game, it gave the New York Yankees a 3-1 victory in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium and a huge momentum shift in the series.
The Yankees lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 and need just one victory to advance to the World Series. Game 5 is tonight at Yankee Stadium with pitcher Aaron Sele, who has never won a postseason game, starting for the Mariners.
Only minutes before Soriano’s big swing, the Mariners had a 1-0 lead when Bret Boone homered in the top of the eighth inning. Bernie Williams wiped that out with a home run off Arthur Rhodes in the bottom of the eighth, and Soriano, a rookie, ended the game with his blast in the ninth.
"This is a tough loss," Cameron said. "But we’ve still got one more day."
Afterward, the Mariners clubhouse was quiet, a dramatic contrast to the mood one day earlier when they beat the Yankees 14-3. Still, the team was no less confident about its goal to win today and bring the series back for Game 6 in Seattle on Wednesday, Rhodes said.
"You don’t see anybody with their heads down, do you?" Rhodes said. "We played hard today, and two pitches went over the fence. Now we’ve got to come back and win tomorrow."
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