Belle Makes Sure All Is Well in Cleveland

Maybe the Cleveland Indians just needed to go home.

From the first ball they hit to Albert Belle’s grand slam, everything seemed to go right for the Indians at Jacobs Field.

Belle’s tie-breaking grand slam set off a foot-stomping, beer-cup throwing party Friday as Cleveland avoided elimination and beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-4, in Game 3 of the AL playoffs.

“We came to find out what loud, noisy fans can mean to a team when we were in Baltimore,” Indians manager Mike Hargrove said, remembering the raucous atmosphere in which his team lost two straight at Camden Yards. “Our guys were trying to let our people know that we need all the help we can get.”

Cleveland went 100-44 last year and made it to the World Series, then led the majors with 99 wins. But after losing the first two games of the divisional series at Baltimore, Cleveland stood at the brink of elimination.

The environment in Baltimore was hostile, all the way to the airport.

“We were on the tarmac in Baltimore getting ready leave,” Hargrove said. “The maintenance people took out their brooms right on the tarmac and started sweeping. You obviously don’t feel too good about that.”

Things were different at home.

Jacobs Field shook with cheers as the Indians waited at home plate for Belle, one of the most popular--and volatile--sports figures this city has known. When the ball landed in the stands, the press box windows got a beer shower from cups abandoned in the heat of celebration.

Belle emerged from the dugout for a curtain call, waving his arms and a white towel in the air. It was a rare gesture for this private and often controversial player.

“I don’t know how he feels in that situation because he doesn’t say much to me, either,” said Charlie Manuel, Cleveland’s hitting coach. “He hits ‘em out and we congratulate him. That’s as far as it goes.”

Lofton, one of Belle’s few close friends on the team, said it was as emotional as he’s seen the slugger after a homer.

“He came out on his own,” Lofton said.

The defending AL champion Indians pulled within 2-1 in the best-of-5 series, which continues Saturday at Cleveland. Charles Nagy pitches for the Indians against David Wells in a rematch of Game 1.

With the bases loaded in the seventh, Belle hit a 1-2 fastball from hard-throwing reliever Armando Benitez and drove it 398 feet out to left to break a 4-4 tie. It was Belle’s eighth career grand slam. He homered for the second straight playoff game.

Belle batted .239 in the postseason last year and was 2-for-9 in the series before the homer. But he led the AL with 148 RBIs this year. When he came to bat again in the eighth, the fans were on their feet chanting “MVP! MVP!”

“I remember when the count was 1-2 on Albert, I said, ‘A sac fly would be nice,”’ Indians starter Jack McDowell said. “He hit a sac fly -- to one of the fans.”

The Indians said Belle would not come into the clubhouse for interviews, as is his policy.

It looked like homefield advantage would work for Cleveland right from the start. The first ball they hit -- a fly ball to right by Lofton -- went off Bobby Bonilla’s glove for a two-base error.

While the crowd cheered Belle, it was not so kind to Roberto Alomar. Fan outrage directed at Alomar started during the player introductions and continued every time he did anything.

Fans booed throughout each of Alomar’s at-bars, some running down the aisles behind the Baltimore dugout to taunt the Orioles second baseman. One fan held up a sign that said, “No spitting.” Another placard proclaimed, “U spit, U sit.”

At one point while Alomar was batting, a group of fans in the bleachers turned their back on the plate, apparently in protest.

Alomar’s suspension for spitting at an umpire set off a week-long controversy in the baseball playoffs.

With the score 4-all, Lofton started the Cleveland seventh with a walk off Jesse Orosco (0-1), who relieved Mike Mussina to start the inning. Lofton stole second, lying on the ground momentarily after his head slammed into shortstop Cal Ripken’s knee.

Kevin Seitzer followed with a walk. Casey Candaele then pinch-hit for Jim Thome, who has been bothered by a sore right hand he injured while swinging earlier in the series. Candaele was trying to bunt, but Orosco walked him to load the bases.

“Except for a couple of outings this year, he’s probably been my best reliever,” Baltimore manager Davey Johnson. “It was really out of character.”

Orosco said he was having trouble gripping the ball because of the cold.

“I just couldn’t get a feeling on the ball,” Orosco said.

Cleveland made it 9-4 in the eighth on Seitzer’s infield single. Paul Assenmacher was the winning pitcher, getting one out in the seventh.

The matchup of former Stanford pitchers McDowell and Mussina lasted only until the sixth inning, when McDowell was taken out despite having retired eight straight. Left-hander Alan Embree came in and retired B.J. Surhoff on a fly ball.

Mussina had retired seven straight when he was lifted in favor of Orosco to open the seventh.

The Orioles threatened to break the 4-4 tie in the top of the seventh, but Todd Zeile failed to get down a sacrifice bunt with runners at first and second.

Zeile then grounded into a double play against Paul Shuey. Alomar walked, but Assenmacher got Rafael Palmeiro on a fly ball.

The Indians took their first lead of the series in the bottom of the inning. Lofton reached on a two-base error by Bonilla, who dropped the leadoff hitter’s fly ball while fighting the late afternoon sun.

Lofton, who led the majors with 75 steals, stole third and scored on Seitzer’s groundout.

Bonilla atoned in the second with a leadoff single and scored to make it 1-all on a single by Eddie Murray. McDowell, signed by Cleveland before the season to pitch big games like this, worked out of a bases-loaded jam by striking out Zeile.

Manny Ramirez led off the second with a towering home run onto the standing-room-only pavilion in left, giving Cleveland a 2-1 lead. The Indians scored again when Omar Vizquel singled, went to second on Zeile’s throwing error from third base, and scored on a double by Jose Vizcaino for a 3-1 lead.

But Surhoff, who hit two solo homers in the first game, hit a three-run shot to right in the fourth, giving the Orioles a 4-3 lead.

The Indians tied it at 4 in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by Seitzer.