Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 20, 1995 TAG: 9510200052
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STEVEN KRASNER PROVIDENCE JOURNAL-BULLETIN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Another preseason consensus was that the Braves had by far the best pitching staff, in particular, the starting rotation.
Well, the Indians and the Braves held up their end of the bargain in the first of those two expectations. They won their respective league pennants and will meet in the World Series, which opens in Atlanta on Saturday night.
But very quietly during the regular season, the Indians' pitching staff showed itself worthy of comparison to the Braves' superlative staff.
And in the playoffs, Cleveland's pitching emerged from the shadows of the Indians' potentially explosive offense and claimed center stage as Exhibit No.1 on why the team is in the World Series for the first time since 1954.
The Indians led the American League in earned-run average as the team hammered its way to a 100-44 regular-season log, winning the Central Division by a record 30 games.
The Boston Red Sox provided the Indians with their next hurdle. Those slugging Sox, featuring the one-two power punch of Mo Vaughn and Jose Canseco and the consistent Mike Greenwell in the middle of the order.
The mashers didn't get one hit. Vaughn was 0-for-14; Canseco 0-for-13. And Greenwell went 3-for-15. That's an average of .071.
Dennis Martinez, Orel Hershiser and Charles Nagy slapped the collar on the sluggers, with help from the Indians' solid bullpen.
The Seattle Mariners were next. They were coming off a rousing first-round series win over the New York Yankees, a five-game stretch where they hit .315 as a team.
But they ran into the Indians' overlooked but outstanding pitching staff. Cleveland starters Martinez, Hershiser (series MVP), Nagy and Ken Hill, again with help from the bullpen, put the clamps on the Seattle lineup.
Ken Griffey Jr. batted .333 (7-for-21), but he was only 3-for-14 in the final four games. And Edgar Martinez (2-for-23) and Tino Martinez (3-for-22), making up the rest of the middle of the generally potent Mariners order, hit a combined .111.
The Cleveland starters boast a 6-1 record and a glittering 1.29 ERA (nine earned runs in 622/3 innings) in their nine postseason starts.
``All clubs have an ace, and some have two guys that are aces,'' said the Mariners' Mike Blowers (4-for-18). ``I've never seen a club with four aces like that.''
``Cleveland pitched so well this series,'' said Seattle manager Lou Piniella. ``All their pitching did such a good job against our hitting. They just shut us down the whole series.''
The American League Championship Series numbers generated by the Cleveland pitching staff were phenomenal.
The Indians limited Seattle to 12 runs in the series. The previous low in a six-game ALCS was 23 runs, scored by Chicago against Toronto in 1993.
The Mariners batted .184, the lowest since Oakland hit .183 against Baltimore in 1974.
The Indians' 1.64 earned-run average was almost two runs better than the previous ALCS best of 3.44, established by Toronto two years ago.
Cleveland allowed only 54 hits, and no more than two in any inning.
That type of pitching performance was necessary, too, because the Seattle pitchers held the vaunted Cleveland offense in check for the most part. The Indians batted .257.
``You can use all the cliches you want, but they just turned it up a notch,'' Cleveland manager Mike Hargrove said of his starters.
``I think we were prepared,'' said Indians pitching coach Mark Wiley, ``and right now, with the pitchers we have and the experience we have, they know the importance of what the hitters need to be focused on, and they attack that.
``We had pretty good command of our pitches in both series, and when you have command of the pitches, regardless of how good the hitters are, they have to guess right,'' Wiley said of the Indians' success with the middle of the Red Sox and Mariners orders.
Even when the Mariners hitters were guessing right, though, they were overmatched by pitches in great spots. The Indians' control was impeccable. The starters walked only nine batters in 421/3 innings. They whiffed 34.
So, as the Cleveland starters look to the Braves, they are confident and satisfied.
``We never got credit for anything through the year,'' the 40-year-old Martinez said after Tuesday night's series-clinching win, the first postseason victory of his illustrious career.
``They always talked about our offense. But we didn't mind because we knew what we had, and that way we can sneak in.''
They will not be sneaking in anymore. The postseason finally has brought the Cleveland starting staff its due.
The Indians will rely on Hershiser, Martinez and Nagy, with Hill the fourth starter, if they use one. The Braves will counter with Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz, with Steve Avery available for the fourth spot, if manager Bobby Cox chooses to use him.
The matchups indicate tough pitchers' duels.
The best versus the best. As it should be in the World Series.
by CNB