It's Game 3 of the 1994 World Series, live from Yankee Stadium in New York! We're tied at a game apiece after John Smiley no-hit the Yankees for five and two-thirds innings in Game 2 and lasted seven and two-thirds overall in a dominating 8-2 Cincinnati vctory. Tonight, young Erik Hanson takes the hill for the National League champs, while Melido Perez, who pitched the pennant clincher six days ago against the White Sox, goes for the Yanks. Hanson's last appearance was nine days ago in Game 3 of the NLCS against the Expos.
As far as lineup changes are concerned, Reggie Sanders is going to be the designated hitter tonight; he's still shaking off the effects of his cold, and this way he can just worry about hitting until he feels better. Brian Hunter gets the start in right, and Kevin Mitchell's going to have a go at it in left despite his still achy knees. Also, Tony Fernandez gets the night off to rest his own lingering knee injury from the NLCS; Jeff Branson takes his place at third. For the Yankees, Danny Tartabull is the DH, Mike Gallego makes his third straight start at short replacing Randy Velarde (who was accidentally spiked by the White Sox' Ozzie Guillen in Game 5 of the ALCS and has a deep cut on his thigh which is still healing), and Mike Stanley replaces Matt Nokes behind the plate after Nokes replaced him in Game 2. They're ready for the first World Series game at Yankee Stadium in thirteen years, so let's play ball in Game 3!
The Reds hit the ground running in the top of the first. Deion spanks Perez's first pitch off the center field wall, and only a strong throw from Bernie Williams holds him to a double. He stays at second while Larkin grounds out, and comes home when Morris places one in front O'Neill in right. Mitchell lines the first pitch he sees right at Mattingly, who turns it into a 3-6--3 double play to end the inning. The Reds have scored first; now it's up to the home club to strut their stuff.
They start off swinging on the first pitch as well; Polonia misses a homer to dead center by less than a foot, settling for a triple. But Boggs flies out, O'Neill strikes out on a pitch a foot outside, and Tartabull fouls out to Taubensee. Hunter's walk is wasted in the top of the second after Stanley throws him out at second trying to steal off of a bad jump ("Another baffling baserunning decision by the Reds," Tim McCarver remonstrates), and Hanson sets down the Yanks one-two-three in the bottom of the inning.
Cincinnati adds to its lead in the top of the third. With one out, Taubensee doubles to left. After Deion strikes out for the second out, Larkin hits one almost to the same spot Taubensee did, and Eddie trucks home with the second Reds run. Morris' groundout ends the inning, but the Reds lead 2-0 through two and a half in the Bronx.
The Yanks let out a peep in the bottom of the inning when Kelly beats Branson's throw to first on a grounder by a tick, but he gets too cute trying to steal second and is thrown out easily. "He took too much of a lead for his own good and couldn't get back to first in time," Al Michaels explains. Polonia's base hit is rendered meaningless when Boggs taps to Morris to end the inning.
The Reds add another run in the top of the fourth. Mitchell smokes one into left that would be a double if he could run normally but instead is only a single. Reggie lines one right at Kelly for the first out, then Hunter skies one to left. Polonia tries to make a shoetop catch and fails miserably, and the ball rolls to the wall. Mitchell puts his head down and goes as fast as he can, and by the time Polonia gets off a throw, he's around third and headed home with the Reds' third run. "There's no way he should have scored," McCarver gripes. "That proves just how badly Polonia played that ball."
The trainers begin to attend to Kevin immediately upon his return to the dugout. Meanwhile, the inning ends when Boone flies out and Branson skies one on the infield that's caught by Gallego. The Reds have added another here in the fourth, and lead 3-0 after three and a half.
Hanson gets into immediate trouble in the bottom of the fourth when O'Neill singles to left and Tartabull walks, but Mattingly's double play grounder leaves two out and O'Neill at third. That's the last thing that goes right for the National League champs for quite a while. Stanley drives in O'Neill with a sharp single to left, then four people converge on Williams' pop fly into right center, but none of them think to catch it, and it drops in, scoring Stanley and cutting the Cincy lead to 3-2. Next, Gallego lifts one into left. Mitchell gets the best jump he can, sees he's going to be short of the ball, but instead of playing the hop, tries to lay out to make the catch, only to have the ball skip off of his glove and roll to the wall. Williams scores to tie the game, and Mitchell is charged with a two-base error. "if ever there was an error of commission, that was it," says Palmer. "He tried his level best to make that catch, but his knees simply wouldn't let him."
