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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Cleveland Pitchers Fighting For Attention

Howard Ulman Associated Press

Albert Belle, Eddie Murray, Jim Thome and even Tony Pena homered during Cleveland’s A.L. playoff sweep of the Boston Red Sox. In the clincher, the Indians had 11 hits in an 8-2 victory.

Then both managers said Cleveland’s pitching was the key to its success.

“It’s easy to look at this club and look at the lineup we put on the field,” Indians manager Mike Hargrove said. “In a lot of cases, our pitching is underrated and overlooked.”

Not by the Red Sox.

They managed only 21 hits in the three games and were outscored 17-6 after finishing the season ranked third in the American League in runs, hits and batting average.

“The lineup I respect an awful lot, and I think we pitched well,” Red Sox manager Kevin Kennedy said. “Their pitching is really the key.”

Indians pitchers walked 11 Red Sox batters but prevented all of them from scoring. Boston was hitless in 19 straight at-bats with runners in scoring position before Luis Alicea’s fourth-inning single Friday night. Boston’s best hitters, Mo Vaughn and Jose Canseco, were a combined 0 for 27 with 9 strikeouts.

“We knew they would be aggressive and we wanted to frustrate them,” third-game winner Charles Nagy said.

The Indians led the majors with a .291 batting average and the American League with a 3.83 ERA. Their starting pitchers, and the rest of the team, will be rested for the A.L. Championship Series, starting Tuesday, against the winner of the New York-Seattle series.

“We feel good about getting the short series out of the way,” pitcher Orel Hershiser said. “The longer the series, the better chance we’ve got. The depth of our team will prove out in the longer series.”

In the opener, Dennis Martinez (12-5 during the regular season) pitched six solid innings, and six relievers stopped Boston until Pena’s 13th-inning homer gave Cleveland a 5-4 win.

In Game 2’s 4-0 win, Hershiser (16-6) allowed three hits in 7-1/3 innings before three relievers held the Red Sox hitless.

“We pitched tough and when (the Red Sox) hit the ball hard they were right at people,” Hershiser said.

On Friday, Nagy (16-6) gave up four hits in seven innings and - with the help of strong fielding - left two runners stranded in five different innings.

“I don’t know if our pitching staff will ever gain a lot of respect,” Nagy said. “We do get overshadowed by our hitting.”

When the starters falter, the bullpen has Jose Mesa, who had 46 saves in 48 chances, and Julian Tavarez and Paul Assenmacher, who had ERAs of 2.44 and 2.82, respectively.

Boston’s pitching failed in crucial situations.

Rick Aguilera, outstanding as a closer after being obtained July 6 from Minnesota, gave up Belle’s tying homer leading off the 11th inning of Game 1. And Tim Wakefield, who was 14-1 with a 1.65 ERA in his first 17 starts and 2-7 with a 5.60 ERA in his last 10, failed in Friday night’s finale when he allowed seven runs in 5-1/3 innings

The Indians’ longest losing streak in their 100-44 regular season was four games and they ended it by winning their final five games. That streak is now eight games. Eight more wins and they’ll be champions for the first time since 1948, when they beat the Boston Braves in the World Series.

They reacted calmly to Friday night’s win.

“We’ve advanced, but where have we advanced to?” Hershiser said. “We’ve advanced to another American League team. It’s not like we’ve won anything yet.”

The Indians hit more homers (207) and scored more runs (840) than any other major-league team. Their .479 slugging percentage was the best in baseball.

But they also tied for the A.L. lead with 10 shutouts, gave up the fewest walks and the second fewest hits and homers.

“Everything has clicked for us all year long,” Hargrove said. “We haven’t gone into any extended losing period. The biggest reason we’ve been consistent is with our pitching. Over the long haul, the key to anything is how well you pitch.”