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 Bye bye, Boston Justice stars as Indians eliminate Red Sox 2-1
Posted: Saturday October 03, 1998 11:04 PM
BOSTON (AP) -- The Cleveland Indians are headed back to the AL championship series -- and smack into one of the best teams in baseball history. David Justice, whose two-run, eighth-inning double led Cleveland to a clinching 2-1 win over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, knows the task the Indians face against the Yankees. "They've got a great ballclub from top to bottom, but I feel confident we can play on the same field," Justice said. "But we don't have any advantage over them." The Yankees followed an AL-record 114-win regular season with a three-game sweep against Texas in the first round. The Rangers managed just one run and 13 hits after leading the AL in hitting during the regular season. The Indians, who beat Boston 3-1 in the best-of-5 series, overcame a formidable foe Saturday in Tom Gordon, who ended the season with a major league record 43 straight save conversions. Before Justice's hit, he hadn't blown a save chance since April 14.
"I don't think you get to postseason by being lucky. I don't think you continue in postseason by being lucky," Cleveland manager Mike Hargrove said. In the series that opens at New York on Tuesday night, Cleveland will field several players who weren't on the team that beat the Yankees 3-2 in the first round last year. Gone are starters Orel Hershiser and Chad Ogea, replaced by Dwight Gooden and Bartolo Colon. Travis Fryman, Joey Cora and Kenny Lofton also came on board. While the Indians are headed to the ALCS for the third time in four seasons -- they lost the 1997 World Series in an 11-inning seventh game to Florida -- the Red Sox weren't expected to get this far. "This team's got nothing to be ashamed of. We kept ourselves close and it didn't work out," said Mo Vaughn, who has said he will entertain free-agent offers in the off-season. Vaughn had given the Red Sox a strong start, tying a postseason record with seven RBIs in an 11-3 opening victory. He was 4-for-12 in the final three games but didn't drive in any runs.
Nomar Garciaparra did that for Boston on Saturday with his third homer of the series, a fourth-inning drive that gave him a division series record 11 RBIs. And manager Jimy Williams' controversial decision to start Pete Schourek, obtained from Houston on August 6, rather than use Pedro Martinez on three days' rest, was working. Schourek left after allowing two hits in 5 1-3 shutout innings. He had to be sharp considering how well Colon pitched in his first postseason game. The winner of this year's All-Star game left trailing 1-0 after allowing five hits in 5 1-3 innings. Derek Lowe replaced Schourek and retired all five batters he faced. Then Gordon entered a game at the start of the eighth for the first time this season. "Right man, right spot. He certainly has come in and got five outs before," Williams said. "I didn't change my approach and I didn't change a thing. I was ready," Gordon said.
Cora, pinch-hitting for Enrique Wilson, flied to left. Lofton then singled and took second on a single by Omar Vizquel, who was hitless in all 14 of his previous at-bats in the series. Lofton stole third and both runners scored on Justice's double to center field. "Gordon is definitely a great pitcher," Justice said. "I already had a man on third base so I was thinking just don't pop up or strike out." Gordon, who led the AL with 46 saves, got the loss. Reliever Steve Reed was the winner and Mike Jackson got his third save of the series. "We have a lot of veteran players. We have a lot of guys who have been in the postseason," Jackson said. "That means a lot of guys don't panic."
Gordon's failure magnified Boston third-base coach Wendell Kim's decision in the sixth to test Justice's arm. John Valentin led off the sixth with a double. One out later, Mike Stanley singled sharply to left. Kim waved Valentin home and Justice, who already had made several strong throws in the series, easily threw out Valentin out at the plate. "He hasn't been playing [left field] hardly at all," Kim said of Justice, who started 20 games in the outfield and 116 as designated hitter. "It's a tough throw. If it was 2-0 their favor, I wouldn't have sent him." Going into Game 4, there was this controversy: Would Williams use Martinez, last year's NL Cy Young Award winner, who was 19-7 with Boston but went 1-3 in September? Or would he stick with his rotation and use Schourek, who had a 1.90 ERA in his previous four starts. "Each manager has to handle his club the best way he thinks he has to handle it," Williams said before the game. "So if I come under scrutiny -- is that a good word? -- so be it." That's sure to happen. His decision to bring in Gordon helped keep the Red Sox -- who haven't won the World Series since 1918 -- from returning to the ALCS for the first time since 1986. Instead, the Indians -- seeking their first Series title since 1948 -- advance. "We feel we match up with anybody," Hargrove said. "Will we beat the Yankees? I have no clue." Notes: The Red Sox have lost 16 of 17 postseason games, starting with the Bill Buckner game in the 1986 World Series. ... Several Indians, including Colon, Manny Ramirez and Justice, had the number 39 on their caps in honor of Darryl Strawberry, who underwent surgery Saturday for colon cancer. ... Cleveland had 26 hits in series -- 12 doubles, seven homers and only seven singles. ... Cleveland lost the opener of its last seven playoff series, winning four of those series. ... The top four spots in Boston's lineup went 24-for-61 in the series, the bottom five went 10-for-73.
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