"Elvis Andrus, arguably the fastest player in the American League Championship Series, was trying to goad Kerry Wood into a balk yesterday.

After getting aboard to start the seventh inning and advancing on a wild pitch, the Rangers shortstop danced on and off second base, toying with the Yankees setup man.

Wood threw back once. Andrus dived back. The dance continued until Andrus strayed a little too far from the bag. Wood whirled as shortstop Derek Jeter sprinted to cover the base.

Just like that, Andrus was erased.

"I went with the no-look pitch and then I went with the inside move and then I don't know why I doubled-up on the move," Wood said.

"He probably thought that no one doubles up on it. But I thought he might be taking off. It actually kind of caught me off guard. I didn't think I would be able to get my foot down in time. But Jeter got there in time and I was able to make a decent throw."

When Andrus was picked off, the Yankees already held a comfortable 6-2 lead.

But with Texas' leadoff hitter on — and the heart of the Rangers lineup marching up behind him — Wood's timely play appeared to put an end to any hopes the Rangers had of mounting a rally.

"More than anything, I think it slowed them down a little bit," Wood said. "We know that they're very aggressive on the basepaths."

So aggressive, in fact, that Wood also picked off Ian Kinsler, who led off the eighth inning of Game 1 with a walk and represented the tying run.

While nabbing Andrus was a highlight of Wood's two innings of work yesterday, it certainly wasn't his only contribution.

After coming in to relieve CC Sabathia, Wood proceeded to face the minimum number of Texas hitters before handing the ball over to closer Mariano Rivera."