Latest Round Goes to Kim

NEW YORK —  One way or another, everything Byung-Hyun Kim throws at Yankee Stadium winds up clearing the fence.

Kim, pitching in the Bronx for the first time since his World Series meltdowns last year, retired six batters to preserve the Arizona Diamondbacks’ 9-5 victory over New York on Wednesday.

As teammates congratulated him behind the mound, Kim took the baseball he threw to get the final out and heaved it onto the netting beyond the left-field wall. It landed not far from the spot where Scott Brosius homered to tie Game 5 last fall.

“It was just for fun,” Kim said through an interpreter. “It would have been shame or loss of face if it did not go over the fence.”

Arizona starter Miguel Batista (4-3) again outpitched Mike Mussina (9-3), getting home-run support from backup catcher Rod Barajas and Steve Finley, just as he got in Game 5 of last year’s Series.

Finley homered twice, his 15th career multihomer game, and drove in five runs to help the Diamondbacks win at Yankee Stadium for the first time in six tries--including last year’s Series.

Kim was greeted in the eighth inning by sarcastic cheers from the crowd of 50,864 in reference to the three crucial home runs he gave up in the Series.

But the 23-year-old South Korean sidearmer was not fazed. With a light drizzle falling, he struck out Bernie Williams, Jason Giambi and Jorge Posada on 12 pitches to quiet the crowd.

“I never had any doubts,” said Manager Bob Brenly, who was heavily criticized for using Kim in Game 5 last season. “Hopefully, this will put all that behind him. I think he’s a much stronger pitcher mentally than he was last year. I’m ecstatic for him.”

The Yankees put two runners on in the ninth before Kim struck out Marcus Thames and got Shane Spencer to ground into a double play for his 17th save.

Batista gave up two runs and five hits in six innings, and left because of a blister on a finger. Mussina gave up six runs and a season-high 10 hits in five innings

“I’m not going to forget what I experienced here [in the Series],” Kim said.