Scott Brosius hits a solo home run during the Yankees' win in Game 2.(AP)

The Yankees now hold a 2-0 lead in the World Series and stand just two wins away from an astounding fourth championship in five years.

Clemens was at his Retro Rocket best, firing a 2-hit gem with nine strikeouts in eight innings. The Mets' Todd Zeile got the only hits, both singles. Clemens left with a 6-0 lead, only to have the Yankee bullpen nearly give it all back in a wild ninth for the Mets.

The series shifts to Queens for Tuesday night's Game 3, but geography seems fairly irrelevant for the Yankees in the World Series. Their streak of 14 consecutive World Series victories -- which began in 1996 -- is an all-time record.

Heading into this game, which followed an epic Yankees' 12-inning victory in Game 1, all the buzz was over the rematch of Clemens and Piazza.

Last time they met was July, when Clemens beaned Piazza on the NY logo of his Mets helmet and set off a controversy that didn't die for weeks.

Still, the story of the night should have been Clemens' complete mastery of the Mets. But as always seems to happen when New York and/or Clemens is involved, controversy filled the night.

When Piazza came to the plate in the top of the first, the packed house was on its collective feet, waiting for some high voltage drama. In a way nobody could have expected, they got it.

Piazza hit a broken-bat foul ball and a piece of the bat went toward Clemens. A fuming Rocket picked up what was left of Piazza's bat and fired it back in the Mets catcher's direction. He missed by a few feet and Piazza started walking in Clemens' direction. Both benches emptied, but things finally chilled out as Clemens realized that he lost his cool and apologized.

It's unfathomable that Clemens would think Piazza had any control over where his shattered bat was going, and despicable that he would fire a piece of wood back at the Mets catcher in retaliation.

Clemens' side of the story was that he had no idea Piazza had kept running after his foul ball and didn't know he would be standing within inches of where he heaved the bat.

"It was bizarre," said Piazza. "I don't think it was an attempt, I was just confused."

According to Clemens, he wasn't just in another world, but in another planet.

Because of the extenuating circumstances surrounding the game, he was so charged up on the mound, he didn't know what was happening when Piazza's wood came flying at him. He didn't even know if it was a ball or a bat. As a gut reaction, he fired it out of play, where Piazza happened to be running.

"Before I let go of the bat, I had no idea Mike had ran and I told Charlie (Reliford) the umpire that," Clemens said. "There was no intent. Fired up and emotional, yeah. But I had no idea Mike was running. There was no intent. I was running extremely high. I was just extremely fired up and just had to calm down."

Translation: Clemens snapped. Only he knows whether he was really aiming for Piazza.

It was a night that left both sides filled with emotion. And Clemens deserves credit for managing to throw such a special game in such a chaotic environment.

Instead of letting an unsettling situation get him out of his rhythm, Clemens managed to get even more locked in than usual.

"After the first inning, I sat in a room by myself and knew I had to get control of my emotions to continue to perform and finish that game," Clemens said.

He finished with the ferocity that has marked his career. Piazza didn't get any of the payback he badly desired for the concussion Clemens inflicted on him. He was 0-for-3 against Clemens. Before the beaning, Piazza was 7-for-12 with three homers off the Rocket.

In fact, it wasn't until Clemens was out of the game in the ninth that Piazza's slumbering bat woke up. He took reliever Jeff Nelson over the left field wall for a two-run homer as part of a five-run Mets rally.

Clemens took a 1-hitter into the seventh. Only one runner reached second base against him all night. And this was coming off his brilliant Game 4 of the ALCS against the Mariners when he fired a 1-hitter with 15 strikeouts.

So Clemens, in back to back playoff starts, surrendered no runs, just three hits and racked up 24 strikeouts. It was two of the most dominating successive postseason outings any pitcher has ever had.

"To be successful in this one, I knew I had to have something close to what I had in Seattle," Clemens said. "I was fortunate, my fastball was hopping and I was just trying to really curtail it as best I could."

Did someone say Clemens was getting old? He's 38 and looking like every bit as good as he was in his prime. The radar gun was reading high 90s Sunday well into the late innings, and the Rocket made it clear he still has plenty left in his tank.

Did someone say Clemens couldn't win big games? That's what we all were saying in the Division Series against the A's, as Clemens suffered the only two losses of that series for the Yankees.

But the Yankees spared Clemens a rotten winter by winning a decisive Game 5 at Oakland, and Clemens, given a reprieve, is back at his best.

"His fastball is exploding," said Yankees catcher Jorge Posada. "His split has been incredible."

He had the Mets positively baffled in this one. His fastball was pinpoint on either corner, his splitter was diving, and he was keeping his infielders busy.

For all the talk about the Clemens' intimidation tactics, he was on his best behavior -- the hurled bat aside -- much of this night. Oh, he did hit Edgardo Alfonzo on the shoulder, but there was no harm intended.

It was clear early that all Clemens needed from his mates on this night was a couple of runs. They delivered in the bottom of the first, with Tino Martinez and Posada coming up with RBI singles off Mike Hampton, who labored all night.

So the night was supposed to be all about Clemens and Piazza. But it ended up being all about Clemens.

Still, when it was over, nobody wanted to talk about his pitching -- just his heave of Piazza's bat.

"Roger didn't anticipate Mike running," said Yanks manager Joe Torre. "He just threw the bat in our direction."

Clearly, the entire Piazza incident dating back to July has taken its toll on Clemens. He's heard the stories about how he's a head hunter and he was wounded by it.

He took more baggage than usual with him to the mound Sunday.

"I just had to get control of my emotions," said Clemens. "I went and sat for about seven, eight minutes away from everyone and just said, 'you know, I need to get refocused and stay focused. So that was really it. I was able to have a little peace of mind and get focused to win the ballgame."

That focus now has the Yankees two victories away from a third consecutive championship.