Classic Win for the U.S.

PHOENIX — It may not have sparked the national fervor of a Mike Eruzione game-winner against the Soviet Union or evoked the emotion of Jim Craig wrapped in an American flag while scanning the crowd for his father or had Al Michaels at the end asking if we believed in miracles.

But for a sport with zero international tradition, this was a pretty good start.

Team USA opened the inaugural World Baseball Classic with a 2-0 victory over Mexico Tuesday, but the story in Chase Field wasn’t so much that Jake Peavy and a six-man bullpen relay team combined for a four-hit shutout, or that Derrek Lee and Chipper Jones each hit home runs.

It was the atmosphere of a crowd -- 32,727 strong -- that came alive amid dueling chants of “Mexico! Mexico!” and “USA! USA!” It was the feeling players got from putting aside egos and differences, from being part of baseball’s brave new world, where even players from the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox can unite for love of country.

“I can’t tell you the amount of pride you have when you put that uniform on with all of America watching,” said Peavy, a San Diego right-hander. “Tommy Lasorda said it [Tuesday] morning. When the Dodgers win a game, Dodger fans are happy. America is our fans. We have a pretty big fan base, and we don’t want to let those guys down.”

Peavy didn’t, needing only 23 pitches to get through three innings, giving up one hit and striking out three, and neither did relievers Mike Timlin (Boston), Chad Cordero (Washington), Dan Wheeler (Houston), Todd Jones (Detroit), Joe Nathan (Minnesota) or Brad Lidge (Houston), who threw one inning apiece.

With the exception of a few Derek Jeter throws in the dirt, it was a clean, crisp game, considering it was the first week of March. U.S. pitchers threw only 88 pitches, 66 of them strikes.

Peavy was so moved by the experience he turned to Buck Martinez during a post-game news conference and thanked Team USA’s manager for the opportunity to pitch.

“I’ve never had a better feeling in my life,” Peavy said. “When Team USA took the field, it was the coolest thing I have ever done. I can’t even tell you what went through my head. It didn’t hit me until then. The national anthem, just putting on the uniform and being down in the bullpen, was just awesome.”

Jones, whose homer to left-center off new Brave teammate Oscar Villarreal gave Team USA a 2-0 lead in the seventh, said he had more butterflies Tuesday than he has for any playoff game.

“I wasn’t even starting, and I was nervous for the guys who were out there,” Jones said. “I just wanted them to get a lead and get a little cushion before I got in there and messed things up....

“There was just a tremendous amount of pride to walk into our clubhouse and see 30 guys with some pretty darn big egos put them aside for these two or three weeks to accomplish a common goal.”

Lee, whose homer off Baltimore right-hander Rodrigo Lopez made it 1-0 in the fourth, was caught by surprise as he ran onto the field.

“It was like, OK, this is big, it’s going to be serious,” Lee said. “The fans are riled up, and immediately, the adrenaline starts flowing. It was like, all right, we want to win this. And it was electric. It was comparable to the World Series for me.”

It was a moment that could not be ruined, not by Barry Bonds, the subject of another round of steroid accusations made public Tuesday, and not by George Steinbrenner, the Yankee owner who has been the tournament’s harshest critic.

Steinbrenner will be happy to know his three participants in Tuesday’s game, Jeter, third baseman Alex Rodriguez and left fielder Johnny Damon, escaped unscathed.

“Any day we get through without injury, the Boss is going to be happy,” Damon said.

But would Steinbrenner have been caught up in the passion and emotion of Tuesday’s event?

“I doubt it,” Damon said. “I don’t think he’s going to show up.”

Even Rodriguez, a lightning rod for criticism when he waffled between playing for the U.S. or the Dominican Republic, had a great time despite being booed before all three of his at-bats.

“I can’t help that, that will never change,” Rodriguez said, adding that Roger Clemens “was making fun of me, saying, ‘What, did you decline to play for Mexico too?’ ”