Kelly then hits one into shallow left. Branson goes out, Mitchell comes in, but the ball drops before either of them can get there, and Gallego comes around to give the Yanks a 4-3 lead. Hanson's night is finished, as Pete Schourek comes in to face Polonia. His first pitch is a ball, and Kelly steals second easily, going to third when Taubensee's late throw ends up in center field. Polonia grounds to Larkin at short to end the inning, but the Yanks have taken the lead and energized an already jubilant crowd. After four, it's Pinstripes 4, Reds 3.
The Reds reclaim the lead in the top of the fifth. With one out, Deion beats out a grounder to Gallego. Larkin's seeing-eye single puts runners at first and third, and Morris' fly ball is caught by Williams, whose throw home has no chance to get Prime Time. Mitchell walks on four pitches, then Reggie grounds one into left to bring home Larkin and give the Reds a 5-4 lead. Sterling Hitchcock is warming in the New York bullpen, as Hunter strides to the plate:
Al: "Hunter a former Pirate, came over in late July and has been invaluable as an outfield sub, especially now with both Reggie and Mitchell at less than a hundred percent. Speaking of the devils, we have Reggie at second at Mitchell at first, two out, the Reds have reclaimed the lead here in the fifth at 5-4. Here's the one-ball pitch......hammered deep to left, Polonia back, back to the track, at the wall, and IT'S GONE!...........Mitchell and Reggie can take their time around the bases; it's 8-4 Cincy and here comes Showalter out to get Perez."
Tim: "The pitch was a bit up in the zone, but Hunter didn't get it a ton. It just kept going and going, kind of like the Energizer Bunny, and just as Polonia was ready to make a play, it gathered a last bit of momentum and disappeared over the fence."
Jim: "Between him and Smiley, there are a couple of reasons why Cincinnati should be liking Pittsburgh right about now."
Al: "I wouldn't go that far."
Nor would we, Al. Boone singles to left on Hitchcock's first pitch, but Branson's liner is gloved by Boggs just before it hits the left field line for the third out. We're halfway through, and the block party's been put on hold; the home team's down 8-4.
The Yanks get back-to-back singles from Boggs and O'Neill to open the fifth, but Schourek strikes out Tartabull, and Mattingly hits into a 3-6-3 inning-ending double play. Then comes the top of the sixth.
Taubensee draws a leadoff walk, remains at first when Deion pops one up behind the plate which is caught by Stanley, then moves to second on a Hitchcock wild pitch. Larkin's screaming single scores Eddie and makes it 9-4, which sends Showalter to the pen again for Donn Pall, who doesn't record a single out. Morris drops one in front of Bernie in center to put the Reds in double digits, then Mitchell lines a gap shot to right center for a single that scores Hal to make it 11-4. Reggie's next at the plate, and he lifts one to center that Bernie completely loses track of in the lights. Mitchell's knees only carry him as far as second, however. Hunter's grounder to second handcuffs Kelly, and by the time he can find the handle, the bases are loaded. Pall is visibly rattled, which he proves beyond all doubt when he hits Boone in the knee with his first pitch. Mitchell limps home to make it 12-4, and Billy Connors comes out to talk to Pall, whose next task is Branson:
Al: "You've got Hernandez in the pen, so why Pall is still out there is a mystery. He's faced five batters, given up three runs on three hits with an error. and hit a man. If this game isn't already out of hand, another hit will do it. 12-4 Cincinnati, and here's Branson. Mitchell, we're told, is done for the night; Thomas Howard is long-tossing in the bullpen to loosen his arm, and he'll be in left in the bottom of the sixth. Pall now checking the runners, first pitch to Branson.........down the right field line, will it drop, O'Neill over, takes a look......IT DROPPED ALL RIGHT, OVER THE FENCE! A GRAND SLAM!........O'Neill went to play the hop off the wall, but there was none!"
Jim: "Another home run that didn't look like one off the bat. You're right, Al, O'Neill got ready to play the carom off the wall, but the ball just kept traveling."
Tim: "Showalter is out to relieve Pall, too little too late. You hear the boos."
Xavier Hernandez strikes out Taubensee, up for the second time in the inning, and gets Deion to fly out to end it. But the Reds have scored eight runs on five hits, an error, a walk, a wild pitch, and a hit batsman. George Steinbrenner is shown is his box, fit to be tied, as ABC goes to break. At the end of five and a half, it's Cincinnati 16, New York 4.
The Yanks get one back in the bottom of the sixth when Williams walks with one out, moves to third on Gallego's base hit, and scores on Kelly's grounder to Morris. Polonia's groundout to Branson ends the inning, and after six it's Reds 16, Yankees 5.
