Indians Needed Spark, and Ramirez Answered

The Cleveland Indians wanted to forget what had occurred in Game 3 of the World Series on Tuesday. And they had hoped something good would happen quickly in Game 4 at Jacobs Field to erase those memories.

Manny Ramirez did what he could, and his best proved to be exactly what the Indians needed.

Ramirez made a key contribution with a one-out, two-run home run to right field in the first inning on Wednesday night. The homer helped the Indians defeat the Florida Marlins, 10-3, at Jacobs Field. Ramirez wasn’t the Indians’ only contributor, but he got them started.

When it’s 38 degrees and snowing at game time, getting started is more difficult than you might think.

“It was pretty cold out there, so we needed something to get us going,” Indian outfielder Marquis Grissom said. “Manny got us started.”

The situation: Ramirez came to the plate with one out in the bottom of the first and Omar Vizquel at first base. Indian rookie right-hander Jaret Wright already had worked out of a jam in the top of the inning, getting Bobby Bonilla to ground into a double play with two runners on and one out.

Rookie left-hander Tony Saunders had started for the Marlins. The Indians had wanted to get to Saunders early, hoping to rattle him. Saunders had been 3-0 against the Braves during the regular season--1-6 against everybody else.

The stakes: High. Cleveland had lost Game 3, 14-11. Afterward, the Indians said they had lost their focus.

The Indians wanted to provide Wright with some early support and seize the momentum early because of how hard the Marlins play for Manager Jim Leyland.

“You have to get up on those guys early on and keep pressing them because they just don’t quit,” Grissom said.

That had been reinforced Tuesday when the Marlins overcame a 7-3 deficit.

The outcome: Perfect for the Indians. On a 1-0 count, Ramirez crushed a fastball from Saunders over the right-field wall. Ramirez’s second World Series homer, and ninth homer in his postseason career, had given the Indians their start. It also provided a warm moment for the crowd of 44,877.

“That was huge,” Grissom said. “To jump out 2-0 like that, after the way we played the other night, was perfect.”

The Indians scored another run on Sandy Alomar’s two-out double. They had a 3-0 lead and would go on to tie the best-of-seven series, 2-2.

The bottom line: The Indians’ quick start enabled Wright to gain confidence, and it turned Saunders into a wreck.

The last word: Ramirez reluctantly acknowledged that his homer set the tone in a game the Indians needed to win. Now, the Indians feel good about the series again.

“The pressure is off us now, it’s back on them,” Ramirez said. “We have one more game here with our fans. We’re ready now.”