Infinite Cleveland

1997 World Series: Game 3
FLORIDA MARLINS @ CLEVELAND INDIANS
OCTOBER 21, 1997
TIMELINE 32
GAME LOG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Florida Marlins 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 2 5 9 1
Cleveland Indians 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 4 1
Mesa, Wild Pitches Doom Indians; Florida Takes Game 3 in Ten
Ten innings, and in the end the game turned not on the swings that produced the runs but on the smaller failures — a wild pitch that let Renteria trot home from third in the fifth, a throw from left field that arrived one step too late in the ninth, Jose Mesa's inability to keep the ball off Florida bats in the tenth with the game still in reach. Florida 5, Cleveland 4, and the Indians lost despite David Justice hitting a solo home run on an 0-2 count in the seventh — 380 feet to right, the kind of swing that should close a game out — and Matt Williams launching one 409 feet off Robb Nen in the bottom of the tenth, first pitch, a ball hit so hard and so far that it seemed for a moment to carry the weight of the whole evening's frustration over the wall and into the night beyond.

Cleveland led 2-0 through four innings on the strength of almost nothing — an Alomar single, a stolen base, an error by the shortstop that let Ramirez score. Four hits was all the Indians would manage all night, and yet they led, because Nagy was keeping the Florida lineup off balance and because sometimes two runs feels like enough. It was not. Edgar Renteria tripled to deep right-center in the fifth, a line drive at 104 off the bat that one-hopped the wall, and then Nagy's wild pitch brought him home. Gary Sheffield followed with a double after a ten-pitch war of foul balls on 3-2, scoring Eisenreich, and the game was tied and would stay that way for two more innings.

Justice's home run restored the lead in the seventh. Moises Alou's single erased it in the ninth, Devon White scoring from third when the throw from left arrived behind him. And in the tenth, Darren Daulton crushed a double at 112 miles per hour — the hardest-hit ball anyone would strike all night — and the runs came in on a sacrifice fly — no throw from left, Bonilla trotting home unchallenged — and a Counsell single, Daulton beating the throw from center to the plate. Williams's home run in the bottom half was a magnificent, futile gesture, a 409-foot monument to a night that had already slipped away. Nen retired the next two batters, and the Marlins had stolen a game that Cleveland, in some other telling of this same Tuesday, would surely have won.
FLORIDA 1997 BATTING LINESCORE CLEVELAND 1997 BATTING LINESCORE
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
E. Renteria SS 4 1 2 0 2 0 2 .500 0 0
J. Eisenreich LF 5 1 0 0 1 2 6 .000 0 0
M. Alou DH 4 0 2 1 1 1 1 .500 0 1
G. Sheffield RF 4 0 1 1 1 0 3 .250 0 1
a- K. Abbott 3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
B. Bonilla 3B, RF 4 1 1 0 1 2 1 .250 0 0
D. Daulton 1B 4 1 2 0 0 1 3 .500 0 0
C. Johnson C 3 0 0 0 2 1 5 .000 0 0
D. White CF 3 1 0 1 1 0 6 .000 0 1
C. Counsell 2B 4 0 1 1 0 1 2 .250 0 1
Totals 35 5 9 4 9 8 29
a - K. Abbott substituted for G. Sheffield in the 10th

BATTING
Doubles: G. Sheffield (1, 5th Inning off C. Nagy, 1 on, 2 outs) D. Daulton (1, 10th Inning off J. Mesa, 1 on, 0 outs)
Triples: E. Renteria (1, 5th Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: G. Sheffield 2 , E. Renteria 4 , D. Daulton 3 , C. Counsell , B. Bonilla , M. Alou 2
2-out RBI: G. Sheffield , M. Alou
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: D. White , G. Sheffield , J. Eisenreich 2 , B. Bonilla
GIDP: C. Johnson
Sac Bunt: C. Counsell
Sac Fly: D. White
Team LOB: 11

BASERUNNING
SB: E. Renteria (1)

FIELDING
Errors: E. Renteria
Double Plays: 1 (Counsell-Renteria-Daulton)
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
O. Vizquel SS 5 0 0 0 1 2 5 .000 0 0
B. Roberts LF 3 1 0 0 1 0 1 .000 0 0
D. Justice DH 4 1 1 1 1 0 2 .250 1 1
S. Alomar Jr C 5 0 1 1 0 0 2 .200 0 1
J. Thome 1B 3 0 0 0 2 2 3 .000 0 0
M. Ramirez RF 2 1 1 0 3 0 1 .500 0 0
T. Fernandez 2B 5 0 0 0 0 1 4 .000 0 0
M. Williams 3B 3 1 1 1 2 0 2 .333 1 1
M. Grissom CF 4 0 0 0 1 0 4 .000 0 0
Totals 34 4 4 3 11 5 24
BATTING
Home Runs: M. Williams (1, 10th Inning off R. Nen, 0 on, 1 out) D. Justice (1, 7th Inning off F. Heredia, 0 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: S. Alomar Jr , M. Williams 4 , M. Ramirez , D. Justice 4
2-out RBI: S. Alomar Jr
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: , O. Vizquel 3 , T. Fernandez
GIDP: M. Grissom
Hit by Pitch: B. Roberts
Team LOB: 11

BASERUNNING
SB: B. Roberts (1) , M. Ramirez (1)

FIELDING
Errors: S. Alomar Jr
Double Plays: 1 (Williams-Fernandez-Thome)
FLORIDA 1997 PITCHING LINESCORE CLEVELAND 1997 PITCHING LINESCORE
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
A. Leiter 5.1 1 2 1 6 4 0 100 52 1.69
F. Heredia 1.2 2 1 1 3 1 1 44 27 5.40
J. Powell 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 14 7 0.00
R. Nen W (1-0) 2.0 1 1 1 1 0 1 21 14 4.50
PITCHING
Game Score: A. Leiter 58
Batters Faced: A. Leiter 25, F. Heredia 10, J. Powell 3, R. Nen 8
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: A. Leiter 3-9, F. Heredia 2-2, J. Powell 1-1, R. Nen 3-3
Pitches - Strikes: A. Leiter 100-52, F. Heredia 44-27, J. Powell 14-7, R. Nen 21-14
Inherited Runners - Scored: F. Heredia 1-0 , J. Powell 1-0
WP: A. Leiter
Hit Batsmen: A. Leiter
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
C. Nagy 5.0 6 2 2 4 6 0 101 59 3.60
E. Plunk 2.2 0 0 0 1 1 0 45 24 0.00
M. Jackson L (0-1), BS (1) 1.1 1 2 2 3 1 0 40 21 13.50
J. Mesa 1.0 2 1 1 1 0 0 12 8 9.00
PITCHING
Game Score: C. Nagy 49
Batters Faced: C. Nagy 23, E. Plunk 10, M. Jackson 8, J. Mesa 6
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: C. Nagy 2-5, E. Plunk 0-7, M. Jackson 1-2, J. Mesa 1-2
Pitches - Strikes: C. Nagy 101-59, E. Plunk 45-24, M. Jackson 40-21, J. Mesa 12-8
Inherited Runners - Scored: M. Jackson 1-0 , J. Mesa 1-1
WP: C. Nagy
GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: Al Leiter
Ballpark: Jacobs Field
Weather: Rainy (47 degrees F), 25 MPH wind (left to right)
Start Time: 8:24 PM EST
Time: 4:25
Attendance: 44,880