Marquis Drives It Home

By MIKE DiGIOVANNA

Oct. 10, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

BALTIMORE —

Just when it appeared the Baltimore Orioles would turn the playoffs into a demolition derby, crushing everything in their path en route to the World Series, the human battering ram that is Oriole reliever Armando Benitez broke down at the worst possible moment.

Benitez, whose fastball was clocked as high as 99 mph Thursday night, tried to trick Cleveland center fielder Marquis Grissom in the eighth inning with a slider, which travels at a much lower speed and is supposed to dive down and away from a batter.

But the pitch stayed flat and up and Grissom jumped all over it, sending a laser over the center-field wall for a three-run home run to lift the Indians to a stunning, 5-4 victory over the Orioles in Game 2 of the American League championship series before 49,131 in Camden Yards.

Cleveland relievers Paul Assenmacher and Mike Jackson combined to blank the Orioles in the bottom of the eighth, and closer Jose Mesa threw a hitless ninth, as the Indians evened the best-of-seven series, 1-1.

The Indians, who also came from behind in the late innings for a dramatic victory over the New York Yankees in Game 4 of the division series, will host the Orioles in Game 3 Saturday afternoon.

“In that situation, it was going to take something dramatic for us to win,” Cleveland General Manager John Hart said of Grissom’s homer. “What you saw there was a man of character, a man who has been there before, come through.”

Mike Bordick, who, like Grissom, is his team’s No. 9 batter, came through with a comparable clutch hit in the bottom of the sixth when he slapped a two-out, bases-loaded, full-count pitch from Indian starter Charles Nagy into right field for two-run single and a 4-2 lead.

But Bordick’s 15 minutes of fame lasted, oh, about 30 minutes.

Cleveland answered in the top of the eighth when Sandy Alomar drew a one-out walk from Benitez and pinch-hitter Jim Thome drew a controversial two-out walk, which came after he checked his swing on a full-count pitch.

Replays showed Thome’s bat crossed the front of the plate, but third-base umpire Larry McCoy said he held his swing, and Thome jogged to first.

“I thought it was a great call,” Indian Manager Mike Hargrove said, eliciting chuckles in his postgame news conference. “Every check swing is close, and your opinion on whether or not he went depends on whose side you’re on.”

Benitez, who had maintained the lead in 43 of 44 games he entered this season, then threw a 1-1 slider to Grissom, who ripped a shot that traveled over the 410-foot mark in center field for a 5-4 lead.

“I thought Thome swung,” Oriole Manager Davey Johnson said. “The next guy hit a hanging slider, and that was the ballgame. . . . I can’t think of another time this year when Armando lost a lead in the eighth inning when he was throwing well. But Grissom can be very good too.”

Grissom had been suffering from flu-like symptoms since Tuesday, and he wasn’t 100% for Game 1 Wednesday night, but he obviously took the right combination of vitamins Thursday.

“I was pretty miserable [Wednesday], and I still couldn’t eat too much,” said Grissom, who had struck out in his only two previous at-bats against Benitez this season. “But I was feeling a little better tonight.”

Grissom said Benitez never threw him a slider for a strike in those two previous at-bats, but when the Oriole right-hander threw a slider for a strike before his homer, that helped Grissom measure the pitch a little better.

“That slider [he hit for the homer] was identical to the one I took for a strike,” Grissom said. “I knew I hit it good. We needed that.”

The game lasted 3 hours 53 minutes, a league championship series record for a nine-inning night game, and much of that can be attributed to Oriole starter Jimmy Key, who struggled throughout a shoddy, four-inning, 77-pitch performance in which he remarkably didn’t hurt his team’s chances.

Key needed 32 pitches to get through the first, when he hit three batters--a playoff record--and gave up a two-run homer to Manny Ramirez. The Indians loaded the bases before Key struck out Kevin Seitzer on a full-count changeup to end the inning.

The Orioles tied it in the second when Rafael Palmeiro doubled and Cal Ripken Jr. smoked a low-and-inside, full-count Nagy fastball into the left-field seats for his first home run in 91 postseason at-bats and 24 games.

But they missed a chance to add to the lead on Bordick’s sixth-inning hit. All three runners were moving with the full-count pitch, and Bordick’s hit went by Ramirez in right field for an error.

Ramirez compounded his mistake by throwing to second instead of home, but lead-footed catcher Chris Hoiles, who was on first base, was held at third.

“I thought he could have scored,” Johnson said, “but he’s been hampered by a sore Achilles’ tendon.”

Had Hoiles scored, Grissom’s homer would have merely tied the score. Instead, it may have changed the series.

“Our team can thrive on a moment like that,” Jackson said. “It’s a huge boost for us going home.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

(Series tied, 1-1)

* Game 1: Baltimore 3, Cleveland 0

* Game 2: Cleveland 5, Baltimore 4

* Game 3: Saturday at Cleveland, 1:15 p.m.

* Game 4: Sunday at Cleveland, 4:30 p.m.

* Game 5: Monday at Cleveland, 5 p.m.