BRAVES TAKE OVER BRONX BOMBERS ROLE.

Byline: Associated Press 

The Yankees and their fans waited 15 years for this?

Their ace pitcher was seated in the dugout in the third inning, they didn't get a hit until the fifth and the 56,365 who came to rock Yankee Stadium sat quietly in stunned disbelief.

When the Braves took an 11-run lead in the sixth inning en route to their 12-1 win, fans were streaming toward the exits. And the ones who couldn't get a ticket were probably channel surfing at home.

The only chance New York had at that point was a rainout, and Mother Nature showed up even later that the Yankees did. It started raining in the bottom of the sixth after the rout was official.

``We just ran into a buzz saw tonight,'' Wade Boggs said.

After winning their first AL pennant since 1981 in Baltimore last weekend, the Yankees returned home as the toasts of the town. They partied, went to see the Knicks and Rangers play at the Garden and watched Atlanta and St. Louis play the final four games of the NL playoffs on television.

Sunday night, they finally got to meet the world champions in person, and the Braves showed them why they're the team of the '90s.

``If you give the Braves an eight-run lead,'' Derek Jeter said, ``you're in trouble.''

October baseball used to belong to the Yankees. This is, after all, New York's 34th World Series appearance. But in Game 1, the Yankees played like it was their Fall Classic debut.

Maybe they were too well-rested. They didn't think that their layoff - extended one more day by Saturday's postponement - would have much of an effect, but it sure didn't help.

``It's an excuse,'' manager Joe Torre said. ``You can't use that. They were a better team than we were and that's that. . . . We were just overwhelmed with the way they whacked the ball around.''

Starter Andy Pettitte was picked to start Game 1 after winning 21 games during the regular season and pitching eight innings of three-hit ball in the pennant-clinching win over the Orioles.

Pettitte was supposed to shorten the game so Torre could go to his bullpen early. This wasn't quite what the Yankees had in mind, though.

The left-hander lasted only 2-1/3 innings - his third-shortest outing this season - and gave up seven runs and six hits. He was behind in the count to nearly every batter and was yanked by Torre after throwing only 52 pitches.

``It's beyond me what happened out there,'' Pettitte said. ``I hate this, it's the World Series and I was supposed to keep our team in the game, and I didn't do it. . . .''

``That's why this is seven games and not one,'' Boggs said. ``You aren't the world champions after one game.''

It won't be easy. Tonight they face Greg Maddux and a Braves team already smelling blood.

``We came in here to get a split,'' said Chipper Jones. ``But now that we've won the first one, we're going to go for the jugular tomorrow night.''

WORLD SERIES BLOWOUTS

Double-digit margins in World Series games:

14

New York-AL 18, New York-NL 4, Oct. 2, 1936

13

New York-AL 16, Pittsburgh 3, Oct. 6, 1960

12

New York-AL 13, New York-NL 1, Oct. 9, 1951

New York-AL 12, Pittsburgh 0, Oct. 12, 1960

Detroit 13, St. Louis 1, Oct. 9, 1968

St. Louis 13, Milwaukee 1, Oct. 19, 1982

11

Philadelphia-AL 13, New York-NL 2, Oct. 26, 1911

St. Louis-NL 11, Detroit 0, Oct. 9, 1934

Chicago-AL 11, Los Angeles 0, Oct. 1, 1959

Kansas City 11, St. Louis 0, Oct. 27, 1985

Atlanta 12, New York-AL 1, Oct. 20, 1996

10

New York-AL 10, Pittsburgh 0, Oct. 8, 1960

New York-AL 12, Los Angeles 2, Oct. 15, 1978

Milwaukee 10, St. Louis 0, Oct. 12, 1982

CAPTION(S):

Box

Box: WORLD SERIES BLOWOUTS (see text)