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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Nothing has been simple for the Cleveland
Indians this season. It didn't start that way, and it won't end
that way, either.
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The playoff situation
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With the Indians, Mariners and A's all winning Saturday, here are Sunday's scenarios:
Current records:
Oakland, 90-70
Seattle, 90-71
Cleveland, 89-72
If Cleveland loses, Indians are eliminated. Seattle and Oakland are in. Seattle wins AL West with a win on Sunday and Oakland losses on Sunday and Monday.
If Cleveland wins, Seattle wins and Oakland loses Sunday and Monday, Seattle is AL West champion and there is wild-card tiebreaker game Tuesday in Oakland.
If Cleveland wins, Seattle wins and Oakland wins Sunday or Monday, Indians are eliminated. Oakland wins AL West and Seattle is the wild card.
If Cleveland wins, Seattle loses and Oakland wins Sunday, Oakland is AL West champion and there is a wild-card tiebreaker game Monday in Seattle.
If Cleveland wins, Seattle loses and Oakland loses Sunday and Monday, Cleveland is the wild card and there is an AL West tiebreaker game Tuesday in Seattle.
Sunday's probable pitchers:
Tor. (Wells 20-7) at Cle. (Woodard (2-3)
Tex. (Glynn 5-6) at Oak. (Hudson 19-6)
Sea. (Sele 17-10) at Ana. (Schoeneweis 7-10)
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Chuck Finley got his sixth win in September and Roberto Alomar
hit a disputed homer as Cleveland put the pressure on Seattle and
Oakland in the AL wild-card race, holding on for a 6-5 victory
Saturday over the Toronto Blue Jays.
"Nobody said it was going to be easy, did they?" said Indians
manager Charlie Manuel.
Manny Ramirez also homered for the Indians, who remain one game behind the Mariners for the wild card after Seattle crushed Anaheim 21-9. Seattle is a half-game behind the Athletics in the AL West; Oakland hammered Texas 23-2.
"We've given ourselves a chance and that's about all you can
ask for," said Alomar. "We need some help, but hopefully
everything's going to work out."
Cleveland, which coasted into the postseason the past five
years, will now play a 162nd game that could mean a sixth
consecutive trip to the playoffs. But to stay alive in the playoff
picture, they'll have to beat Toronto's David Wells on Sunday.
Wells, a longtime Indians' nemesis, is 17-3 -- including 4-0 in
the postseason -- with a 3.08 ERA in his career against Cleveland.
He's 2-0 with 0.53 ERA in 17 innings against the Indians this year.
"Bring him on," Manuel said.
But in getting to Sunday, the Indians nearly blew a pair of
three-run leads for Finley (16-11) and used four relievers to get
out of the eighth alone when Toronto scored twice to close to 6-5.
With the tying run at second and two outs, Cameron Cairncross
got Darrin Fletcher to ground out to first.
Bob Wickman, the Indians' seventh pitcher, worked the ninth for
his 14th save.
|  | | Manny Ramirez hit a solo homer, his 37th of the season and fifth in nine games, in the seventh to put the Indians up 6-3. |
Even the final out wasn't easy. With a runner on second and two
outs, Wickman intentionally walked Carlos Delgado before retiring
Tony Batista on a grounder that shortstop Omar Vizquel backhanded
in the hole to end it.
It was just another gut-wrenching finish for the Indians, who
have been playing nothing but pressure-packed games for a month.
"It would be a shame if this team doesn't make it to the
postseason because we're primed," Finley said. "If we get in,
we'd be a scary team to play."
Cleveland led 4-3 in the seventh when Alomar sliced a 3-1 pitch
around the left-field foul pole for his 19th homer. Toronto manager
Jim Fregosi stormed out of the dugout to argue the ball was foul,
but after discussing it for several minutes, the umpiring crew
decided it was a homer.
TV replays were inconclusive, and Fregosi was ejected.
"I don't care what anybody says, I thought the ball was foul,"
Fregosi said. "I don't think there was any question, even when I
saw the replay. They called it fair, and I'm telling you, it was
foul."
Stewart had an even closer look.
"There's no doubt," he said. "The ball was foul. I was
shocked by the call. I don't think the umpire saw it."
Ramirez followed with his 37th homer -- and fifth in nine games -- to put the Indians up 6-3.
Finley has been everything the Indians could have hoped for down
the stretch. He allowed two runs and five hits in six-plus innings
while pitching on three days' rest for the second time in three
starts.
He went 6-1 with a 3.57 ERA in September.
"I still think it's going to all work out," Finley said.
"This team has been through so much, and has played so well since
the All-Star break, that if we get in (the playoffs) this year,
there's going to be some damage done. But you have to get in."
If they don't, Travis Fryman said it will stick with him all
winter.
"I almost wish it wouldn't come down to the last game," he
said. "Because I know I'll sit back and think about the whole
season and the at-bats, and the close games we didn't win. I've got
real mixed emotions."
The Indians snapped a 1-1 tie with a three-run sixth off Esteban
Loaiza (10-13) with some help from Blue Jays catcher Alberto
Castillo, who made two throwing errors.
Alomar beat out an infield single and went to second when
Castillo's attempted pickoff throw skipped away from Delgado.
Ramirez singled Alomar to third where he scored on Jim Thome's
groundout. Fryman singled and Loaiza was pulled after
walking David Segui to load the bases.
Kelvim Escobar came in and walked Russell Branyan to force in a
run, giving the Indians a 3-1 lead. Sandy Alomar then grounded into
a force at the plate but he was safe and Segui scored when Delgado
couldn't handle a return throw from Castillo.
The Blue Jays closed to 4-3 in the seventh against reliever Paul
Shuey on Fletcher's pinch-hit RBI single and Shannon Stewart's
run-scoring grounder.
Game notes
Manuel said Steve Woodard will start Sunday's game. ... Roberto Alomar extended his hitting streak to 17 games. ... Finley
hadn't won 16 games since 1993. ... Delgado's double in the eighth
was his 99th extra-base hit. He needs one more to become the 12th
player in history with 100 extra-base hits in a season. ... Wickman
had six splinters removed from his right hand after he was hit by
the barrel of Corey Koskie's shattered bat in Thursday's loss to
Minnesota. ... The Indians are 30-13 at home since July 2.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Toronto Clubhouse
Cleveland Clubhouse
The Hunt for October
RECAPS
Cleveland 6
Toronto 5
Seattle 21
Anaheim 9
Oakland 23
Texas 2
Boston 4
Tampa Bay 2
Detroit 6
Minnesota 5
Baltimore 9
NY Yankees 1
Chi. White Sox 9
Kansas City 1
NY Mets 4
Montreal 2
Cincinnati 8
St. Louis 4
Florida 11
Philadelphia 5
Pittsburgh 4
Chicago Cubs 2
Atlanta 5
Colorado 2
Houston 7
Milwaukee 6
Arizona 5
San Francisco 1
Los Angeles 10
San Diego 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Omar Vizquel talks with ESPN's Tim Kurkjian.
wav: 579 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Steve Karsay is happy the Indians have a chance at the playoffs.
wav: 138 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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