COORS FIELD SPECIAL: ROCKS HIT 10 HRS, LOSE GAME
5-Run 9th Saves Tribe; 4 Rockies Homer Twice
DENVER, June 5 (AP) - The stiff wind that was blowing out to right field at
Coors Field was belied by a 1-0 score after four innings, but the correction
came swiftly and decisively. The final five innings of the game saw 30
runs scored and 13 home runs hit. The Cleveland Indians rallied for five
runs in the top of the ninth and went on to defeat the Colorado Rockies by a
football-like score of 17-14. It was the highest scoring game of the major
league season to date, besting the 28 runs that were tallied in a 15-13 Colorado
victory over St. Louis in an April 10 contest also played at Coors Field.
The 13 home runs is also a high water mark for the year, far surpassing the nine
combined long balls hit by Texas and Boston on May 14. Four Rockies
batters--Jay Payton, Chris Stynes, Todd Helton and Preston Wilson--hit a pair of
home runs, the first time this year more than two players from the same team had
multi-home run outings in the same game.
Things were relatively quiet early as Cleveland pushed across single runs in the
fourth and fifth innings to take a 2-0 lead, but the Rockies exploded for six
runs in the bottom of the fifth, a frame that featured four home runs and six
extra base hits. Stynes led off by ripping a triple off Indians starter
C.C. Sabathia and was doubled home by Bobby Estalella. Brent Butler
sacrificed Estalella to third and pinch hitter Jose Hernandez gave Colorado a
3-2 lead with the game's first home run. After Jose Uribe grounded
out, Payton and Helton ended Sabathia's day by crushing back-to-back home
runs. Terry Mulholland replaced Sabathia but was greeted by Wilson's blast
into the left field bleachers, marking the first time this year Colorado batters
have hit three consecutive home runs.
The Indians regained the lead immediately in the top of the sixth, with five
runs. Omar Vizquel and Milton Bradley slashed RBI doubles and Ben
Broussard roped a two-run triple. The final tally came on Josh Bard's RBI
ground out, giving Cleveland a 7-6 advantage.
The lead was short-lived. Not to be outdone, at least temporarily, the
Rockies recaptured the lead, 8-7, on solo home runs by Stynes and pinch hitter
Greg Vaughn.
But the Indians scored five more runs in the seventh to seize a 12-8
advantage. Matt Lawton's two-run blast was the first Cleveland home run of
the contest and Bradley's three-run bomb later in the same frame upped the lead
to four.
But the Rockies immediately reduced that deficit to a single run with a
three-run inning of their own, all of it on solo home runs. Payton, Helton
and Stynes all went deep in the home half of the seventh, cutting Cleveland's
lead to 12-11.
Justin Speier finally held the Indians scoreless in the eighth and Dan Miceli
came on for Cleveland to try to protect a one-run lead in the bottom of the
frame. It wasn't to be. Pinch hitter Mark Sweeney reached on a
one-out single and, after Uribe struck out, Payton's third hit of the day--a
single--put the potential go-ahead run on base with two outs. Helton then
sent a missile into the right field stands for a three-run home run, Colorado's
tenth long ball of the game, for a 14-12 Colorado lead. At this point, the
Rockies had hit more home runs than any pair of teams had combined homers in a
single game this season.
Jose Jimenez came on for Colorado in an attempt to close out the contest, but
ran into trouble immediately by yielding a lead-off double to Jody Gerut.
Bradley struck out but Ben Broussard drew a walk, putting runners on first and
second with one out. Bard then lined a sharp single to left, filling the
bases. In a key play, Casey Blake grounded to second. Butler fielded
the ball cleanly and went to the bag himself for the force, but his throw to
first was too late to get the hustling Blake. Gerut scored, cutting the
Colorado lead to a single run. Pinch hitter Tim Laker followed by slicing
a 1-2 pitch from Jimenez into the right field corner for a two-run triple and a
15-14 Cleveland lead. Brandon Phillps then delivered the coup de grace by
launching a two-run homer into the left field seats.
Danys Baez came on for the Indians in the bottom of the ninth and, surprisingly
given the tenor of the game, retired the Rockies in order to earn the save.
The two teams combined for 31 runs on 34 hits--23 of them for extra bases.