Larkin's leadoff walk is erased by a force play in the top of the seventh, and O'Neill's one-out double in the bottom of the inning comes to nothing.
The Reds restore their twelve-run cushion in the top of the eighth. Boggs boots Hunter's groundball, and Brian moves to second on Boone's grounder to Gallego. Branson strikes out for out number two, but Taubensee brings Hunter home with a seeing-eye grounder into left center. Deion pops to Kelly to end the inning, and at the end of seven and a half, the Reds are firmly in command, 17-5.
The Yanks waste a one-out walk to Williams off of new Reds pitcher Tim Fortugno in the bottom of the eighth and a two-out walk to O'Neill in the bottom of the ninth. Steve Howe gets the Reds out one-two-three in between, and that's that. The Reds have made the biggest statement possible, hammering the Yanks in their own home park 17-5, and now lead the series two games to one.
Branson is named Player of the Game due to his grand slam. "I didn't know I'd hit it out," he tells Lesley Visser. "I thought it was a solid double, especially after I saw O'Neill ready to play the hop."
Do you know if you're in the lineup for Game 4 yet? "No. I'd like to stay in, but if Tony's ready to go, I'll be back on the bench, probably. It's all right, though. The main thing is, we're leading the series."
And that'll do it from a very quiet Yankee Stadium. Who knows what'll be in the papers tomorrow? I'm sure The Boss will have his say after a blowout like this. But the Yankees get another chance tomorrow afternoon, as Terry Mulholland takes the mound against John Roper for Cincinnati. Remember, we're on the air at 3:30 Eastern tomorrow afternoon with Baseball Tonight, followed at 4PM Eastern by the first pitch between the Reds and Yankees. Then at 9 Eastern, we head to the Astrodome for Monday Night Football with my buddies Messrs. Gifford and Dierdorf, as the Houston Oilers host the Philadelphia Eagles. That's all tomorrow right here on ABC. Now stay tuned for your late local news, except on the West Coast and on most Mountain time zone stations, where you'll see Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
Final score again: Reds 17, Yankees 5, and the Reds the series two games to one. Have a pleasant day tomorrow, and until 3:30 Eastern, Al Michaels, Jim Palmer, Tim McCarver, Lesley Visser and Peter Gammons saying good night from The House That Ruth Built!
Tonight's closing montage features Al, Jim and Tim.)
W- Schourek (1-0)
L- Perez (0-1)
HR- CIN: Branson (1), Hunter (1)
Next: We look at Game 4.
Thoughts?
As far as lineup changes are concerned, Reggie Sanders is going to be the designated hitter tonight; he's still shaking off the effects of his cold, and this way he can just worry about hitting until he feels better. Brian Hunter gets the start in right, and Kevin Mitchell's going to have a go at it in left despite his still achy knees. Also, Tony Fernandez gets the night off to rest his own lingering knee injury from the NLCS; Jeff Branson takes his place at third. For the Yankees, Danny Tartabull is the DH, Mike Gallego makes his third straight start at short replacing Randy Velarde (who was accidentally spiked by the White Sox' Ozzie Guillen in Game 5 of the ALCS and has a deep cut on his thigh which is still healing), and Mike Stanley replaces Matt Nokes behind the plate after Nokes replaced him in Game 2. They're ready for the first World Series game at Yankee Stadium in thirteen years, so let's play ball in Game 3!
The Reds hit the ground running in the top of the first. Deion spanks Perez's first pitch off the center field wall, and only a strong throw from Bernie Williams holds him to a double. He stays at second while Larkin grounds out, and comes home when Morris places one in front O'Neill in right. Mitchell lines the first pitch he sees right at Mattingly, who turns it into a 3-6--3 double play to end the inning. The Reds have scored first; now it's up to the home club to strut their stuff.
They start off swinging on the first pitch as well; Polonia misses a homer to dead center by less than a foot, settling for a triple. But Boggs flies out, O'Neill strikes out on a pitch a foot outside, and Tartabull fouls out to Taubensee. Hunter's walk is wasted in the top of the second after Stanley throws him out at second trying to steal off of a bad jump ("Another baffling baserunning decision by the Reds," Tim McCarver remonstrates), and Hanson sets down the Yanks one-two-three in the bottom of the inning.
Cincinnati adds to its lead in the top of the third. With one out, Taubensee doubles to left. After Deion strikes out for the second out, Larkin hits one almost to the same spot Taubensee did, and Eddie trucks home with the second Reds run. Morris' groundout ends the inning, but the Reds lead 2-0 through two and a half in the Bronx.
