Infinite Cleveland

1997 World Series: Game 3
FLORIDA MARLINS @ CLEVELAND INDIANS
OCTOBER 21, 1997
TIMELINE 12
GAME LOG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Florida Marlins 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 5 8 0
Cleveland Indians 0 0 0 0 2 0 4 0 X 6 9 1
Bonilla Homers Twice, But Cleveland Rallies Past Florida in Game 3
Bobby Bonilla hit two home runs and drove in three on a cold, rain-spattered Tuesday in Cleveland, and it was not enough. That is the kind of sentence that belongs in some other telling of this night — the version where the Marlins hold a 4-2 lead into the seventh inning and the damp air keeps everything tamped down, where Al Leiter's fastball continues to find the corners the way it had for six innings already. But this was not that version, or perhaps it was until it suddenly wasn't, which is how October baseball reminds you it has no obligation to the narrative you've been constructing.

Florida had built their lead with patient efficiency: Renteria's infield single and stolen base manufactured a first-inning run, Charles Johnson singled home another, and Darren Daulton and Bonilla each deposited solo home runs into the October murk in the fourth and fifth. Cleveland's Matt Williams had answered with a solo shot of his own in the fifth, but the Indians trailed 4-2 entering the bottom of the seventh, and the 44,880 in attendance had begun that particular species of restlessness that precedes resignation.

What followed took four minutes to undo six innings of work. Omar Vizquel fought to a full count and singled. Bip Roberts singled. David Justice grounded an RBI single through the left side, and suddenly it was 4-3, and Leiter's night was finished. Sandy Alomar Jr., still batting against Leiter, took a 2-1 pitch and drove it 341 feet into the left-field seats — a three-run home run that turned a one-run deficit into a two-run lead so quickly the scoreboard operator might have felt he'd done this before. Cleveland 6, Florida 4.

Bonilla, who seems in every iteration of this game to refuse quiet resignation, hit his second homer in the eighth to pull within one. But Michael Jackson retired the side in the ninth, and the final was 6-5 — another reshuffling that found Cleveland holding the last card, as if the deck keeps cutting their way regardless of how badly they trail at intermission.
FLORIDA 1997 BATTING LINESCORE CLEVELAND 1997 BATTING LINESCORE
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
E. Renteria SS 5 1 1 0 0 0 2 .200 0 0
J. Eisenreich DH 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000 0 0
B. Bonilla 3B 3 2 2 3 0 0 0 .667 2 3
G. Sheffield RF 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 .000 0 0
D. Daulton 1B 3 1 2 1 1 0 0 .667 1 1
C. Johnson C 4 0 2 1 0 1 1 .500 0 1
D. White CF 3 0 0 0 0 1 4 .000 0 0
a- M. Alou PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
C. Counsell 2B 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000 0 0
C. Floyd LF 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 .333 0 0
Totals 33 5 8 5 3 5 12
a - M. Alou pinch hit for D. White in the 9th

BATTING
Doubles: C. Johnson (1, 4th Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 0 outs)
Home Runs: D. Daulton (1, 4th Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 0 outs) B. Bonilla 2 (2, 5th Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 2 outs; 8th Inning off B. Anderson, 0 on, 0 outs)
Total Bases: E. Renteria , C. Johnson 3 , C. Floyd , D. Daulton 5 , B. Bonilla 8
2-out RBI: C. Johnson , B. Bonilla
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: D. White , C. Floyd
GIDP: E. Renteria , J. Eisenreich
Sac Fly: B. Bonilla
Team LOB: 4

BASERUNNING
SB: E. Renteria (1)

FIELDING
Double Plays: 1 (Renteria-Counsell-Daulton)
PB: C. Johnson
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
O. Vizquel SS 4 2 2 0 0 0 1 .500 0 0
B. Roberts LF 4 1 2 1 0 1 1 .500 0 1
D. Justice DH 3 1 1 1 1 0 1 .333 0 1
S. Alomar Jr C 4 1 1 3 0 2 1 .250 1 3
J. Thome 1B 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 .333 0 0
M. Ramirez RF 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 .250 0 0
T. Fernandez 2B 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 0 0
M. Williams 3B 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 .333 1 1
M. Grissom CF 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 0 0
Totals 32 6 9 6 2 6 11
BATTING
Home Runs: S. Alomar Jr (1, 7th Inning off A. Leiter, 2 on, 2 outs) M. Williams (1, 5th Inning off A. Leiter, 0 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: S. Alomar Jr 4 , M. Williams 4 , O. Vizquel 2 , J. Thome , B. Roberts 2 , M. Ramirez , D. Justice
2-out RBI: S. Alomar Jr , B. Roberts , D. Justice
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: D. Justice
GIDP: T. Fernandez
Hit by Pitch: M. Williams
Team LOB: 3

BASERUNNING
SB: O. Vizquel (1)

FIELDING
Errors: O. Vizquel
Double Plays: 2 (Williams-Fernandez-Thome, Williams-Fernandez-Thome)
FLORIDA 1997 PITCHING LINESCORE CLEVELAND 1997 PITCHING LINESCORE
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
A. Leiter L (0-1) 6.2 9 6 6 2 6 2 106 65 8.10
D. Cook 1.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 7 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: A. Leiter 36
Batters Faced: A. Leiter 31, D. Cook 4
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: A. Leiter 6-7, D. Cook 0-4
Pitches - Strikes: A. Leiter 106-65, D. Cook 11-7
Hit Batsmen: A. Leiter
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
C. Nagy 6.0 6 4 4 2 5 2 99 60 6.00
B. Anderson W (1-0) 2.0 1 1 1 1 0 1 26 14 4.50
M. Jackson SV (1) 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 11 8 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: C. Nagy 47
Batters Faced: C. Nagy 26, B. Anderson 7, M. Jackson 4
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: C. Nagy 4-8, B. Anderson 4-1, M. Jackson 2-1
Pitches - Strikes: C. Nagy 99-60, B. Anderson 26-14, M. Jackson 11-8
GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: Bobby Bonilla
Ballpark: Jacobs Field
Weather: Rainy (47 degrees F), 25 MPH wind (left to right)
Start Time: 8:24 PM EST
Time: 3:11
Attendance: 44,880