Infinite Cleveland

1997 World Series: Game 3
FLORIDA MARLINS @ CLEVELAND INDIANS
OCTOBER 21, 1997
TIMELINE 64
GAME LOG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Florida Marlins 0 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 7 0
Cleveland Indians 0 0 4 4 1 1 5 0 X 15 19 1
Indians Overcome Daulton's Two Homers With 15-Run Onslaught
Al Leiter retired the side on six pitches in the first inning — three ground balls, three outs, the ball going exactly where he wanted it. He must have believed, as pitchers always believe in the private church of early confidence, that he had found something. Fifty-seven pitches later the ball was going everywhere else, and he was done — nine hits allowed in three and a third innings, eight runs charged to his line, the shortest start of this particular October's sixty-four tellings.

The Indians trailed 4-0 when the bottom of the third began. Darren Daulton had hit two home runs off Nagy — a solo shot in the second, a three-run drive in the third — and the Marlins looked comfortable in the way teams look comfortable when their pitcher is working on six-pitch innings. But then Grissom singled, Vizquel reached on a fielder's choice, Roberts singled, Justice singled to load the bases, and Thome walked to force in a run, and Manny Ramirez drove a 1-0 line drive into the right-center gap at 101 off the bat that scored three. Tied, just like that.

In the fourth, with the bases full and one out, Justice ripped a 2-2 line drive into the gap at 107 miles per hour — Grissom and Vizquel scored, and when Alomar singled behind him Roberts came home from third ahead of the throw from left. Cleveland 8, Florida 4. Leiter was gone. In the fifth they scored another. In the sixth another. And in the seventh, against Dennis Cook, they loaded the bases with walks and singles and scored five more — grounders finding holes, runners advancing on fielder's choices, Grissom singling home Ramirez to make the final Cleveland 15, Florida 5. Nineteen hits in all. The kind of game where you stop counting individual contributions and notice instead how a lineup moves together, like water finding its level.
FLORIDA 1997 BATTING LINESCORE CLEVELAND 1997 BATTING LINESCORE
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
E. Renteria SS 5 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 0 0
J. Eisenreich LF 5 2 2 0 0 1 0 .400 0 0
M. Alou DH 5 0 2 1 0 1 1 .400 0 1
G. Sheffield RF 4 0 1 0 0 0 3 .250 0 0
B. Bonilla 3B 3 1 0 0 1 1 4 .000 0 0
D. Daulton 1B 3 2 2 4 1 1 1 .667 2 4
C. Johnson C 1 0 0 0 2 1 2 .000 0 0
D. White CF 4 0 0 0 0 3 3 .000 0 0
C. Counsell 2B 4 0 0 0 0 4 2 .000 0 0
Totals 34 5 7 5 4 12 18
BATTING
Doubles: M. Alou (1, 7th Inning off E. Plunk, 1 on, 0 outs)
Home Runs: D. Daulton 2 (2, 2nd Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 0 outs; 3rd Inning off C. Nagy, 2 on, 2 outs)
Total Bases: G. Sheffield , J. Eisenreich 2 , D. Daulton 8 , M. Alou 3
2-out RBI: D. Daulton
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: C. Johnson , D. Daulton , B. Bonilla
GIDP: G. Sheffield
Hit by Pitch: G. Sheffield , C. Johnson
Team LOB: 8
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
O. Vizquel SS 6 2 3 1 0 0 4 .500 0 1
B. Roberts LF 6 3 2 0 0 0 5 .333 0 0
D. Justice DH 5 3 2 2 1 2 2 .400 0 2
S. Alomar Jr C 6 3 3 4 0 0 3 .500 0 4
J. Thome 1B 3 1 0 1 2 1 3 .000 0 1
M. Ramirez RF 3 1 2 4 1 0 1 .667 0 4
T. Fernandez 2B 4 1 2 1 1 1 3 .500 0 1
M. Williams 3B 5 0 2 1 0 2 6 .400 0 1
M. Grissom CF 5 1 3 1 0 1 4 .600 0 1
Totals 43 15 19 15 5 7 31
BATTING
Doubles: O. Vizquel (1, 7th Inning off J. Powell, 0 on, 0 outs) M. Ramirez 2 (2, 3rd Inning off A. Leiter, 3 on, 2 outs; 6th Inning off J. Powell, 2 on, 0 outs) D. Justice (1, 4th Inning off A. Leiter, 3 on, 1 out) T. Fernandez (1, 5th Inning off F. Heredia, 0 on, 0 outs)
Total Bases: S. Alomar Jr 3 , M. Williams 2 , O. Vizquel 4 , B. Roberts 2 , M. Ramirez 4 , D. Justice 3 , M. Grissom 3 , T. Fernandez 3
2-out RBI: J. Thome , M. Ramirez , M. Grissom
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: M. Williams , O. Vizquel , M. Ramirez , D. Justice , M. Grissom , T. Fernandez
Hit by Pitch: M. Ramirez
Team LOB: 9

FIELDING
Errors: T. Fernandez
Double Plays: 1 (Nagy-Vizquel-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) 3.1 9 8 8 1 1 0 63 35 21.60
F. Heredia 1.2 5 2 2 0 2 0 33 22 10.80
J. Powell 1.0 2 1 1 1 2 0 24 15 9.00
D. Cook 0.2 3 4 4 3 1 0 32 16 54.00
T. Saunders 1.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 15 9 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: A. Leiter 8
Batters Faced: A. Leiter 21, F. Heredia 10, J. Powell 6, D. Cook 8, T. Saunders 4
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: A. Leiter 8-1, F. Heredia 2-1, J. Powell 1-0, D. Cook 1-0, T. Saunders 1-2
Pitches - Strikes: A. Leiter 63-35, F. Heredia 33-22, J. Powell 24-15, D. Cook 32-16, T. Saunders 15-9
Inherited Runners - Scored: F. Heredia 2-2 , J. Powell 1-1 , D. Cook 1-1 , T. Saunders 2-0
Hit Batsmen: A. Leiter
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
C. Nagy W (1-0) 5.0 6 4 4 3 5 2 101 65 7.20
E. Plunk 1.1 1 1 0 0 2 0 23 15 0.00
A. Morman 2.2 0 0 0 1 5 0 39 24 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: C. Nagy 41
Batters Faced: C. Nagy 25, E. Plunk 6, A. Morman 9
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: C. Nagy 6-3, E. Plunk 0-2, A. Morman 0-3
Pitches - Strikes: C. Nagy 101-65, E. Plunk 23-15, A. Morman 39-24
Inherited Runners - Scored: A. Morman 1-0
Hit Batsmen: C. Nagy 2
GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: Sandy Alomar Jr
Ballpark: Jacobs Field
Weather: Rainy (47 degrees F), 25 MPH wind (left to right)
Start Time: 8:24 PM EST
Time: 3:55
Attendance: 44,880