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 Oh brother! A Hernandez does in Cleveland again
Posted: Sunday October 11, 1998 02:00 AM
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Different Hernandez. Same result. While October is becoming the family's favorite month, the Hernandezes are becoming the family Cleveland loves to hate. Last year, Livan had the starring role, winning the MVP of the NL championship series and World Series as Florida won the title. This time it was his half brother Orlando, who helped the New York Yankees even the AL championship series at two games apiece by pitching three-hit ball for seven shutout innings Saturday night in a 4-0 win over the Indians. Oh, brother. Well, half brother. "I had pressure. But I had no fear," Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez said through a translator. "I've been through many difficult times in my life both on the field and off the field. And I knew I would be able to handle it." Yankees manager Joe Torre said he sensed a lack of nervousness when "El Duque" decided to play waiter during a team brunch Saturday. "El Duque" then went out and just about single-handedly saved the Yankees' season. "Gut check time," Torre said. "It's what happened the whole year for us -- the starting pitching. Hernandez was spectacular for us tonight." With the offense in a funk -- 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position in Game 4, 4-for-33 (.121) since the first inning of the opener and 31 innings since consecutive batters got hits -- the Yankees practically needed a shutout. He combined with Mike Stanton and Mariano Rivera to give them just that on the day before his 29th birthday. He got into a two-on jam in the first, but got out of it when Jim Thome flied to the warning track in right. Hernandez then retired five straight before Kenny Lofton's third-inning double, and nine in a row after that. When the Indians had two on in the sixth, he fanned both Manny Ramirez and Thome to escape. "Everybody jumped off the bench on that one," Torre said of Thome's inning-ending whiff. "That was probably THE at-bat of the night for us." "El Duque" seemed to disrupt the Indians' timing by repeatedly stepping off the pitching rubber and throwing lots of offspeed stuff. His high leg kick makes pitches difficult to pick up and he wound up striking out six. "He made the pitches when he had to make them," Indians manager Mike Hargrove said. "He made some tough 3-2 pitches to get our big hitters out in big situations." Livan, who led the Marlins past Cleveland with wins in Games 1 and 5 of last year's World Series, succeeds with blazers. Heat works in Florida; guile is better in the Bronx. "They've been really successful against us," said Omar Vizquel, who had two of the hits off Hernandez. "Both are good pitchers. 'El Duque' had the big pitches when he needed them. Today he really surprised me. He hadn't been in this situation before." "El Duque" was back in Cuba when Livan starred last October. He fled in December and when he signed with the Yankees in March, it looked like Steinbrenner was piling on: With David Cone, David Wells, Andy Pettitte and Hideki Irabu, it almost seemed unfair for the Yankees to add another quality starter. He hadn't pitched since September 25. After the first-round sweep of Texas, it seemed a No. 4 pitcher on the Yankees was as needed as tonsils. But Hernandez kept working. And with the season starting to slip away into Lake Erie, he showed up as the savior, ensuring the series will return to Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night. "He's got a big heart and lots of guts," teammate David Cone said. "You know, he thinks he's the No. 1 guy on this staff. And a lot of times he is. He sure pitched like it tonight."
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