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--> --> Arizona pitcher Curt Schilling throws against New York during the first inning in Game 1 of the World Series. AP Yankees ready to take on Schilling,Johnson PHOENIX (AP) - The two amazing comebacks are already in the highlight films. Unless they find a way to get past Randy Johnson or Curt Schilling this weekend, the New York Yankees won't like the ending. It's easier to find water in the desert than a Yankees' rally at Bank One Ballpark, where they had one run and six hits in losing the first two games of the World Series last weekend. "Hopefully, the confidence we've gotten out of these last three games will help us," New York manager Joe Torre said Friday. "We certainly got manhandled the last time we were here." Schilling shut down the Yankees in the opener, and Johnson jumped them with a three-hitter in Game 2, becoming at age 38 the oldest pitcher to throw a shutout in the Series. Not that the Yankees broke out in New York against Brian Anderson, Schilling and Miguel Batistsa. The only reason the Yankees have a 3-2 lead is their success against the Diamondbacks' battered bullpen, getting those electrifying two-out, two-run, game-tying home runs in the ninth from Tino Martinez in Game 4 and Scott Brosius in Game 5. New York is batting just .177 with 10 runs and 28 hits. That's just five off the record-low hits for the first five games of a World Series, a mark set by the 1906 Chicago White Sox and matched by the 1969 Baltimore Orioles, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Take away the ninth-inning magic and it's even worse: During the first eight innings, the Yankees are hitting .154 (21-for-136), scoring four runs. From the ninth inning on, they're batting .286 (8-for-28) with six runs. "Obviously, you know we realize as a pitching staff, we are not swinging the bats great right now," said Andy Pettitte, who pitches against Johnson in Game 6 Saturday night. "We know that tomorrow night we are going to have to scratch and claw for every run that we are able to get." Last Sunday, Pettitte was the only left-handed hitter in the Yankees' lineup. Torre benched Martinez in favor of Randy Velarde at first base and sat outfielders Paul O'Neill and David Justice while Shane Spencer and Chuck Knoblauch played. "Tino is back in there. I didn't hesitate," said Torre, who told Martinez on Monday that he would start Game 6. "The problem with going into the first couple of games of a series: You have four, five, six days to think that you are getting smart. You know, I did this back in '96, too. I played Darryl Strawberry because he had some numbers against (John) Burkett, and that didn't pan out too well, either." During the last four regular seasons, left-handers hit .178 against Johnson with one homer in 360 at-bats. Martinez, who struck out in his only at-bat against the Big Unit, will play because he led the Yankees with 34 homers and 113 RBIs. "If he makes a mistake, I would probably rather have Tino there than anybody else," Torre said. "If the pitcher threw the ball where he wanted to throw it all the time, nobody would ever get a hit. So we base successes on mistakes and being able to take advantage of them." Neither team has hit in the clutch. The Yankees are 3-for-26 (.207) with runners in scoring position, getting only Brosius' go-ahead sixth-inning single in Game 3, Brosius' tying homer in Game 5 and Alfonso Soriano's winning, 12th-inning single in Game 5. The Diamondbacks are 6-for-29 (.207) with runners in scoring position. But the Yankees do have their bullpen. They've won 12 straight one-run postseason games since Cleveland eliminated them in the first round in 1997 and Mariano Rivera has converted his last 23 save chances in the postseason. "We need to pitch," Torre said. "We need to match them. Again, we cannot expect to go out there and score bunches of runs because we have not done it." Eventually, he figures, Johnson or Schilling will make a mistake with men on base. "We are going to hit sooner or later," Torre said. "It has to be sooner." Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing