The Yankees' World Series comeback was hailed as a miracle yesterday as New Yorkers found something to lift the mood of a city shaken by attacks and anthrax.

Wiping sleepy eyes after staying up late to watch the Yankees defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks in extra innings for a second night in a row, fans savoured their feelings of joy amid the mourning and new threats of attacks. "The city really needed this because everything is so depressing on the news and this is bringing some happiness to New York," said Yankees fan Maryann Dambrosio, who watched the Yankees win Game Five 3-2 in 12 innings.

Down to the last out for the second night in a row, the Yankees' Scott Brosius hit a game-tying two-run homer in the ninth inning - just as Tino Martinez had in the Yankees' 4-3 victory in Game Four.

The "Bronx Bombers" are 3-2 ahead in the best-of-seven game Series, just one win away from clinching their fourth straight title.

The Yankees trailed the Diamondbacks 2-0 going into a three-game stand in New York, but have now won all of their games in Yankee Stadium before 56,000 fans, who used the occasion to pour out their emotions for a city changed by the terrorist attacks.

"It's unbelievable," said Yankees fan Clint DeGroat, 28, a Madison Avenue advertising sales manager. "I think it's a great diversion, what with the anthrax and other stuff going on, it's nice to sit back and not watch CNN for an evening and not feel compelled to put it on because you are watching some other drama unfold that's not life threatening," he said.

"Unbelievable" and "a miracle" were the words most used by fans, players and in newspaper headlines to express the Yankees comeback. "It was a miracle finish, twice in a row," Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, one of the best-known Yankees fans, told ABC's Good Morning America.