The Yanks let out a peep in the bottom of the inning when Kelly beats Branson's throw to first on a grounder by a tick, but he gets too cute trying to steal second and is thrown out easily. "He took too much of a lead for his own good and couldn't get back to first in time," Al Michaels explains. Polonia's base hit is rendered meaningless when Boggs taps to Morris to end the inning.
The Reds add another run in the top of the fourth. Mitchell smokes one into left that would be a double if he could run normally but instead is only a single. Reggie lines one right at Kelly for the first out, then Hunter skies one to left. Polonia tries to make a shoetop catch and fails miserably, and the ball rolls to the wall. Mitchell puts his head down and goes as fast as he can, and by the time Polonia gets off a throw, he's around third and headed home with the Reds' third run. "There's no way he should have scored," McCarver gripes. "That proves just how badly Polonia played that ball."
The trainers begin to attend to Kevin immediately upon his return to the dugout. Meanwhile, the inning ends when Boone flies out and Branson skies one on the infield that's caught by Gallego. The Reds have added another here in the fourth, and lead 3-0 after three and a half.
Hanson gets into immediate trouble in the bottom of the fourth when O'Neill singles to left and Tartabull walks, but Mattingly's double play grounder leaves two out and O'Neill at third. That's the last thing that goes right for the National League champs for quite a while. Stanley drives in O'Neill with a sharp single to left, then four people converge on Williams' pop fly into right center, but none of them think to catch it, and it drops in, scoring Stanley and cutting the Cincy lead to 3-2. Next, Gallego lifts one into left. Mitchell gets the best jump he can, sees he's going to be short of the ball, but instead of playing the hop, tries to lay out to make the catch, only to have the ball skip off of his glove and roll to the wall. Williams scores to tie the game, and Mitchell is charged with a two-base error. "if ever there was an error of commission, that was it," says Palmer. "He tried his level best to make that catch, but his knees simply wouldn't let him."
Kelly then hits one into shallow left. Branson goes out, Mitchell comes in, but the ball drops before either of them can get there, and Gallego comes around to give the Yanks a 4-3 lead. Hanson's night is finished, as Pete Schourek comes in to face Polonia. His first pitch is a ball, and Kelly steals second easily, going to third when Taubensee's late throw ends up in center field. Polonia grounds to Larkin at short to end the inning, but the Yanks have taken the lead and energized an already jubilant crowd. After four, it's Pinstripes 4, Reds 3.
The Reds reclaim the lead in the top of the fifth. With one out, Deion beats out a grounder to Gallego. Larkin's seeing-eye single puts runners at first and third, and Morris' fly ball is caught by Williams, whose throw home has no chance to get Prime Time. Mitchell walks on four pitches, then Reggie grounds one into left to bring home Larkin and give the Reds a 5-4 lead. Sterling Hitchcock is warming in the New York bullpen, as Hunter strides to the plate:
Al: "Hunter a former Pirate, came over in late July and has been invaluable as an outfield sub, especially now with both Reggie and Mitchell at less than a hundred percent. Speaking of the devils, we have Reggie at second at Mitchell at first, two out, the Reds have reclaimed the lead here in the fifth at 5-4. Here's the one-ball pitch......hammered deep to left, Polonia back, back to the track, at the wall, and IT'S GONE!...........Mitchell and Reggie can take their time around the bases; it's 8-4 Cincy and here comes Showalter out to get Perez."
Tim: "The pitch was a bit up in the zone, but Hunter didn't get it a ton. It just kept going and going, kind of like the Energizer Bunny, and just as Polonia was ready to make a play, it gathered a last bit of momentum and disappeared over the fence."
Jim: "Between him and Smiley, there are a couple of reasons why Cincinnati should be liking Pittsburgh right about now."
Al: "I wouldn't go that far."
Nor would we, Al. Boone singles to left on Hitchcock's first pitch, but Branson's liner is gloved by Boggs just before it hits the left field line for the third out. We're halfway through, and the block party's been put on hold; the home team's down 8-4.
The Yanks get back-to-back singles from Boggs and O'Neill to open the fifth, but Schourek strikes out Tartabull, and Mattingly hits into a 3-6-3 inning-ending double play. Then comes the top of the sixth.
