Infinite Cleveland

1997 World Series: Game 3
FLORIDA MARLINS @ CLEVELAND INDIANS
OCTOBER 21, 1997
TIMELINE 66
GAME LOG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Florida Marlins 3 1 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 8 11 4
Cleveland Indians 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 6 5 1
Four Home Runs Off Nagy in Three Innings; Marlins Hold Off Cleveland
Bobby Bonilla went 4-for-4 on a night when nothing else about this game made much sense. He homered in the first — a 2-run shot to right on a 2-2 count that followed Moises Alou's solo blast two batters earlier, both struck after Nagy had opened the inning with consecutive strikeouts. Renteria homered in the second. Daulton hit a two-run shot in the third. Four home runs off Nagy in the first three innings. The Marlins led 6-2 and the contest appeared to belong to that category of October game best forgotten by the home crowd.

Then Florida tried to give it back. Three errors in the fifth inning — Eisenreich dropping a fly ball, Renteria booting a grounder, Counsell letting a popup fall through his hands — and suddenly Cleveland had scored three runs on a single hit, Matt Williams's leadoff double the only stroke in the inning that required actual contact with intent. It was 6-5 and the building was alive and the game had turned into something that resembled, for a few minutes anyway, the kind of comeback that makes October worth watching.

But Sheffield killed it. Leading off the sixth against Morman, he fouled off two pitches in an 0-2 hole before driving a 1-2 fastball 344 feet to left. Solo home run. Bonilla followed with another double — his third hit already — advanced to third on a groundout, and scored on Assenmacher's wild pitch. Eight to five. Cleveland managed one more run in the eighth, but five hits do not win many games, even when the other team commits four errors. Bonilla was named series MVP, and there was nothing to argue about. In sixty-six tellings of this night, it would be difficult to find a man who looked more certain of where the ball was going.
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 1 0 2 3 .200 1 1
J. Eisenreich LF 3 0 0 0 2 2 0 .000 0 0
M. Alou DH 4 1 1 1 0 0 2 .250 1 1
G. Sheffield RF 4 2 2 1 1 0 2 .500 1 1
a- K. Abbott 3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
B. Bonilla 3B, RF 4 3 4 2 1 0 0 1.000 1 2
D. Daulton 1B 4 1 1 2 1 1 2 .250 1 2
C. Johnson C 5 0 0 0 0 1 4 .000 0 0
D. White CF 5 0 0 0 0 3 0 .000 0 0
C. Counsell 2B 4 0 2 0 1 1 0 .500 0 0
Totals 38 8 11 7 6 10 13
a - K. Abbott substituted for G. Sheffield in the 9th

BATTING
Doubles: C. Counsell (1, 5th Inning off E. Plunk, 0 on, 1 out) B. Bonilla 2 (2, 3rd Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 0 outs; 6th Inning off A. Morman, 0 on, 0 outs)
Home Runs: G. Sheffield (1, 6th Inning off A. Morman, 0 on, 0 outs) E. Renteria (1, 2nd Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 2 outs) D. Daulton (1, 3rd Inning off C. Nagy, 1 on, 0 outs) B. Bonilla (1, 1st Inning off C. Nagy, 1 on, 2 outs) M. Alou (1, 1st Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 2 outs)
Total Bases: G. Sheffield 5 , E. Renteria 4 , D. Daulton 4 , C. Counsell 3 , B. Bonilla 9 , M. Alou 4
2-out RBI: E. Renteria , B. Bonilla , M. Alou
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: G. Sheffield , C. Johnson 2 , M. Alou
GIDP: E. Renteria
Hit by Pitch: M. Alou
Team LOB: 9

FIELDING
Errors: G. Sheffield , E. Renteria , J. Eisenreich , C. Counsell
Double Plays: 1 (Renteria-Counsell-Daulton)
OF assists: 1 (Sheffield (Roberts at 3rd base))
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
O. Vizquel SS 4 1 0 0 1 1 3 .000 0 0
B. Roberts LF 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 .250 0 1
D. Justice DH 5 0 1 1 0 1 2 .200 0 1
S. Alomar Jr C 4 1 1 0 0 0 2 .250 0 0
J. Thome 1B 4 1 0 0 0 2 4 .000 0 0
M. Ramirez RF 3 1 1 0 1 1 2 .333 0 0
T. Fernandez 2B 4 0 0 1 0 1 3 .000 0 1
M. Williams 3B 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1.000 0 1
M. Grissom CF 4 0 0 0 0 1 4 .000 0 0
Totals 33 6 5 4 4 8 22
BATTING
Doubles: S. Alomar Jr (1, 9th Inning off R. Nen, 1 on, 2 outs) M. Williams (1, 5th Inning off A. Leiter, 0 on, 0 outs)
Total Bases: S. Alomar Jr 2 , M. Williams 2 , B. Roberts , M. Ramirez , D. Justice
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: S. Alomar Jr , O. Vizquel 2 , J. Thome 2 , M. Ramirez , M. Grissom 2
GIDP: S. Alomar Jr
Sac Fly: M. Williams
Hit by Pitch: S. Alomar Jr , M. Williams , J. Thome
Team LOB: 7

BASERUNNING
SB: O. Vizquel (1)

FIELDING
Errors: M. Grissom
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 W (1-0) 5.0 2 5 1 2 5 0 106 70 1.80
F. Heredia H (1) 2.0 2 1 1 0 1 0 32 21 4.50
J. Powell H (1) 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 21 14 0.00
R. Nen SV (1) 1.0 1 0 0 1 2 0 19 11 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: A. Leiter 54
Batters Faced: A. Leiter 24, F. Heredia 8, J. Powell 4, R. Nen 5
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: A. Leiter 7-3, F. Heredia 1-2, J. Powell 2-1, R. Nen 1-0
Pitches - Strikes: A. Leiter 106-70, F. Heredia 32-21, J. Powell 21-14, R. Nen 19-11
Inherited Runners - Scored: J. Powell 1-1
WP: F. Heredia
Hit Batsmen: A. Leiter , F. Heredia 2
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
C. Nagy L (0-1) 2.0 6 6 6 1 3 4 50 31 27.00
E. Plunk 2.1 1 0 0 4 3 0 50 25 0.00
A. Morman 0.2 2 2 2 1 1 1 22 14 27.00
P. Assenmacher 2.2 2 0 0 0 1 0 38 25 0.00
B. Anderson 1.1 0 0 0 0 2 0 17 11 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: C. Nagy 18
Batters Faced: C. Nagy 15, E. Plunk 12, A. Morman 5, P. Assenmacher 9, B. Anderson 4
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: C. Nagy 2-1, E. Plunk 3-1, A. Morman 0-1, P. Assenmacher 2-4, B. Anderson 1-1
Pitches - Strikes: C. Nagy 50-31, E. Plunk 50-25, A. Morman 22-14, P. Assenmacher 38-25, B. Anderson 17-11
Inherited Runners - Scored: A. Morman 1-0 , P. Assenmacher 1-1 , B. Anderson 1-0
WP: P. Assenmacher
Hit Batsmen: C. Nagy
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: 4:11
Attendance: 44,880