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 'El Duque' rescues Yanks Hernandez shuts down Indians 4-0 as N.Y. evens ALCS
Posted: Sunday October 11, 1998 02:04 AM
CLEVELAND (AP) -- As quickly as one loss placed them in peril, one well-pitched game put the Yankees back in control. Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez pitched seven-plus innings of shutout ball and New York resurfaced in the AL championship series just in time Saturday night with a 4-0 win over the Cleveland Indians. The Yankees were a loss away from throwing their record-setting season away, but Hernandez's performance has allowed New York to tie the best-of-7 series at two games apiece. "Somebody gets back on top tomorrow," said Paul O'Neill. "We're back to square one." And maybe back in business. New York will start Game 1 winner David Wells on Sunday against Chad Ogea, and with a win could go back to Yankee Stadium needing to win just one of two to exact revenge on the Indians for beating them last year. "I like to think we have an edge, yeah," New York manager Joe Torre said. One day after the Indians hit four homers, and two games removed from Chuck Knoblauch's notorious Game 2 blunder, things are going the Yankees' way again.
"This is the biggest game we've played this year," said O'Neill. "No doubt about it." They're still not hitting like the team that dominated the AL since April. But the Yankees got only four hits, ran the bases aggressively and got some quality relief to back Hernandez. Even New York owner George Steinbrenner, who tried to fire up the Yankees with a pregame clubhouse visit, couldn't complain about anything on this night. All the calls seemed to go New York's way. Second base umpire Jim McKean was involved in two plays, and although neither effected the outcome, they won't ease the scrutiny the men in blue have come under in the wake of the Knoblauch incident. Hernandez, the Cuban rookie who said his biggest game before Saturday was getting on a boat to flee his homeland, gave up three hits in his first postseason start, and O'Neill homered for the Yankees, who with their 119th win broke the 1906 Chicago Cubs' record for most in a year. "I had pressure but had no fear. I've had difficult situations on and off the field," Hernandez said. "I knew I would be able to handle it." Cleveland, which eliminated New York in the first round last October, missed a chance to push the Yankees closer to an early winter vacation. And now the defending AL champion Indians must deal with Wells, who held them to five hits in 8 1-3 innings in the series opener.
Hernandez's brother, Livan, was the World Series MVP last year when Florida beat Cleveland in seven games. He's an early candidate for the same honor in this series after his 115-pitch performance. Protecting a three-run lead, he escaped a sticky two-on, one-out situation in the sixth by striking out both Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome. "Everyone jumped on that one," Torre said of Hernandez fanning Thome. "That was probably the at-bat of the night for us." "He made the pitches when he had to make them in big situations," Cleveland manager Mike Hargrove said of Hernandez. Reliever Mike Stanton got out of the same predicament in the eighth by getting a double play. Dwight Gooden, released by the Yankees last winter and resurrected in Cleveland this year, pitched well but was unable to give the Indians a commanding two-game lead in the season. The right-hander made his ninth postseason start still seeking his first October win. Gooden, ejected after 22 pitches in his previous playoff start this year against Boston, lasted 4 2-3 innings this time. He allowed three hits, struck out three and walked three. However, he left trailing by three runs. "I thought Doc pitched very well," Hargrove said. "He held the Yankees to three runs on three hits. I've seen him better, but I thought he pitched very well."
Leading 1-0 on O'Neill's homer in the first, the Yankees added two more runs in the fourth on a ground-rule RBI double by Chili Davis and a sacrifice fly by Tino Martinez. Martinez finally broke an 0-for-19 ALCS slump with a double in the ninth and also got an RBI -- his first in 15 career league championship games. Gooden walked O'Neill leading off the fourth, and after O'Neill stole second, Williams walked on a 3-2 pitch. Davis dropped his double down the left-field line and the ball skipped into the stands to score O'Neill. Williams was put back at third on the play, and he scored a moment later when Martinez lifted a fly ball that Indians center fielder Kenny Lofton appeared to catch before dropping while transferring the ball to make a throw. However, McKean, who would later be hit by catcher Sandy Alomar's throw near second base on a steal attempt, ruled Lofton had dropped the ball before the out could be recorded and Martinez was safe at first. Hernandez was living on the edge through the first three innings. The Indians hit the ball hard, but right at Yankees. He didn't get a groundball out until his 11th batter, but he settled in and gave New York the start it desperately needed. Notes: Alomar was charged with two of Cleveland's three errors; Lofton got the other. ... Omar Vizquel had three of Cleveland's four hits. ... Gooden was the third former Yankee to start a postseason game against them, joining Milwaukee's Lew Burdette and Kansas City's Larry Gura. ... Cleveland manager Mike Hargrove decided to start Ogea in Game 5 over Jaret Wright, who has been shelled in his two postseason starts. ... The Indians have been outscored 12-1 in the first inning during the playoffs. ... Alomar left the game after the fifth with lower back spasms.
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