CONE'S NO-DECISION READS LIKE A WIN.

Byline: KAREN CROUSE

The Yankees are one win away from immortality but their 5-4 victory Tuesday over the Padres in Game 3 of the World Series came with some regrets.

David Cone, whose pluck embodies the personality of the team, pitched five no-hit innings and the thanks he got was very nearly a loss. It took two home runs from Scott Brosius in the seventh and eighth innings to restore the color to Cone's masterful performance.

``It's just a shame we didn't score (Cone) some runs while he was no-hitting them,'' said second baseman Chuck Knoblauch.

The Yankees looked like they were going to break the game wide open in the top of the sixth when Cone managed a leadoff single off starter Sterling Hitchcock, Knoblauch bunted his way on and Paul O'Neill loaded the bases with a single to set the stage for cleanup hitter Bernie Williams.

Williams had hit a two-run homer in Game 2 but he struck out on three pitches and Tino Martinez popped up to end the inning.

Cone had suffocated the Padres' bats for five innings, smothering them with his slider, a necessity since he no longer can scare anybody with his fastball.

You can't spell confidence without C-O-N-E and on this night it was clear why Joe Torre puts so much faith in his veteran pitcher. On a night when he didn't feel in total command, Cone kept the Yankees in the game with grit and cunning.

``I made just enough good pitches at the right time to get through the first five innings,'' Cone said.

Maybe so, but the bottom line was this: not since Atlanta's Tom Glavine in 1995 had a starter zip-locked a World Series opponent for so long. San Diego didn't collect its first hit until Hitchcock slapped Cone's 70th pitch, a fastball, into center to lead off the sixth.

As if losing a no-hitter to a non-hitter wasn't lousy enough - on Monday Hitchcock had admitted, ``I couldn't hit Little League pitching (and) I still stink'' - Cone walked the next batter, Quilvio Veras, on a 3-2 change-up.

Up to the plate stepped Tony Gwynn, and as crafty as Cone is he couldn't outwit the game's best hitter. He threw what he thought was a solid splitter and Gwynn sent it into the gap in right.

``(Gwynn) did a great job of putting his bat on that ball,'' Cone said.

O'Neill ran the ball down and then inexplicably threw it like it was a bowling ball and first baseman Martinez and Knoblauch were the 7 and 10 pins. It was only the fifth error of the postseason for the Yankees.

``He kind of airmailed it,'' Martinez charitably said of O'Neill's effort, which stood in sharp contrast to the sparkling catch he had made at Yankee Stadium in Game 2 to rob the Padres of at least two runs.

Cone was backing up home plate on the play, which left him perfectly positioned to watch Hitchcock and Veras score.

Ken Caminiti then drove Gwynn in with a shot that Williams flagged down at the warning track and just like that, Cone's masterpiece was ruined, the Padres staking him to three runs, two of them earned.

``The sixth inning was a huge turning point,'' said Cone, who was in the clubhouse icing his shoulder by the bottom of the seventh, his night done after throwing 88 pitches and walking three and striking out four. ``Hitchcock did a great job of pitching out of a jam and I went up there and gave up three runs.''

It was silly for him to shoulder the full responsibility for the Yankees' sorry sixth. The fact that he did without a hint of hesitation speaks to why these Yankees have won 124 games. It shows what a team can achieve when everyone shares the credit and hordes the blame.

``This ballclub, they're going to take MVP votes away from each other,'' Torre said. ``It's a great feeling for a manager to know when these guys come to the field the only thing they're interested in is winning the game.''

As a result, as Cone acknowledged, they're ``on the brink of something really special.''