The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Like Juan Pierre and Luis Castillo at the top of the Florida Marlins lineup, the New York Yankees rely on leadoff hitter Alfonso Soriano to get them going.

Unlike Pierre and Castillo, Soriano didn't come through in Game 1 of the World Series on Saturday night, going 1-for-5 and striking out in another big situation.

With runners on first and second and one out in the ninth, Soriano struck out looking and New York went on to lose 3-2 to the Marlins.

"I think that pitch was a ball, I think it was inside," Soriano said of the third strike. "You know I like to swing the bat."

And swing he has in the postseason, missing mostly. Soriano has struck out 18 times in 54 at-bats in the playoffs this season. He struck out four times against Pedro Martinez in Game 7 of the ALCS, swinging wildly at low and away pitches three times.

"He's struggling right now," manager Joe Torre said. "He's had some long at-bats, which normally benefits a hitter. Like the last time up, where he had a lot of pitches to look at. But he may be pressing a bit."

An All-Star second baseman, Soriano hit 38 home runs, drove in 91 runs and stole 35 bases while hitting .290 this season. He doesn't have a home run and has driven in just seven runs this postseason.

Of course, the Yankees' troubles in the opener did not entirely fall on Soriano's shoulders. He did lead off the first with an infield single and stole second, only to be stranded.

LITTLE SUPPORT: Marlins manager Jack McKeon expressed support for fellow manager Grady Little of Boston, who has been second-guessed from the moment he left Pedro Martinez in to face New York's Hideki Matsui in the eighth inning of Game 7 of the ALCS.

Matsui hit a ground-rule double and Jorge Posada followed with a tying two-run double before Little took out his ace after 123 pitches. The Yankees went on to win Game 7 in 11 innings and the trip to the World Series. Little went on to be the scapegoat for another unfulfilled Boston Red Sox postseason.

"Here's a guy who sacrificed, did a good job, and you're going to judge him on one game - I don't think it's fair," McKeon said of Little, who guided the Red Sox to a 95-67 record in the regular season.

McKeon, at 72 the oldest manager ever to reach the World Series, said he's been in similar situations in his career, which started in 1955 as a minor league skipper.

He shared some of that wisdom with his third-base coach.

"I was talking to Ozzie Guillen, who has aspirations to be a manager, and said, ëWhatever you do you have to make a decision in your head, and whatever you do you're going to be second-guessed,"' McKeon said. "If the players execute, it's a good decision. If they don't, it's not."

GOOD COMPANY: Bernie Williams hit his 18th postseason home run in the sixth inning of Game 1, tying Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson for most career postseason homers.

Mantle did it in 65 games, when there was only the World Series. Jackson played in 77 playoff games. He hit 10 homers in the World Series.

ALWAYS THE JESTER: Comedian Robin Williams was on the field before Game 1 and was so impressed with Yankee Stadium he could only think of one arena to compare it to.

"This place is like the Colesseum - in Venice."

Williams, a Giants season ticket-holder at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco, entertained a large media contingent during Yankees batting practice, riffing on the American pasttime.

On Boston Red Sox fans:

"I would not want to go there now. Don't mention New York for two weeks. They tried everything but Voodoo."

On the 1997 Marlins:

"It was like selling off a Mercedes piece by piece."

GRID GUYS: When commissioner Bud Selig ran into Yankees owner George Steinbrenner at their hotel Saturday afternoon, what did they talk about?

Football, of course.

"He wanted to remind me that my Badgers lost to Purdue," Selig said.

Steinbrenner was an assistant football coach at Purdue early in his career. Selig, who lives in Milwaukee, follows Wisconsin.

The 13th-ranked Boilermakers beat No. 14 Wisconsin 26-23.