6/5/2003, Cle03-Col03, Coors Field 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Indians 0 0 0 1 1 5 5 0 5 17 19 0 11 0 2003 Rockies 0 0 0 0 6 2 3 3 0 14 15 1 2 0 Indians AB R H BI AVG Rockies AB R H BI AVG Lawton lf 6 1 1 2 .227 Uribe ss 5 0 1 0 .214 Vizquel ss 6 2 3 1 .239 Payton lf 5 3 3 2 .263 Gerut rf 4 3 2 0 .327 Helton 1b 4 2 2 4 .305 Bradley cf 5 3 2 4 .343 Wilson,Pr cf 5 2 2 2 .283 Broussard 1b 4 2 2 2 .273 Walker,L rf 5 0 0 0 .324 Bard c 6 1 4 1 .309 Stynes 3b 5 3 3 2 .298 Baez p 0 0 0 0 .000 Estalella c 5 1 1 1 .208 McDonald 3b 3 0 1 1 .287 Butler 2b 3 0 0 0 .250 Blake ph 1 1 0 1 .281 Jennings p 1 0 0 0 .238 Sorensen 2b 4 1 1 1 .167 Hernandez,J ph 1 1 1 2 .269 Riske p 0 0 0 0 .000 Cook p 0 0 0 0 .100 Miceli p 0 0 0 0 .000 Fuentes p 0 0 0 0 .000 Laker ph 1 1 1 2 .333 Vaughn,G ph 1 1 1 1 .500 Sabathia p 1 0 0 0 .000 Reed,S p 0 0 0 0 .000 Mulholland p 1 1 1 0 .500 Lopez,JA p 0 0 0 0 .000 Spencer ph 1 0 0 0 .261 Speier p 0 0 0 0 .000 Phillips,B 2b 2 1 1 2 .202 Sweeney,Ma ph 1 1 1 0 .316 45 17 19 17 Jimenez,J p 0 0 0 0 1.000 41 14 15 14 Indians INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Sabathia 4.2 6 5 5 1 2 70 43 2.07 Mulholland 1.1 3 3 3 0 1 18 14 6.11 Riske H 6 1.0 3 3 3 0 2 26 17 3.08 Miceli BS 1, W 3-1 1.0 3 3 3 0 2 34 22 4.50 Baez S 15 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 14 7 4.33 9.0 15 14 14 1 8 162 103 Rockies INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Jennings 5.0 4 2 2 5 5 115 65 6.99 Cook H 1 0.1 3 4 4 1 0 15 10 5.21 Fuentes BS 1 0.2 1 1 1 0 0 14 9 4.32 Reed,S BS 1 0.1 5 5 5 0 0 16 10 4.74 Lopez,JA 0.2 2 0 0 0 0 13 10 2.82 Speier 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 14 8 5.40 Jimenez,J BS 3, L 1-2 1.0 4 5 5 1 1 33 22 6.82 9.0 19 17 17 7 8 220 134 Cle: Spencer batted for Mulholland in the 7th Phillips,B inserted at 2b in the 7th Blake batted for McDonald in the 9th Laker batted for Miceli in the 9th Blake moved to 3b in the 9th Laker moved to c in the 9th Col: Hernandez,J batted for Jennings in the 5th Vaughn,G batted for Fuentes in the 6th Sweeney,Ma batted for Speier in the 8th E-Uribe. 2B-Vizquel(13), Gerut(8), Bradley(15), Bard 2(13), Sorensen(1), Estalella(3). 3B-Broussard(1), Laker(1), Stynes(4). HR-Lawton(7), Bradley(7), Phillips,B(4), Payton 2(13), Helton 2(11), Wilson,Pr 2(14), Stynes 2(7), Hernandez,J(6), Vaughn,G(1). RBI-Lawton 2(21), Vizquel(16), Bradley 4(30), Broussard 2(6), Bard(23), McDonald(8), Sorensen(1), Phillips,B 2(20), Blake(33), Laker 2(10), Payton 2(32), Helton 4(42), Wilson,Pr 2(49), Stynes 2(27), Estalella(14), Hernandez,J 2(41), Vaughn,G(1). K-Lawton, Vizquel, Gerut, Bradley 2, Broussard, Sorensen, Sabathia, Uribe 2, Walker,L 2, Estalella 3, Butler. BB-Lawton, Gerut, Bradley, Broussard, McDonald 2, Sorensen, Helton. SH-Sabathia, Butler. HBP-Gerut, Broussard. HB-Jennings 2. GWRBI: Laker Temperature: 84, Sky: clear, Wind: out to right at 15 MPH. Attendance: 25,676 Game Time: 3:46