Now it's time for Game 2 of the 1996 American League Championship Series from Jacobs Field in Cleveland. The date is Thursday, October 10:
Lineup Changes:
Indians- Julio Franco is back at first base and batting fifth. which moves Manny Ramirez down to sixth. Jeff Kent moves from first base to second base and will bat seventh. Finally, Sandy Alomar Jr. is back behind the plate and will bat eighth.
Weather: 51 degrees, cloudy skies, north wind at 14 MPH. There will be brief rain showers late in the game, but they won't affect play.
Indians 1st: Kenny Lofton led off with a base hit to left center, then stole second. Kevin Seitzer walked to put two men on, but Jim Thome's pop behind first was caught by Will Clark for out number one. That brought Albert Belle to the plate. Here's Bob Costas with the count two balls and a strike:
"It's a raw, windy day here in Cleveland, and it'll be interesting to see how the balls carry. We haven't really had a read on that yet, since neither team took batting practice due to the field conditions. The one thing we know for sure is that Jack McDowell couldn't get his arm loose, so Albie Lopez got an emergency start with something like ten minutes' notice. He gave up a two-out hit to (Rangers left fielder) Rusty Greer in the top of the first, but no further damage was done. Pitch to Belle IS HIT A MILE TO DEEP LEFT CENTER! BACK GOES HAMILTON, AT THE WALL, SHE'S GONE!.....Well, that answers that question, at least as far as Albert Belle is concerned. The Indians lead 3-0."
Joe Garagiola: "I don't think that this proves much except that Albert Belle can hit a baseball far in any kind of weather. This would've been a home run in a snowstorm; look at the height he got. And they're not wasting any time down in the Rangers' bullpen; that looks like Kevin Gross starting to warm up."
Bob Uecker: "The Rangers don't want to fall any further behind, especially with Lopez pitching. He's not fully warmed up yet, and it's a cold day out there, at least by baseball standards. The Texas bats can get to him if the pitching can keep it close."
But Franco grounded a single to left to keep the inning going, and Manny's base hit to left center moved him to third. Kent was next, and he scaled a ball into the left center power alley. Both Franco and Ramirez scored easily, and the Tribe led 5-0. Witt's day was over just like that; Gross retired Alomar on a bouncer to short and Omar Vizquel on a liner to Clark at first, and the inning was finally over. But the Tribe has scored five runs on five hits and a walk, and they lead the Rangers 5-0 after one.
Rangers 2nd: Will Clark led off against Lopez. Here's Bob:
"As Uke said last half-inning, the Rangers' bats are certainly capable of getting to Albie Lopez, but they have to dig out of a five-run hole, and they'll start with Will Clark. who only hit one home run against the White Sox in the Division Series, but had a stretch of ten hits in eleven at-bats over Games 2 and 3. The Rangers have to hope that he hasn't cooled off much over the last two games. First pitch is HIT WELL TO DEEP LEFT! BELLE TAKES TWO STEPS BACK AND WISHES IT BON VOYAGE!...…..One pitch into the second inning, and the Rangers are already on the board."
Uecker: "Lopez got that pitch a bit up and into Will Clark's wheelhouse, and just like hat it was gone; no chance for Albert. Lopez was actually finishing his pregame warmups between innings, so he may be a bit tired; he didn't have any rest between innings."
Garagiola: "That's the danger of being an emergency starter, and it really was an emergency; McDowell was just about ready to go back in from the bullpen when he was scratched. He was almost completely warmed up."
Dean Palmer drew a five-pitch walk to keep the inning going, but Lopez retired the next three hitters in order: Mickey Tettleton went down swinging, Mark McLemore flew to left, and Kevin Elster flew to right center to retire the side. Clark's home run has put the Lawmen on the board, but they still trail 5-1 after an inning and a half.
Indians 3rd: Franco drew a one-out walk, which brought Manny to the plate. Here's Bob with the count two balls and two strikes:
"A reminder that there's no travel day in this series now; we're right back at it tomorrow night at 8PM Eastern from The Ballpark in Arlington. 7:30 PM Eastern on Saturday night for Game 4, and if we need Game 5 on Sunday it comes your way after football at 4:30 PM Eastern. Two and two to Ramirez, with Franco at first and one out. Gross checks Franco, who isn't going, and the two-two pitch IS LINED HIGH AND DEEP TO LEFT! BACK IS GREER, AT THE FENCE, BUT IT'S OUTTA HERE!.....A cold, windy day in Cleveland has produced three absolute bombs, and the home team has two of them and a 7-1 lead."
Garagiola: "The thing is, Bob, none of these are what you would call wind-aided. Sure it helped them go a little further, but they all would have been home runs in any conditions. This one by Ramirez was absolutely lasered. Greer had n chance at this ball and he knew it. Ramirez is already one of the top power hitters in the game, and he'll likely be one for a long time to come."
Uecker: "There you see the wince from Kevin Gross. He made a good pitch, but sometimes even good pitches get hit out of the ballpark."
Kent went down swinging for the second out, but Alomar nearly made it two homers in three batters before his fly to deep left was caught by Greer at the wall to end the inning. The Indians have added two more runs on Ramirez's dinger, and after three it's Indians 7, Rangers 1.
