Marlins Win Alou-Loo

It had all the makings of another Sandy Alomar Jr. Night in Jacobs Field, but the Cleveland Indian catcher was upstaged in his own house Thursday night by another son of an ex-big leaguer in this World Series.

Moises Alou, his strength slightly sapped by flu, turned a two-run deficit into a one-run lead with a three-run home run in the sixth inning, and the Florida Marlins weathered a cliffhanger of a ninth to defeat the Indians, 8-7, in Game 5 before 44,888.

The victory gave Florida a 3-2 edge in the best-of-seven series, which the fifth-year Marlins can win Saturday night in Miami when Florida ace Kevin Brown opposes Indian right-hander Chad Ogea in Game 6 in Pro Player Stadium.

Marlin right-hander Livan Hernandez, a 22-year-old rookie from Cuba, survived a shaky start Thursday night--Manager Jim Leyland nearly pulled him in the third inning--to gut out an eight-inning-plus, 142-pitch performance, in which he gave up six runs on seven hits and walked eight but still managed to win.

A blown call that rivaled first-base umpire Ken Kaiser’s salt-and-pepper goatee for ugliness opened the door for a three-run Indian rally in the bottom of the ninth. Alomar, who had a three-run homer in the third and an RBI single in the second and has been Mr. Big for the Indians all postseason, came to the plate with a runner on first and two outs.

But Marlin closer Robb Nen, son of former major leaguer Dick Nen, retired Alomar on a fly ball to the warning track in right, as thousands of fans in northern Ohio gnashed their teeth and thousands in South Florida exhaled.

“I wasn’t worried,” Alou said of the nail-biting finale. “I know Sandy is a clutch hitter, but I had a lot of faith in our closer. I knew he was going to get the job done.”

Kaiser didn’t at the start of the ninth. Bip Roberts opened with a grounder to first that Jeff Conine fielded. He flipped the ball to Hernandez, who made the catch and--as replays clearly showed--stepped on the bag. But Kaiser, who appeared to miss a call in the top of the eighth, ruled Roberts safe.

Omar Vizquel singled, and Leyland went to his bullpen. Nen struck out Manny Ramirez, but David Justice (two-run single), Matt Williams (fielder’s choice) and Jim Thome (RBI single) all reached base before Alomar’s final out.

As it turned out, Alou’s RBI single in the top of the ninth, which followed Bobby Bonilla’s double and Darren Daulton’s single and gave the Marlin an 8-4 lead, proved to be the winning run.

Alou, the son of Montreal Expo Manager and former major leaguer Felipe Alou, finished with three hits, four RBIs and two runs. With his seven hits in the Series he has driven in nine runs, six of them off Cleveland right-hander Orel Hershiser, the starter and loser Thursday night.

Alou’s three-run homer off Hershiser keyed the Marlins’ Game 1 victory, and his three-run shot off Hershiser was the decisive blow of Game 5.

“There’s a universal saying in baseball--three-run home runs take care of a lot of problems--and he’s hit a few of them,” Daulton said. “Moises is a star player. I knew that when I played against him, and it’s pretty obvious now.”

So is Alomar, the Indian catcher who came through again Thursday night with two key hits to give Cleveland a 4-2 lead after three innings and gave him 19 post-season RBIs, breaking Atlanta first baseman Fred McGriff’s playoff record of 16, set in 1996.

Hershiser was hit hard early, giving up two singles in the first inning before escaping with a double play, and two runs in the second on Daulton’s double, Charles Johnson’s bloop RBI single and Devon White’s RBI double.

But the 39-year-old right-hander seemed to gain confidence in the third, retiring nine in a row from the third through fifth innings and giving off that air of invincibility that earned the nickname “Bulldog,” and made him one of baseball’s best playoff pitchers.

But Hershiser crumbled like a Saltine cracker in the sixth, giving up four runs on four hits and bringing an inglorious end to his evening--and, perhaps, his Indian career.

Gary Sheffield started the rally with a one-out single and Bonilla walked. With two outs, Alou, who looked silly in his previous at-bat against Hershiser, striking out on three pitches, jumped all over a hanging slider, sending it over the center-field wall for his third homer of the Series and a 5-4 lead.

“Jerry Manuel, our bench coach, told me to become a hitter instead of a swinger,” Alou said. “I really stayed back on that pitch, I saw the ball well and trusted my hands. It was a good pitch to hit. Even though I don’t have many hits in the playoffs, I’m still driving guys in, and that’s what counts.”

The Marlins added another run in the sixth when Indian reliever Eric Plunk walked White with the bases loaded, and Alou scored a key run in the eighth when he reached on an infield single (the other close Kaiser call), stole second and scored on Johnson’s single for a 7-4 lead.

Florida survived a ninth-inning scare, and now the Marlins are one victory away from the World Series championship. The Indians must win twice in Miami to win their first title in 49 years.

“We’ve certainly been in this position before,” Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove said. “Our team has faced a lot of adversity throughout the year and in the postseason, and we’ve played hard when we’ve had to.

“We’ll go to Florida and hopefully win Game 6 and take it to Game 7 and see what happens.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

SERIES AT A GLANCE

CLEVELAND vs. FLORIDA

TV: Channel 4

Marlins lead series, 3-2

Game 1: Florida 7, Cleveland 4

Game 2: Cleveland 6, Florida 1

Game 3: Florida 14, Cleveland 11

Game 4: Cleveland 10, Florida 3

Game 5: Florida 8, Cleveland 7

Saturday: at Florida, 5 p.m.

Sunday: at Florida, 4:30 p.m.*

* If necessary

COVERAGE

* ALERT THE NETWORKS

Jim Leyland is tired of hearing about how much better this Series would be if the Braves and Orioles were playing. C14

* TURNING POINT: C15