| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME LOG
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Jim Thome once hit a ball 511 feet and clear
out of Jacobs Field. He's crushed homers into the upper deck at
Yankee Stadium and in every other park in the American League.
On Tuesday night, his game-winning hit barely snaked through the
infield grass.
Thome dribbled an RBI groundout in the sixth inning and Chuck
Finley showed again he's more than a Yankees' killer, pitching
seven solid innings as the Cleveland Indians kept pressure on
Oakland in the AL-wild card chase Tuesday night with a 4-2 victory
over the Minnesota Twins.
"Sometimes a little goes a long way," Indians manager Charlie
Manuel said of Thome's hit. "Jimmy's struggling. Everybody in
baseball knows he's struggling. But if he's going to come out of
it, he'll come out swinging. That's just like hitting a rocket to
right field."
Jolbert Cabrera hit his second career homer for the Indians, who
began the night trailing the Athletics by 1½ games in the wild-card
standings.
Afterward, many of the Indians ate their postgame meals with one
eye on TVs in the clubhouse tuned to Anaheim's game at Oakland.
Finley (15-11) allowed two runs and six hits, improving to 5-1
with a 3.43 ERA in September.
After struggling for much of the season, the 37-year-old lefty,
who signed a $27 million contract this winter, has been big down
the stretch.
"This is why I came over to Cleveland, to be in this
situation," Finley said. "These last weeks tells you what you are
made of."
Bob Wickman pitched the ninth for his 13th save as Cleveland got
its fourth win over Minnesota this season against a Twins lineup
consisting of minor league callups.
Finley said it was difficult facing hitters he had never seen
before.
"I kind of had to play it by ear," he said. "Kind of a trial-and-error type thing."
With the score tied at 2 in the sixth, Twins starter J.C. Romero
(2-7) gave up a leadoff single to Omar Vizquel before striking out
Roberto Alomar and Manny Ramirez. But a pair of two-out walks to
David Segui and Travis Fryman loaded the bases for Thome, who
hasn't homered since Sept. 5 and was batting just .229 against
left-handers.
Thome struck out in his first two at-bats on a total of six
pitches and was in a 9-for-76 (.118) slump when he fell behind 0-2
against Romero.
Thome took his usual mighty swing and managed to hit a slow
roller between the mound and first base that the Twins couldn't
come up with as Vizquel scored from third.
"I'll take it," Thome said. "Anything to win right now."
Cabrera gave the Indians a 4-2 lead in the seventh by hitting
his first homer since Aug. 4. Cabrera, a former track star,
sprinted around the bases in what had to be record time.
"If I hit a home run right now, I'd probably sprint the same
way," joked Thome.
Twins manager Tom Kelly used a starting lineup with eight
players who spent part of the season at Triple-A Salt Lake City,
and a ninth, shortstop Jason Maxwell, who was a 74th-round draft
pick in 1993.
With just five games remaining after Tuesday to catch Oakland,
the Indians need all the help they can get, and it seemed as if
Kelly was offering some.
But the Twins hit several long outs against Finley before tying
it in the sixth on Torii Hunter's two-run homer.
"We were pumped up," Hunter said. "Hey, why not beat these
guys and knock them out of it? We're jealous of them. We know
they're a game back, we want to ruin it for them."
Brian Buchanan reached on an infield single with one out and
took second on Alomar's throwing error. One out later, Hunter,
batting .438 against Cleveland this year, hit his fifth homer.
The Indians didn't get to Romero until the second time through
the order, and took a 2-0 lead in the third on Vizquel's RBI double
and Alomar's run-scoring single.
Game notes
Maxwell was the 1,667th player taken in the '93 draft,
picked by the Chicago Cubs, making him the lowest draft pick in
history to make it to the majors. ... Finley has 15 wins for the
first time since 1996. ... The Twins' lineup came in with a
combined 471 career hits, 145 this season. Seven of Cleveland's
starters have more than 140 hits this year. ... The Indians will
open at home next season with an April 2 matchup against the AL
Central champion Chicago White Sox. The teams are meeting in the
opener to celebrate the league's 100th anniversary. In 1901,
Cleveland played at Chicago on opening day. ... A plane circled
Jacobs Field in the early innings dragging a sign that said:
"Manny--Please Stay In C-Town." Manny Ramirez, who has already
turned down a five-year, $75 million offer from the Indians, is
eligible for free agency after the season.
| |
ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Minnesota Clubhouse
Cleveland Clubhouse
RECAPS
Baltimore 2
Toronto 1
Cleveland 4
Minnesota 2
Tampa Bay 2
NY Yankees 1
Boston 4
Chi. White Sox 3
Kansas City 7
Detroit 6
Oakland 10
Anaheim 3
Seattle 5
Texas 0
Florida 5
Montreal 4
Pittsburgh 9
Houston 4
Atlanta 7
NY Mets 1
Philadelphia 10
Chicago Cubs 4
Milwaukee 7
Cincinnati 4
Colorado 7
Arizona 6
St. Louis 7
San Diego 1
Los Angeles 9
San Francisco 0
|