Taubensee draws a leadoff walk, remains at first when Deion pops one up behind the plate which is caught by Stanley, then moves to second on a Hitchcock wild pitch. Larkin's screaming single scores Eddie and makes it 9-4, which sends Showalter to the pen again for Donn Pall, who doesn't record a single out. Morris drops one in front of Bernie in center to put the Reds in double digits, then Mitchell lines a gap shot to right center for a single that scores Hal to make it 11-4. Reggie's next at the plate, and he lifts one to center that Bernie completely loses track of in the lights. Mitchell's knees only carry him as far as second, however. Hunter's grounder to second handcuffs Kelly, and by the time he can find the handle, the bases are loaded. Pall is visibly rattled, which he proves beyond all doubt when he hits Boone in the knee with his first pitch. Mitchell limps home to make it 12-4, and Billy Connors comes out to talk to Pall, whose next task is Branson:
Al: "You've got Hernandez in the pen, so why Pall is still out there is a mystery. He's faced five batters, given up three runs on three hits with an error. and hit a man. If this game isn't already out of hand, another hit will do it. 12-4 Cincinnati, and here's Branson. Mitchell, we're told, is done for the night; Thomas Howard is long-tossing in the bullpen to loosen his arm, and he'll be in left in the bottom of the sixth. Pall now checking the runners, first pitch to Branson.........down the right field line, will it drop, O'Neill over, takes a look......IT DROPPED ALL RIGHT, OVER THE FENCE! A GRAND SLAM!........O'Neill went to play the hop off the wall, but there was none!"
Jim: "Another home run that didn't look like one off the bat. You're right, Al, O'Neill got ready to play the carom off the wall, but the ball just kept traveling."
Tim: "Showalter is out to relieve Pall, too little too late. You hear the boos."
Xavier Hernandez strikes out Taubensee, up for the second time in the inning, and gets Deion to fly out to end it. But the Reds have scored eight runs on five hits, an error, a walk, a wild pitch, and a hit batsman. George Steinbrenner is shown is his box, fit to be tied, as ABC goes to break. At the end of five and a half, it's Cincinnati 16, New York 4.
The Yanks get one back in the bottom of the sixth when Williams walks with one out, moves to third on Gallego's base hit, and scores on Kelly's grounder to Morris. Polonia's groundout to Branson ends the inning, and after six it's Reds 16, Yankees 5.
Larkin's leadoff walk is erased by a force play in the top of the seventh, and O'Neill's one-out double in the bottom of the inning comes to nothing.
The Reds restore their twelve-run cushion in the top of the eighth. Boggs boots Hunter's groundball, and Brian moves to second on Boone's grounder to Gallego. Branson strikes out for out number two, but Taubensee brings Hunter home with a seeing-eye grounder into left center. Deion pops to Kelly to end the inning, and at the end of seven and a half, the Reds are firmly in command, 17-5.
The Yanks waste a one-out walk to Williams off of new Reds pitcher Tim Fortugno in the bottom of the eighth and a two-out walk to O'Neill in the bottom of the ninth. Steve Howe gets the Reds out one-two-three in between, and that's that. The Reds have made the biggest statement possible, hammering the Yanks in their own home park 17-5, and now lead the series two games to one.
Branson is named Player of the Game due to his grand slam. "I didn't know I'd hit it out," he tells Lesley Visser. "I thought it was a solid double, especially after I saw O'Neill ready to play the hop."
Do you know if you're in the lineup for Game 4 yet? "No. I'd like to stay in, but if Tony's ready to go, I'll be back on the bench, probably. It's all right, though. The main thing is, we're leading the series."
And that'll do it from a very quiet Yankee Stadium. Who knows what'll be in the papers tomorrow? I'm sure The Boss will have his say after a blowout like this. But the Yankees get another chance tomorrow afternoon, as Terry Mulholland takes the mound against John Roper for Cincinnati. Remember, we're on the air at 3:30 Eastern tomorrow afternoon with Baseball Tonight, followed at 4PM Eastern by the first pitch between the Reds and Yankees. Then at 9 Eastern, we head to the Astrodome for Monday Night Football with my buddies Messrs. Gifford and Dierdorf, as the Houston Oilers host the Philadelphia Eagles. That's all tomorrow right here on ABC. Now stay tuned for your late local news, except on the West Coast and on most Mountain time zone stations, where you'll see Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
Final score again: Reds 17, Yankees 5, and the Reds the series two games to one. Have a pleasant day tomorrow, and until 3:30 Eastern, Al Michaels, Jim Palmer, Tim McCarver, Lesley Visser and Peter Gammons saying good night from The House That Ruth Built!
Tonight's closing montage features Al, Jim and Tim.)
W- Schourek (1-0)
L- Perez (0-1)
HR- CIN: Branson (1), Hunter (1)
Next: We look at Game 4.
Thoughts?
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