Wright Superb Under Pressure

Jaret Wright said his “stomach was churning, I felt like I was going to throw up sometimes, I was real nervous,” and that was after the Cleveland Indian rookie threw 6 1/3 superb innings against the Florida Marlins in Game 7 of the World Series on Sunday night.

Wright, the 21-year-old right-hander from Anaheim Katella High, was the second-youngest pitcher to start a seventh and deciding game of the World Series behind Kansas City’s Bret Saberhagen, who beat St. Louis in Game 7 of the 1985 World Series.

It was a tall task for the youngster, made taller by the fact that Wright, the Game 4 winner, was starting on three days’ rest. But as Indian Manager Mike Hargrove said afterward, “The kid was fantastic. I don’t know how he could have been any better.”

Wright gave up only two hits and struck out seven, his only mistake coming on a first-pitch changeup to Bobby Bonilla, who led off the seventh inning with a home run into the right-center-field bleachers.

Wright made a point of remaining in the visitor’s dugout in Pro Player Stadium, taking in Florida’s emotional celebration.

“If you’re going to take in everything, you might as well sit there and see what the other side is like,” said Wright, who went 1-0 with a 2.92 earned-run average in the World Series. “You find comfort in the fact that you left it all out on the field, that you didn’t hold anything back.

“I felt really good out there. For me, this was a dream, really, to just pitch in a World Series, let alone a seventh game. It was fun. We lost, but it was a great experience.”

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The mother of World Series most valuable player Livan Hernandez finally made it to the Series.

Miriam Carreras, whose son is a pitcher for the Marlins, arrived from Cuba on Sunday night and attended Game 7. Hernandez embraced his mother in an emotional scene in Marlin owner Wayne Huizenga’s private box about an hour before the game.

“I am very happy to be here with my son and to see this last game,” Carreras said in a statement. “I want to give thanks to the Lord for making this possible.”

Carreras watched part of the game in Huizenga’s box before leaving for an undisclosed location. Carreras’ efforts to visit her son, who defected from Cuba two years ago while in Mexico, has attracted international attention.

She was granted a visa Monday to visit the United States, but the Cuban government didn’t permit her to leave until Saturday. State Department officials wouldn’t comment on the length of Carreras’ visa, but it’s believed to be six months.

Cheers erupted at Miami International Airport when Carreras entered the concourse. Carreras smiled and waved a Marlin cap to the crowd. Police prohibited journalists from speaking with Carreras, and she was whisked away to Pro Player Stadium.

Hernandez, 22, was 2-0 with a 5.27 ERA in the Series.

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The Indians’ Tony Fernandez, playing in place of flu-stricken Bip Roberts at second base, was philosophical about his crucial 11th-inning error on Craig Counsell’s grounder that helped the Marlins’ winning rally.

Fernandez said he was going to go for the double play on Counsell’s grounder, “and I just missed the ball, I guess,” he said. “It’s a play that any second baseman would make. I wanted to get the lead runner. But I don’t think I’ll replay this over and over in my mind. Like anything else in life, this will pass.”