BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : AMERICAN LEAGUE : Doing Job Well Is Hargrove’s Reward

The Cleveland Indians went 100-44 in the regular season and won the American League Central Division title by 30 games, but don’t be surprised if Mike Hargrove doesn’t finish among the top three in the league’s manager-of-the-year voting.

The Indians were expected to dominate their division, so compared to Seattle’s Lou Piniella and Boston’s Kevin Kennedy, who guided their teams to surprise championships, Hargrove didn’t do anything special.

“Oh, I think I’m probably the best thing since sliced bread,” Hargrove joked when asked if managers who are expected to win--and do--don’t get enough credit. “I’m not going to sit here and tell you how good I am. But people expected us to win and we’ve done that, so obviously I’ve done my job.”

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Ken Hill, the right-hander acquired in a midseason trade from the St. Louis Cardinals, will start for Cleveland in Game 4 today against Mariner right-hander Andy Benes.

Hill hasn’t started since Sept. 27 and has made only one postseason appearance, pitching 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief in Game 1 of the division series against the Red Sox on Oct. 3. He made his American League debut against the Mariners on July 28--one day after the trade--and gave up six hits and two runs in 6 1/3 innings of a 6-5 victory.

Piniella said he will go with right-hander Chris Bosio--who gave up nine earned runs in 7 1/3 innings in two division series starts against the Yankees--in Game 5 Sunday. The Indians will counter with Dennis Martinez.

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Mariner designated hitter Edgar Martinez, the star of the division series with a .571 average against the Yankees, went hitless in five at-bats Friday, extending to 11 his string of at-bats without a hit.