LATE LONG BALLS GIVE A'S UNLIKELY 16-INNING VICTORY
Missed Scoring Opportunities Haunt Tribe
OAKLAND, July 30 (AP) - The Oakland Athletics rallied multiple times and emerged
unlikely victors, defeating the Cleveland Indians 5-4 in 16 innings at Network
Associates Coliseum. The A's trailed twice in what appeared to be their
final at bat, but tied the game in the ninth and 15th innings before Billy
McMillon's walk-off home run in the bottom of the 16th inning sent the partisan
crowd home happy. It was Oakland's seventh consecutive win.
The A's took an early lead, pushing a run across in the bottom of the first off
Cleveland starter C.C. Sabathia. Mark Ellis drew a lead-off walk and
advanced to third on Scott Hatteberg's single to right. Miguel Tejada's
fielder's choice grounder scored Ellis for a 1-0 Oakland advantage.
The Indians took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Ryan Ludwick's home run scored
Milton Bradley, who had drawn the second of his five walks, and added an
insurance run in the seventh when Travis Hafner doubled and scored on Angel
Santos' base hit.
The A's pulled to within a single run in the eighth. Frank Menechino led
off with a single and Eric Byrnes doubled him to third. Ellis then lifted
a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Mechechino to cut the deficit to 3-2, but
Sabathia pitched out of any further trouble.
Danys Baez took the mound for Cleveland in the bottom of the ninth and fanned
Ramon Hernandez before walking Terrance Long. Chris Singleton popped out,
but McMillon pinch hit for Menechino and lined a single to left-center, chasing
Long to third. Eric Chavez then hit for Byrnes and grounded a single into
right field, scoring Long with the tying run. Ellis flied out to end the
inning.
Both clubs had chances to score in the 11th, but failed. The Indians had
runners on first and third and two outs, but Santos flied to center to end the
inning. Ramon Hernandez was hit by a pitch by Jack Cressend leading off
the bottom half of the inning and Cressend was replaced by Jason Stanford, who
promptly yielded a base hit to Long, putting runners on first and second with no
outs. But Stanford rose to the occasion, striking out Singleton, McMillon
and Chavez to end the threat.
Cleveland had another great scoring opportunity in the 12th facing John Halama.
Coco Crisp led off with a single and Casey Blake's sacrifice bunt attempt turned
into an infield single when Hatteberg missed the tag on the batter heading up
the first baseline. Jody Gerut then laid down a successful sacrifice,
moving the runners to second and third with one out. Bradley was walked
intentionally, loading the bases, and Halama struck out Ludwick for the second
out. Zach Sorensen then rolled into a fielder's choice to end the inning.
The Indians blew yet another great chance to take the lead in the 14th.
Crisp led off with a double and Blake reached on another bunt single, putting
runners on the corners with no one out. Halama struck out Gerut for the
first out and then was replaced on the mound by Mike Neu. Neu walked
Bradley to again fill the bases and proceeded to induce Ludwick to roll into an
inning ending double play.
Cleveland finally broke through in the 15th. Sorensen drew a lead-off walk
and, after Hafner flied out, Tim Laker looped a single to center. Sorensen
read the play well and tried to advance to third. Singleton's throw was
wild, allowing Sorensen to score and Laker to take second. An error by
Ellis allowed Santos to reach, putting runners on the corners with one out but,
critically, Crisp rolled into an inning ending double play, the fifth of the day
turned in by Oakland.
The Indians now led, 4-3. David Riske took the mound to try to close out
the game and got Hatteberg on a roller to short but Tejada, whose bid for the AL
MVP Award is alive and well, crushed a 1-2 offering deep into the left field
seats to tie the game.
Cleveland went down in order in the 16th and Riske fanned Long and retired
Singleton on a routine fly to center to open the bottom half of the
inning. A 17th frame appeared imminent but, on a 2-1 pitch, McMillon lined
a ball that just cleared the wall in right field to end the game.
It was a tough loss for the Indians, who appear to be fading in the AL Central;
they now trail the first place White Sox by 10 games. Cleveland had 24
baserunners in the game to Oakland's 15, and until Tejada's home run in the
15th, the A's had been held to just eight safeties, none of them for extra
bases.
