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1997 World Series: Game 3
FLORIDA MARLINS @ CLEVELAND INDIANS
OCTOBER 21, 1997
TIMELINE 20
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1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
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7
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8
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9
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10
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11
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R
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H
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E
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Florida Marlins
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0
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0
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2
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1
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4
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1
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1
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1
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2
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0
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0
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12
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22
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1
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Cleveland Indians
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5
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0
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1
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0
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0
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0
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6
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0
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0
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0
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3
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15
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15
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2
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Justice Walkoff Homer in 11th Gives Indians Wild Game 3 Win
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David Justice saw one pitch in the bottom of the eleventh inning. One pitch from Tony Saunders, a left-hander summoned in desperation after Robb Nen walked Matt Williams to open the frame. Roberts had singled Williams to third with two outs. The game was five hours and eighteen minutes old, tied at twelve, and Justice ended it with a swing so immediate and so final — a 425-foot three-run homer into the wet October dark — that the word for it is right there in the man's surname. Instant, absolute, and utterly without appeal.
Everything before that swing was prologue, though it hardly felt like it at the time. Cleveland scored five in the first inning against Al Leiter, who recorded two outs on 35 pitches and left with an ERA that read like a temperature. Williams's two-run triple off the right-center wall was the decisive blow — Leiter lasted one more batter, walking Grissom, before Heredia mercifully replaced him. The lead felt safe. It was not. Florida had 22 hits in them — Renteria four, Alou four, Sheffield four — and they used them to dismantle Cleveland's pitching staff one inning at a time. A four-run fifth gave them the lead at 7-6. The game had flipped entirely.
Cleveland answered with a six-run seventh — Grissom's two-run double off Dennis Cook the centerpiece — to lead 12-9 entering the eighth. That too proved insufficient. Florida scored once in the eighth off Alvin Morman and twice in the ninth — Alou's RBI single off Jackson and Daulton's sacrifice fly off Mesa knotting the score at twelve and sending the game into extra innings. Thirteen pitchers. Thirty-seven combined hits. A game that changed leads the way a conversation changes subjects in a bar at closing time.
And then Justice, first pitch, 425 feet, and the twentieth timeline folds shut. He finished 4-for-6 with five RBI, but the box score cannot convey what the final swing actually meant — not just runs, but release, the end of an endurance test that had lasted so long the outcome itself seemed to have become optional. Some iterations end cleanly. This one required the universe to be reminded, loudly, that his name is Justice and the verdict was never really in doubt.
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FLORIDA 1997 BATTING LINESCORE
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CLEVELAND 1997 BATTING LINESCORE
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Player
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AB
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R
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H
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RBI
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BB
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K
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LOB
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AVG
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HR
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RBI
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E. Renteria
SS
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7
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2
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4
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1
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0
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0
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3
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.571
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0
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1
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J. Eisenreich
LF
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7
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1
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1
|
0
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0
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0
|
9
|
.143
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0
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0
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M. Alou
DH
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7
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2
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4
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3
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0
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1
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1
|
.571
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0
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3
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G. Sheffield
RF
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6
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1
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4
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0
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0
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1
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3
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.667
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0
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0
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B. Bonilla
3B
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7
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1
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3
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1
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0
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2
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5
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.429
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0
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1
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D. Daulton
1B
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5
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2
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1
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1
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1
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1
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6
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.200
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0
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1
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C. Johnson
C
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7
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0
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2
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2
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0
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4
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6
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.286
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0
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2
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D. White
CF
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3
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1
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0
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2
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1
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1
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3
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.000
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0
|
2
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C. Counsell
2B
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5
|
2
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3
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1
|
1
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1
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1
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.600
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1
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1
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Totals
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54
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12
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22
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11
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3
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11
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37
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BATTING
Doubles:
G. Sheffield
(1, 3rd Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 2 outs)
E. Renteria
2 (2, 9th Inning off M. Jackson, 0 on, 0 outs; 10th Inning off J. Mesa, 0 on, 2 outs)
C. Johnson
2 (2, 5th Inning off C. Nagy, 3 on, 0 outs; 8th Inning off M. Jackson, 1 on, 1 out)
M. Alou
2 (2, 5th Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 0 outs; 6th Inning off E. Plunk, 0 on, 0 outs)
Home Runs:
C. Counsell
(1, 3rd Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 0 outs)
Total Bases:
G. Sheffield
5
,
E. Renteria
6
,
C. Johnson
4
,
J. Eisenreich
,
D. Daulton
,
C. Counsell
6
,
B. Bonilla
3
,
M. Alou
6
2-out RBI:
E. Renteria
,
M. Alou
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs:
G. Sheffield
,
C. Johnson
3
,
J. Eisenreich
3
,
C. Counsell
,
B. Bonilla
Sac Fly:
D. White
2
,
D. Daulton
Hit by Pitch:
G. Sheffield
Team LOB:
16
BASERUNNING
SB:
G. Sheffield
(1)
FIELDING
Errors:
B. Bonilla
OF assists:
1 (Sheffield (Justice at 2nd base))
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Player
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AB
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R
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H
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RBI
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BB
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K
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LOB
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AVG
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HR
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RBI
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O. Vizquel
SS
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7
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0
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0
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0
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0
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2
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5
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.000
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0
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0
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B. Roberts
LF
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5
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2
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2
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0
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2
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1
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0
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.400
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0
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0
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D. Justice
DH
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6
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2
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4
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5
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1
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2
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1
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.667
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1
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5
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S. Alomar Jr
C
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6
