#498---CLE @ BAL, 3/31/2003

 

Opening Day in Baltimore included a twelve minute snow delay in the top of the third inning. When play resumed, Karim Garcia’s sac fly gave the Indians a 3-1 lead off Rodrigo Lopez. The teams would each score a single run in the sixth, with Garcia (homer) and Jay Gibbons (single) driving in the runs. CC Sabathia departed after seven, and in the bottom of the eighth David Riske got two quick outs before Tony Batista doubled and Marty Cordova homered to knot it 4-4. In the bottom of the ninth, Jerry Hairston bunted for a hit and took second on pitcher Jose Santiago’s throwing error, but was gunned out at third when Gary Matthews sac bunt attempt failed.

Neither team got a runner into scoring position in the tenth or eleventh, but in the twelfth Milton Bradley doubled and Omar Vizquel singled off Kerry Ligtenberg to give Cleveland the lead back. In the bottom of the frame, Gary Matthews led off with a single off Danys Baez, took second on BJ Surhoff’s sac bunt, third on Jeff Conine’s ground out, and scored on Josh Bard’s passed ball. Karim Garcia led off the top of the thirteenth with a single and was bunted to second, but BJ Ryan retired the next two Indians without incident. Jake Westbrook came on for the bottom of the inning, and two infield hits and a hit batter loaded the bases with two outs for Matthews, who lined a walkoff single to center to win it for Baltimore. The thirteen innings were played in 3:58 without subtracting the twelve minute delay.

#497---MIN @ CLE, 4/10/2002

 

The Indians took command of this game with a six-run second inning, capped by Jim Thome’s grand slam off Rick Reed. Thome had driven in five runs in his first two plate appearances, but struck out in his final three. Despite getting battered for eight runs, Rick Reed stayed in to complete five innings. Note David Ortiz batting cleanup in his last season with Minnesota, and Charlie Nagy mopping up in the ninth inning for Cleveland.

#496---CLE @ DET, 4/12/2001

 

Jolbert Carbera scored three runs and Roberto Alomar tripled in all three runs of a two-out, fourth inning rally to provide the offense for Cleveland. Bartolo Colon started, going 6 2/3, allowing three runs (two coming in the seventh) on seven hits, three walks, and eight strikeouts while making 115 pitches. Detroit’s seventh inning tightened the score to 4-3, but Cabrera’s third hit was a leadoff double in the ninth, and Alomar bunted him to third and Juan Gonzalez hit a sac fly to give the Indians an insurance run. Bob Wickman walked two in the ninth but got Shane Halter to bounce into an Alomar-Vizquel-Thome double play to get the save.

#495---CLE @ TB, 4/7/2000

The Indians hit three homers in their nine-run second to blast the Rays 14-5. Juan Guzman started and allowed eight runs in 1 2/3 innings, with the first seven Indians batters of the frame reaching, culminating in Omar Vizquel’s grand slam. Richie Sexson didn’t homer as Vizquel, Jim Thome, and David Justice did, but he did reach base in all five plate appearances (3-3, walk, hit batter). 
 

#494---CLE @ MIN, 4/10/1999

 

The Indians got three-run homers from Manny Ramirez and Richie Sexson in the first to lead Benj Sampson 6-0, but Dwight Gooden coughed most of it right back up, getting just two outs to Sampson’s three. Both teams got good long relief outings; Minnesota’s Mike Lincoln gave up one run in five innings and Cleveland’s Steve Karsay one run in 5 1/3, making it 7-6 Cleveland before a five-run outburst in the eighth powered by four doubles (Travis Fryman, Sandy Alomar, Omar Vizquel, Roberto Alomar) put the Tribe back in control. Minnesota got a run off Jerry Spradlin in the ninth to make the final score 12-7.

#493---ANA @ CLE, 4/12/1998

 

Anaheim got big games from Tim Salmon (2-3, 2 HR, 1 W, 5 R, 2 RBI) and Jim Edmonds (1-3, HR, 2 W, 2 R, 3 RBI) as part of a twelve-run battering in which each Cleveland pitcher allowed one home run. Chuck Finley pitched eight shutout innings, scattering seven hits and one walk with just two strikeouts, but the Tribe was able to break the shutout with a run off Rich DeLucia in the ninth.

#492---BAL @ CLE, 5/23/1997

 

The Indians singled Jimmy Key to death. The first of their twelve hits was a David Justice double, to be followed by eleven singles. Justice and Manny Ramirez each had three hits. Key surrendered ten of those hits and six runs, while Chad Ogea pitched a complete game for Cleveland, allowing just two hits and two walks with seven strikeouts. 

#491---Australia v. Korea, 3/8/2023 (World Baseball Classic)

 

This game started out in an offensive calm as Australia led 1-0 after four, their run coming after loading the bases with no outs in the fourth to get just a single tally on a sac fly. Meanwhile, Korea’s first thirteen were retired in order. The fifth saw action, as Australia added a solo homer but Korea countered with a two out, three-run homer. They tacked on a run in the sixth, but Australia countered with a two out, three-run homer of their own in the seventh to take the lead back at 5-4. They would get yet another three-run homer in the eighth to establish an 8-4 lead, but their pitchers would walk the first four Korean batters in the eighth to open the door. Korea could only manage another hit batter, walk, and productive outs from there and Australia held an 8-7 edge going to the ninth. Tommy Edman led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, but was caught stealing to end the game. 

#490---Venezuela v. Italy, 3/13/2017 (World Baseball Classic)

This was a tiebreaker game to determine which team would advance to the second round of the WBC. Venzuela had previously beaten Italy 11-10 but lost to Mexico and Puerto Rico while Italy beat Mexico 10-9 but also fell to Puerto Rico.

Venezuela did not have much major league pitching to draw on after their staff had been used in the first three games, and so much of their on-paper advantage over Italy was neutralized. But it was their offense that failed to deliver for most of the game as they trailed 2-1 entering the ninth and had mustered just two hits and three walks. But Miguel Cabrera led off with a tying homer, Victor Martinez walked, and Rougned Odor hit a long drive to right that he pimped as a homer, only to see it hit the wall. It scored the run but Odor only reached first although he wound end up scoring on Eduardo Escobar’s squeeze bunt.

Francisco Rodriguez was available, but he gave up a leadoff homer to cut it to 4-3 before inducing three straight groundballs to push Venezuela on in the tournament. However, they would end up in a true “group of death” and were swept by the US, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. As I write this (just prior to the 2023 tournament), Venezuela has likely been the most disappointing performer over four tournaments with a 12-12 record and just one semifinals appearance.

#489---US v. Italy, 3/9/2013 (World Baseball Classic)

The US had lost its opener to Mexico making this essentially a must-win, and they did not have an A starter on the mound as Ryan Vogelsong fell behind 2-0 after two. Joe Mauer doubled in Ryan Braun in the third, then a fifth-inning rally culminated in a two-out grand slam by David Wright to give the US a 6-2 lead. US relievers Jeremy Affeldt and Ross Detwiler got fifteen outs, allowing just two baserunners, with Detwiler earning the four-inning save.