Singularly Successful

The ball shot off his bat and into the left-center field gap, the winning run crossed the plate, and Cleveland Indian catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. found himself in that familiar position--swarmed by his teammates, at the center of another wild celebration.

Alomar’s two-out RBI single off Armando Benitez in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Indians an 8-7 victory over the Baltimore Orioles Sunday night in Game 4 of the American League championship series before a frenzied crowd of 45,081 in Jacobs Field.

Cleveland’s third consecutive one-run victory over Baltimore gave the underdog Indians a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, which Cleveland can wrap up at home with a Game 5 victory tonight.

This is the eighth time in AL championship series history a team has taken a 3-1 lead since the best-of-seven format was adopted in 1985, and only two teams--the 1985 Kansas City Royals over Toronto and the 1986 Boston Red Sox over the Angels--have overcome such a deficit.

“We have the momentum, and everything seems to be going our way,” Indian shortstop Omar Vizquel said. “Fate seems to be on our side.”

How else can you explain the Indians scoring two huge fifth-inning runs Sunday night on a wild pitch--the same wild pitch--to take a 7-5 lead, only one day after winning a game in the 12th inning on a botched suicide squeeze play?

And how else can you explain Cleveland left-hander Brian Anderson, the ex-Angel who wasn’t even activated for the division series but was added to the championship series roster as an 11th pitcher, coming through with 3 1/3 huge relief innings, giving up one run and one hit and giving his team a chance to come back?

“We never feel like we’re out of it,” Anderson said. “We’re putting together these wild finishes game after game.”

Alomar is about the only constant. He has thrived in clutch situations this season, winning the All-Star Game with a seventh-inning homer, coming through with the winning hit the night the Indians clinched the division, and hitting a home run off Yankee closer Mariano Rivera in the eighth inning of Game 4 in the division series, a shot that tied a game the Indians won, 3-2.

He was 0 for 11 in the first three games against Baltimore, but Alomar found his stroke Sunday night, hitting a two-run homer off starter Scott Erickson in the second inning, an RBI single in the fifth and his game-winner in the ninth, which followed Manny Ramirez’s walk, Kevin Seitzer’s sacrifice and Matt Williams’ walk.

“The man is just unreal,” Vizquel said. “Whatever he did last off-season, he has to do it again, because he’s been the man this year. Not too many can come through in the clutch that many times. I’m real excited for him.”

Alomar noticed he had been over-swinging, so he concentrated on shortening his stroke in batting practice Sunday and tried to be patient at the plate.

“I was 0 for 11 in the series,” Alomar said, “so I figured I was due.”

The big hits, the Indians have come to expect from Alomar. But a daring dash on the basepaths? Who would have thought it possible?

Vizquel, asked to peg the odds of Alomar scoring from second on a wild pitch, said: “Zero.” But Alomar pummeled those odds on a freak play in the fifth.

Baltimore had strung three homers together in the third inning off Indian starter Jaret Wright, by Brady Anderson, Harold Baines and Rafael Palmeiro, to take a 5-2 lead.

But Marquis Grissom’s RBI single in the fourth, Ramirez’s homer in the fifth and subsequent singles by Jim Thome, David Justice and Alomar tied the score, 5-5. They had the bases loaded when Oriole reliever Arthur Rhodes bounced a 1-2 curve far in front of the plate.

Baltimore catcher Lenny Webster blocked the ball, but it bounced about 15 feet up the third-base line in foul territory. Justice bolted from third, and Webster’s throw hit the sliding Justice and bounced backward.

Justice upended Rhodes, and when Alomar saw that the two were tangled, he rounded third and headed home. Rhodes finally extracted himself from Justice, retrieved the ball and flipped to Cal Ripken, the third baseman who was covering the plate, but far too late to get Alomar.

“I slid in hard, figuring if there was any collision and the ball was not secure I had a chance to knock it loose,” said Justice, who had two hits and two runs. “And then it was chaos.”

Vizquel said he had no idea what Justice was doing. “It was like a wrestling match,” he said. “But watching those two guys score on a wild pitch put a lot of energy into our minds and bodies. It was an awesome play.”

The momentum soon swung back toward the Orioles, though. Anderson singled and stole second in the seventh and scored on Geronimo Berroa’s single off reliever Jeff Juden, cutting the deficit to 7-6.

Then Indian right-hander Jose Mesa committed the cardinal sin for a closer--he walked the leadoff batter in the ninth, Roberto Alomar, on four pitches. Berroa chopped a grounder barely past the outstretched glove of second baseman Tony Fernandez and into right field, advancing Alomar to third.

Mesa blew a fastball by Eric Davis for a strikeout, but Palmeiro followed with a shot up the middle that Mesa got a foot on, deflecting it toward Fernandez, who made a bare-hand grab but had no play at first. Alomar scored, and the score was tied, 7-7.

But Oriole left-hander Jesse Orosco walked Ramirez to open the ninth, and four batters later, Alomar was a hero . . . again.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Baltimore vs. Cleveland

(Indians lead series, 2-1)

Game 5

Tonight at Cleveland

5 p.m., Channel 11

Baltimore’s Scott Kamieniecki (10-6, 4.01 ERA) vs. Cleveland’s Chad Ogea (8-9, 4.99 ERA)