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2
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2
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1
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0
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1
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3
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.333
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0
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1
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J. Thome
1B
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3
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2
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1
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0
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3
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2
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2
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.333
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0
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0
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M. Ramirez
RF
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3
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2
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1
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1
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3
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0
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3
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.333
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0
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1
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T. Fernandez
2B
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5
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1
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1
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2
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0
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0
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6
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.200
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0
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2
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M. Williams
3B
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5
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3
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3
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4
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1
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0
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2
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.600
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1
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4
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M. Grissom
CF
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5
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1
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1
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2
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1
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3
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1
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.200
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0
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2
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Totals
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45
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15
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15
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15
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11
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11
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23
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BATTING
Doubles:
M. Grissom
(1, 7th Inning off D. Cook, 3 on, 1 out)
Triples:
M. Williams
(1, 1st Inning off A. Leiter, 2 on, 2 outs)
Home Runs:
M. Williams
(1, 3rd Inning off F. Heredia, 0 on, 1 out)
D. Justice
(1, 11th Inning off T. Saunders, 2 on, 2 outs)
Total Bases:
S. Alomar Jr
2
,
M. Williams
8
,
J. Thome
,
B. Roberts
2
,
M. Ramirez
,
D. Justice
7
,
M. Grissom
2
,
T. Fernandez
2-out RBI:
M. Williams
,
D. Justice
2
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs:
S. Alomar Jr
,
O. Vizquel
,
M. Ramirez
,
T. Fernandez
Sac Fly:
T. Fernandez
Team LOB:
10
FIELDING
Errors:
O. Vizquel
,
T. Fernandez
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FLORIDA 1997 PITCHING LINESCORE
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CLEVELAND 1997 PITCHING LINESCORE
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Player
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IP
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H
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R
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ER
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BB
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K
|
HR
|
PI
|
PS
|
ERA
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A. Leiter
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0.2
|
3
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5
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5
|
4
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0
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0
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35
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12
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67.50
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F. Heredia
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3.2
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3
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1
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1
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1
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5
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1
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49
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28
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2.45
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J. Powell
H (1)
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1.2
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2
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1
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1
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0
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1
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0
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22
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16
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5.40
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D. Cook
BS (1)
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0.1
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4
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5
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5
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1
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0
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0
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21
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10
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135.00
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L. Hernandez
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1.2
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1
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0
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0
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2
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2
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0
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35
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21
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0.00
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R. Nen
L (0-1)
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2.0
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0
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1
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1
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3
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2
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0
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33
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15
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4.50
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T. Saunders
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0.2
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2
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2
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2
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0
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1
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1
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14
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8
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27.00
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PITCHING
Game Score:
A. Leiter
14
Batters Faced:
A. Leiter
9,
F. Heredia
14,
J. Powell
7,
D. Cook
6,
L. Hernandez
8,
R. Nen
9,
T. Saunders
4
Ground Outs - Fly Outs:
A. Leiter
1-1,
F. Heredia
2-3,
J. Powell
3-1,
D. Cook
1-0,
L. Hernandez
0-3,
R. Nen
1-3,
T. Saunders
0-1
Pitches - Strikes:
A. Leiter
35-12,
F. Heredia
49-28,
J. Powell
22-16,
D. Cook
21-10,
L. Hernandez
35-21,
R. Nen
33-15,
T. Saunders
14-8
Inherited Runners - Scored:
F. Heredia
2-0
,
D. Cook
1-1
,
L. Hernandez
2-2
,
T. Saunders
1-1
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Player
|
IP
|
H
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R
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ER
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BB
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K
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HR
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PI
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PS
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ERA
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C. Nagy
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4.0
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10
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7
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6
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2
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4
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1
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80
|
50
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13.50
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E. Plunk
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2.1
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3
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2
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1
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1
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3
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0
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44
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28
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3.86
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A. Morman
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1.0
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2
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1
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1
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0
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0
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0
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25
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14
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9.00
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M. Jackson
H (1)
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0.2
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4
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2
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2
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0
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1
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0
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22
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14
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27.00
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J. Mesa
BS (1)
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2.1
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2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
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36
|
26
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0.00
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P. Assenmacher
W (1-0)
|
0.2
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1
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0
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0
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0
|
1
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0
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14
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7
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0.00
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PITCHING
Game Score:
C. Nagy
18
Batters Faced:
C. Nagy
25,
E. Plunk
11,
A. Morman
6,
M. Jackson
7,
J. Mesa
9,
P. Assenmacher
3
Ground Outs - Fly Outs:
C. Nagy
5-3,
E. Plunk
0-4,
A. Morman
0-3,
M. Jackson
0-1,
J. Mesa
2-3,
P. Assenmacher
0-1
Pitches - Strikes:
C. Nagy
80-50,
E. Plunk
44-28,
A. Morman
25-14,
M. Jackson
22-14,
J. Mesa
36-26,
P. Assenmacher
14-7
Inherited Runners - Scored:
E. Plunk
2-1
,
A. Morman
1-1
,
M. Jackson
1-1
,
J. Mesa
3-1
,
P. Assenmacher
1-0
WP:
E. Plunk
Hit Batsmen:
M. Jackson
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GAME NOTES
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Player of the Game:
David Justice
Ballpark:
Jacobs Field
Weather:
Rainy (47 degrees F), 25 MPH wind (left to right)
Start Time:
8:24 PM EST
Time:
5:18
Attendance:
44,880
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