Alomar’s Hr Ousts Tribe O’S Second Baseman Becomes Spittin’ Image Of A Playoff Hero

He has gone from the scourge of baseball to the hero of Baltimore in little more than a week.

That’s what a little spit and some timely hitting will do.

Roberto Alomar - who almost single-handedly caused the umpires to take part in baseball’s latest labor war - made Cleveland raise the white flag Saturday.

The mind-numbing turn of events started in the ninth inning, with Alomar’s two-out game-tying single. Then in the 12th, he smacked Jose Mesa’s 1-1 fastball 402 feet into the seats in right-center.

That gave the Orioles a shocking 4-3 victory and knocked the Indians out of the American League playoffs. Next up for Baltimore is New York, which eliminated Texas.

After all Alomar had been through, the homer seemed a bizarre yet appropriate way for the game to be decided.

“The script was already written,” said Orioles manager Davey Johnson. “When he had a chance to win it, he was going to win it.”

Alomar, clearly relieved, said he was just happy to have helped his team. “(The spitting) was a mistake on my part, but you have to move on,” he said. “Today, I didn’t let the fans bug me.”

The game was notable for more than its heroics or length (4 hours, 41 minutes). It featured an astounding 33 strikeouts. Cleveland rang up 23 of the whiffs, and it’s not as if they did it with Sandy Koufax or Bob Gibson. The Indians used Charles Nagy, Alan Embree, Paul Shuey, Paul Assenmacher, Eric Plunk, Mesa and Chad Ogea.

“I don’t care how many you strike out,” said Cleveland manager Mike Hargrove. “It comes down to who scores the most runs. But I wish we could have struck out 24.”

Alomar, an All-Star with a good reputation before he spat on umpire John Hirschbeck, found his older brother Sandy in the Indians’ clubhouse. When Sandy embraced Roberto, the younger Alomar broke down in tears.

“My family is very close,” sobbed Roberto Alomar. “And my family has suffered a lot because of me.”

Orioles 4, Indians 3 (12)

Baltimore Cleveland ab r h bi ab r h bi ByAdsn cf 5 0 1 0 Lofton cf 5 0 0 0 Zeile 3b 6 0 2 0 Vizquel ss 5 0 2 1 RAlmr 2b 6 1 3 2 Seitzer dh 4 0 0 0 RPmro 1b 6 1 1 1 Cndele dh 0 0 0 0 Bonilla rf 6 1 1 1 Belle lf 4 0 0 0 CRpken ss 6 0 2 0 Franco 1b 4 1 1 0 Murray dh 4 0 2 0 MRmrz rf 4 1 2 0 Incvgla lf 5 0 1 0 Kent 3b 3 0 0 0 Dvraux lf 1 0 0 0 NWlson ph 1 0 0 0 Hoiles c 3 0 0 0 Thome 3b 0 0 0 0 Surhoff ph 1 0 1 0 SAlmr c 5 0 1 2 Alxndr pr 0 1 0 0 Vzcaino 2b 5 1 1 0 Parent c 1 0 0 0 Totals 50 4 14 4 Totals 40 3 7 3 Baltimore 020 000 001 001 - 4 Cleveland 000 210 000 000 - 3 E-RPalmeiro (1), Vizcaino (1). LOBBaltimore 13, Cleveland 8. 2B-Zeile (1), CRipken (3), MRamirez 2 (2). HR-RAlomar (1), RPalmeiro (1), Bonilla (2). SB-Vizquel (4), Seitzer (1). CS- ByAnderson (1), Vizquel (2), SAlomar (1). S-Lofton, Kent.

Baltimore IP H R ER BB SO DWells 7 7 3 3 3 3 TeMathews 1 0 0 0 1 1 Orosco 0 0 0 0 1 Benitz W,2-0 2 0 0 0 1 4 RMyers S,2 1 0 0 0 0 1 Cleveland IP H R ER BB SO Nagy 6 6 2 2 2 12 Embree 0 0 0 0 1 Shuey 0 1 0 0 0 0 Assenmacher 0 0 0 0 2 Plunk 1 0 0 0 0 2 Mesa L,0-1 3 7 2 2 0 6 Ogea 0 0 0 1 0 Shuey pitched to 1 batter in the 7th.

T-4:41. A-44,280 (42,865).