This was the controversial play of Game 1 of the World Series, a play that very well might have cost the Mets a game they would eventually lose 4-3 to the Yankees in 12 innings.

In the cruelest twist of fate for the Mets, Zeile's sixth-inning shot seemed to die at the top of the wall and then come back in play.

If Timo Perez was running at full speed, he probably wouldn't have been tagged out at home in the sixth inning.(AP)

Perez, the rookie right fielder who has come out of obscurity to play such a huge role for these Mets, made a rookie mistake.

He assumed it was a home run and stopped running hard. When he realized his mistake, he had to kick it back in to gear. Perez, the fastest player on the Mets, was gunned down at the plate on a terrific relay throw from Derek Jeter to catcher Jorge Posada.

There's no doubt Perez will have a hard time sleeping this one off.

"I slowed up a little, I was confused by the fans," explained Perez through an interpreter. "I saw everybody waving their hands. I had no experience about it. But I'll overcome it. It won't happen again."

The Mets, if they are to knock off the Yankees in this Subway War for Big Apple bragging rights, can't afford any mental mistakes. They need to be flawless.

"Execution cost us this game," said Mets reliever Turk Wendell. "We made things a lot harder than we should have."

Zeile still seemed perplexed that his ball didn't clear the wall and give the Mets what would have been a 2-0 lead.

"From my line of sight, it disappeared," said Zeile. "The umpire said it hit the top of the wall and came back. I said that I thought that was against the law of physics."

But Perez, who has taken New York by storm with his boundless enthusiasm the last couple of weeks, won't let his mistake lessen his confidence.

"I thought the ball was a homer and I started to relax," said Perez, "and when I realized it wasn't a home run, I had to speed up. I'll always remember to run now."

Perez only hopes the Mets come back and win the series so his gaffe won't always be remembered.

But the Mets aren't the type of team to wallow over a tough loss. Resiliency is the one thing that has stuck out about them the last two years.

And Sunday, they have their ace Mike Hampton set to go against Roger Clemens in what should be another tight game.

"Our guys battled tonight," said Mets GM Steve Phillips. "We felt robbed by the Zeile homer, and then the Yankees scored two runs the next inning, but we came back. That's the trademark of this team. The resiliency."