7/30/2003, Cle03-Oak03, Network Associates Coliseum 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 2003 Indians 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2003 Athletics 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 13 14 15 16 R H E LOB DP 2003 Indians 0 0 1 0 4 15 0 15 1 2003 Athletics 0 0 1 1 5 10 2 10 5 Indians AB R H BI AVG Athletics AB R H BI AVG Crisp lf 7 0 2 0 .263 Ellis,M 2b 4 1 0 1 .222 Blake 3b 8 0 3 0 .261 Hatteberg dh 7 0 1 0 .239 Gerut dh 6 0 2 0 .310 Tejada ss 6 1 2 2 .360 Bradley cf 3 1 0 0 .311 Durazo 1b 7 0 1 0 .279 Ludwick rf 7 1 1 2 .189 Hernandez,Ra c 6 0 0 0 .265 Martinez,V c 5 0 1 0 .308 Long rf 6 1 1 0 .264 Sorensen pr 1 1 0 0 .194 Piatt lf 1 0 0 0 .191 Hafner 1b 7 1 2 0 .301 Melhuse ph 1 0 0 0 .233 McDonald ss 4 0 1 0 .260 Singleton lf 4 0 0 0 .244 Laker ph 3 0 2 0 .298 Menechino 3b 3 1 1 0 .226 Santos,A 2b 7 0 1 1 .231 McMillon ph 4 1 2 1 .282 58 4 15 3 Byrnes cf 3 0 1 0 .260 Chavez,Er ph 3 0 1 1 .272 55 5 10 5 Indians INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Sabathia 8.0 4 2 2 3 7 96 60 2.29 Baez BS 4 1.0 2 1 1 1 1 22 15 3.02 Cressend 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 13 10 5.02 Stanford 1.1 1 0 0 1 3 20 14 4.22 Boyd 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 14 11 3.03 Mulholland 1.2 0 0 0 0 0 15 11 4.89 Riske BS 3, L 3-1 1.2 2 2 2 0 2 24 18 3.74 15.2 10 5 5 5 14 204 139 Athletics INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Lilly 6.0 4 3 3 4 6 98 62 3.78 Bradford 2.0 2 0 0 0 1 24 17 2.57 Rincon,R 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 17 11 4.84 Foulke 2.0 3 0 0 0 2 38 23 4.13 Halama 2.1 4 0 0 1 3 39 25 5.06 Neu W 2-1 2.2 1 1 1 2 0 29 13 2.79 16.0 15 4 4 7 13 245 151 Cle: Sorensen ran for Martinez,V in the 11th Laker batted for McDonald in the 11th Sorensen moved to ss in the 11th Laker moved to c in the 11th Oak: Melhuse batted for Piatt in the 7th Singleton inserted at lf in the 8th McMillon batted for Menechino in the 9th Chavez,Er batted for Byrnes in the 9th Singleton moved to cf in the 10th McMillon moved to lf in the 10th Chavez,Er moved to 3b in the 10th E-Ellis,M, Singleton. 2B-Crisp(9), Hafner(6), Byrnes(25). HR-Ludwick(2), Tejada(23), McMillon(4). RBI-Ludwick 2(5), Santos,A(4), Ellis,M(30), Tejada 2(93), McMillon(17), Chavez,Er(68). SB-Crisp(6), Bradley(12). K-Crisp, Blake, Gerut, Ludwick 3, Martinez,V, Hafner 3, McDonald, Santos,A 2, Ellis,M, Durazo 3, Hernandez,Ra 3, Long 2, Piatt, Menechino, Singleton, McMillon, Chavez,Er. BB-Crisp, Bradley 5, Sorensen, Ellis,M 2, Tejada, Long, Piatt. SH-Gerut. SF-Ellis,M. HBP-Gerut, Hernandez,Ra. HB-Cressend, Bradford. GWRBI: McMillon Temperature: 81, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: out to right at 18 MPH. Attendance: 31,334 Game Time: 5:07