Rangers 4th: With one out, Palmer hit a deep drive to left. Belle lost the ball in the clouds, tried to dive for it too soon, and ended up flat on his face as it skimmed off the top of his glove and bounced away. Palmer pulled in at second, and the official scorer charged a two-base error on Belle. That brought Tettleton to the plate. Here's Bob:
"Belle known mostly for his bat, of course, but he can make the plays in the outfield when he has to most of the time. But this time he didn't, and the Rangers have Palmer at second and Tetlleton at the plate, which means more stress for the starter Lopez. There's Jack McDowell, who we're now told threw up in the bullpen just before he left and was scratched, so it wasn't his arm after all. He's wrapped up in that big blanket, so it's probably a virus, and we'll see how quickly he gets over it. MEANWHILE, TETTLETON LAUNCHES THE FIRST PITCH HE SEES TO DEEP RIGHT CENTER! LOFTON'S AT THE TRACK, TO THE FENCE, BUT THIS ONE'S GONE!......The error does end up hurting the Indians, as Tettleton immediately converts it into two runs via the homer, and it's now 7-3."
Garagiola: "When I woke up this morning and saw how cold it was, I didn't think we'd get one home run, let alone four. And all of them have been absolutely blasted. Here's another no-doubter, and Tettleton's hit more than a few of those this year."
Uecker: Indians pitching coach Mark Wiley's out to talk to Lopez. They really need him to go at least five innings if he possibly can, because there's no day off until Monday now and they need to save that bullpen as much as possible for what figures to be a long weekend in Arlington, where a ball or two has been known to fly out of."
McLemore followed with a lined single to left, but Elster's liner was gloved by Vizquel for the second out, and Hamilton's fly to left was caught safely by Belle for the final out. The Rangers have crept closer thanks to Tettleton's two-run homer, but at the end of three and a half it's Cleveland 7, Texas 3.
Indians 4th: With one out, Lofton slapped a single to right. Seitzer followed with a double over Hamilton's head in center, which brought Kenny home and put the Tribe up 8-3. Seitzer moved to third when Thome flew to the warning track in right center, but was stranded there when Belle popped to Elster at shirt, ending the inning. The Indians add a run on two hits, and after four they lead the Rangers 8-3.
Rangers 6th: Palmer led off with a routine grounder to third, but the ball squirted under Thome's arm for an error, allowing Palmer to reach. Tettleton walked to put two men on, and a wild pitch from Lopez moved the runners up to second and third. Then came McLemore, who hit a high drive to deep left. Belle lost the ball in the cloudy, high sky again, but managed to get a glove on it just before he hit the wall. The impact dislodged the ball, however, and by the time Albert could get himself together, both Palmer and Tettleton had scored, and McLemore was at second via another two-base error. The fans at The Jake booed lustily what they saw as an unnecessarily harsh call, but it stood nonetheless. Meanwhile, Lopez went to the showers in favor of Julian Tavarez, who got Elster to ground to second on his first pitch, with McLemore moving to third. Hamilton's bouncer to short for the second out held him there, but he came home on Pudge Rodriguez's base hit to left center to shrink the Cleveland lead to 8-6. Greer's fly to shallow right center was caught by Lofton to end the inning, but the Rangers have gotten back into the game with three runs on just one hit, one walk, one wild pitch, and a pair of costly errors. We've played five and a half crazy innings, and it's Tribe 8, Lawmen 6.
Indians 6th: With one out, Seitzer dumped a base hit into right center. He moved to second on Thome's grounder to second, and scored when Belle redeemed himself for his errors by lofting a fly ball that fell in among three Rangers in right center for a double. Seitzer came home, and the Indians led 9-6. Franco walked to put two men on, but Manny's grounder to Palmer at third retired the side. The Indians have added a run on two hits, a walk, and a productive groundout, and after six in Game 2 it's Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame 9, Southfork Ranch 6.
Rangers 8th: McLemore drew a one-out walk against new Indians pitcher Eric Plunk. Elster's double into the left center power alley brought him home, and it was now a 9-7 game. But Hamilton went down swinging for the second out, and after Pudge walked to put two men on Greer grounded to Kent (who was now playing first with Jose Vizcaino at second) to end the inning. The Rangers have scored a run on two hits, but they've also left runners at first and second. After seven and a half, it's Indians 9, Rangers 7.
Indians 8th: Seitzer lined a leadoff single up the middle. After Thome popped to shirt for the first out, Seitzer was forced by Belle for out number two. Vizcaino's base it to left put two men on, and Manny's single to center scored Belle to put the Tribe up 10-7. Vizcaino moved to third on the play, but Kent's grounder to short ended the inning with runners still at the corners. The Indians have picked up a needed insurance run on three hits, and they now lead 10-7 going to the top of the ninth, where Jose Mesa will face Juan Gonzalez, Clark, and Palmer.
Rangers 9th: Gonzalez grounded a leadoff single to left center. After Clark struck out swinging, Palmer lined a single to center to put two men on. Tettleton was next, and his base hit to left center scored Gonzalez and brought the Rangers back to within 10-8, with Palmer moving to third. Damon Buford came in to run for Tettleton, who was the tying run, at first, but Mesa got McLemore to hit into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play. Our final: Indians 10, Rangers 8, and the Indians lead the series two games to none.
Despite his shaky defense, Belle was named Player of the Game by NBC. He was two for five at the plate with a home run and four RBIs. Ramirez had another great day at the plate as well; he was three for five with his second homer of the series, another run scored, and three RBIs. Tettleton was two for four plus a walk in a losing cause with a home run, another run scored, and three RBIs.
Final totals: Indians 10-15-3, Rangers 8-12-0.
W- Lopez (1-0)
S- Mesa (2)
L- Witt (0-1)
HR- TEX: Clark (1), Tettleton (1)
CLE: Ramirez (2), Belle (1)
The series will shift to The Ballpark in Arlington, Texas for Game 3 tomorrow night. First pitch is scheduled for shortly after 8PM Eastern. with Chad Ogea starting for the Indians and Roger Pavlik pitching for the Rangers.
Next: We look at Game 3.
Thoughts?
