Hernandez Doesn’t Get Call, but He Does Get Another Win

Livan Hernandez has developed quite a reputation during the postseason, winning with his talent and poise.

The Florida Marlin rookie right-hander has helped his teammates overcome many tough situations. They helped him Thursday night after an umpire’s controversial, ninth-inning call and they held off the Cleveland Indians, 8-7, in Game 5 of the World Series.

“Once again, Livan showed the world what he’s made of,” Marlin first baseman Jeff Conine said. “He struggled at times, but he battled back and he didn’t let up.

“He’s put us in a great position, which we knew he could do. It got a little scary there at the end, but we did what we had to do.”

The situation: The Marlins led, 8-4, going into the bottom of the ninth inning at Jacobs Field. Hernandez still was on the mound despite having thrown 134 pitches.

Leadoff batter Bip Roberts hit a grounder to Conine and Hernandez raced to the bag to take the throw. First-base umpire Ken Kaiser was standing in position, waiting to make the call. The Marlins figured they had the first out of the inning. They figured wrong.

“It’s a routine play,” said injured Marlin starter Alex Fernandez. “You see that play made a million times. It’s not something you think about, you just take it for granted.”

The stakes: Huge for the Indians. The series shifts to Miami for Game 6 on Saturday and Game 7 on Sunday, if necessary.

The Indians didn’t want to leave Cleveland trailing, 3-2, in the best-of-seven series. Trailing by four runs in the ninth, the Indians needed a big inning to tie the score. They needed base runners.

The outcome: Surprising to the Marlins, Indians and a anxious crowd of 44,888. Kaiser ruled that Hernandez didn’t hit the bag, calling Roberts safe. TV replays indicated that Hernandez stepped on the inside corner. Hernandez was given an error.

“I was more stunned that anything,” Marlin Manager Jim Leyland said. “I was saying ‘Oh, yeah!’ one minute, and ‘Oh, . . . !’ the next.”

As it turned out, Leyland had reason to worry.

The Indians scored three runs in the inning, turning the Marlins’ comfortable lead into a one-run game. Sandy Alomar came to the plate with one on and two-out against closer Robb Nen, hitting a fly ball to right field to end the game.

“That could have been bad,” said Darren Daulton, the Marlins’ designated hitter. “It could have been real bad.”

The bottom line: Hernandez, the MVP of the National League championship series, won his second game in the World Series and fourth in the postseason. Kaiser’s call didn’t change the outcome of the game, but the Marlins said it changed the tone.

“That was very frustrating,” Fernandez said. “A call like that changes games quickly. I guess anybody is entitled to a mistake, but it doesn’t make it right. Fortunately for us, it didn’t hurt too much.”

The last word: Conine said the Marlins became a little more focused after Kaiser’s call. They just didn’t want to let Hernandez down.

“Sometimes you get the calls and sometimes you don’t, that’s just baseball,” Conine said. “But when a guy battles like Livan did, you can’t sit back and complain if you don’t get a call. You go out and make the plays to end the game.”

The Marlins did.