October 13 in Cleveland Indians history: Sizemore leads the charge

October 13

1995 ALCS Game 3, Jacobs Field: Mariners 5, Indians 2, 11 innings

After splitting a pair in Seattle, the Indians headed home to take on the Mariners' ace, Randy Johnson. Charles Nagy was tasked with trying to keep the score close. Nagy hit Joey Cora with one out in the first and Ken Griffey Jr. singled him to second. But Nagy got both Martinez's, Edgar on a popup and Tino on a grounder. Jay Buhner led off the second with a solo shot however and the Mariners took the early 1-0 lead.

Nagy retired the next five guys, but with two out in the third, Griffey Jr. singled, stole second and took third on Sandy Alomar's throwing error. Edgar hit a shot to Jim Thome at third that he couldn't handle and Griffey scored an unearned run. After having a perfect first three innings, Johnson gave up a leadoff triple to Kenny Lofton in the fourth. Omar Vizquel hit a fly deep enough to center that got Lofton home, and the deficit was just one, 2-1.

After the unearned run in the third, Nagy took control of the Mariner lineup. There was a two out single by Jay Buhner in the fourth and a two out single by Luis Sojo in the seventh. But other than that he retired the other twelve batters, including striking out the side in the sixth. But a one run lead against Johnson was a tough nut to crack. In the fifth, after a two out walk to Alomar, Alvaro Espinoza singled him to third, but Lofton struck out to end the threat. Herb Perry walked in the seventh, but was caught stealing to end the inning.

In the eighth, after Alomar lined out to Buhner in right, Espinoza hit one to deep right. Buhner couldn't handle this one and was charged with a two base error. Mike Hargrove sent in Wayne Kirby to pinch run, which worked out as Lofton singled to left, evening the game at two on an unearned run. Lofton sole second but was stranded. Now each side had scored one earned and one unearned run. It was now a battle of the bullpens.

Jose Mesa pitched a perfect ninth. Norm Charlton hit Albert Belle to start the ninth. A fielder's choice by Eddie Murray and a Manny walk made it first and second. But Perry struck out and Alomar grounded to third. In the tenth, Julian Tavarez only gave up a one out single to Sojo while the Tribe wen in order to Charlton.

After Cora singled to lead off the eleventh, Paul Assenmacher relieved Tavarez to face Griffey Jr. He got him to fly out. Hargrove next brought in Eric Plunk. Edgar popped up, but Cora stole second with Tino up. With first base open, they put Tino on for the force. But Buhner nixed that idea with a crush job to deep right-center. Down 5-2, the Indians put up no fight in the bottom half, going 1-2-3 to Charlton, who got the three inning relief win. The heavily favored Tribe was now down two games to one.

1997 ALCS Game 5, Jacobs Field: Orioles 4, Indians 2

Hoping to avoid the trip back to Baltimore, Mike Hargrove sent out Chad Ogea to try and finish off the series, this time against Scott Kamieniecki. A one out single by Robbie Alomar was of no consequence as Geronimo Berroa hit into the proverbial 6-4-3 double play. A leadoff double by Bip Roberts and a Manny Ramirez hit by pitch led to nothing in the first. Both had perfect second frames.

The Orioles broke the deadlock in the third. They loaded the bases on a Chris Hoiles single, Brady Anderson single and Robbie walk. Berroa drove in two with his single to center, but Robbie was cut down at third, ending the inning with a 2-0 lead. The Indians stranded two each in the third and fourth. Ogea himself had settled down too, pitching eight strong innings. He gave up six hits, two walks and four strikeouts. After five so-so innings, Davey Johnson sent Jimmy Key out for the sixth through eighth innings, and the only baserunner was Matt Williams via a walk.

Heading to the ninth, nursing a two run lead and wanting to extend the series, the Orioles added some insurance. Eric Davis homered and Rafael Pameiro doubled to start things off with Paul Assenmacher on the hill. A single by Cal Ripken pushed it to 4-0. One more single by BJ Surhoff made it first and second. Mike Jackson struck out Chris Hoiles and Mike Bordick ended the inning with a 6-4-3 double play. Closer Randy Myers came out to finish off the game. He made it much more interesting. David Justice singled. Williams doubled him home, and he scored on a Tony Fernandez double. Marquis Grissom singled to bring the winning run to the plate. But Roberts truck out and Omar Vizquel grounded out. Game Over. Back to Baltimore they went, but the Tribe had a 3-2 edge.

1998 ALCS Game 6, Yankee Stadium II: Yankees 9, Indians 5

With their backs against the wall, the Tribe sent out old reliable Charles Nagy to try and force a game seven. As the road team, they got first crack, this time against David Cone. Kenny Lofton laid down a perfect bunt and went to second when Chuck Knoblauch dropped the throw. But Omar Vizquel and David Justice struck out. Lofton then stole third, but Manny Ramirez also whiffed. The Yankees tallied two in the first on consecutive singles by Derek Jeter, Paul O'Neill and Bernie Williams, and a run scoring fly by Chili Davis.

Jim Thome singled in the second and went to third on Brian Giles' single, but Travis Fryman and Sandy Alomar both struck out while Enrique Wilson flew out deep to right. The Yankees extended it to 3-0 in the second on a Joe Girardi single and Knoblauch double. The Indians wasted two walks in the third, but only Thome struck out this time. After Nagy gave up a three run bomb to Scott Brosius in the third, all looked bleak with the Tribe down 6-0. Con had not looked sharp all night, with the fourth being the only clean flame. In the fifth, the Indians loaded the bases on singles by Wilson, Lofton and Vizquel. Justice worked an RBI walk and Ramirez struck out. Thome cleared the bases by hitting a grand slam to deep right and the Tribe was back in the game 6-5.

Dave Burba took over for Nagy in the fifth and was undone by an error in the seventh. Omar goofed up a Scott Brosius grounder. Burba wild pitched him to second and walked Joe Girardi. Knoblauch struck out trying to bunt them over, but Jeter scored both of them on a triple to deep right. Jim Poole retired O'Neill, but Bernie Williams got the lead back to four with a single off Paul Shuey. Ramiro Mendoza retired nine of his ten batters and Mariano Rivera closed out the game in a non-save situation, denying the Tribe their return trip to the World Series.

2001 ALDS Game 3, Jacobs Field: Indians 17, Mariners 2

After splitting in Seattle, Charlie Manuel sent out CC Sabathia, with Aaron Sele his opponent. In his first playoff game, Sabathia got the first inning jitters. Ichiro Suzuki singled and stopped at third on Mike Cameron's double. After striking out Bret Boone, he gave Edgar Martinez first base. John Olerud managed a walk, coring Ichiro. But further damage was averted when Jay Buhner and Dan Wilson both fouled out to Jim Thome.

The Tribe responded quickly. Omar Vizquel singled and scored on Robbie Alomar's double, with Alomar taking third on the throw. He scored when Juan Gonzalez singled to left. In the second, Travis Fryman was safe on Bret Boone's throwing error. Two batters later, Einar Diaz singled, and two more batters later, Omar tripled them both home, making it 4-1. Sabathia had settled in a bit, retiring all six batters in the second and third.

Lou Pinella decided against bringing Sele back out, so Paul Abbott took over. That was not the right move. Juan Gonzalez homered. The damage looked minimal when he sandwiched strikeouts of Thome and Fryman around an Ellis Burks single. But Russell Branyan singled, as did Diaz to score Burks. Kenny Lofton walked to juice the bases. Omar knocked in one more and Robbie worked a bases loaded walk. The Tribe now led 8-1. Pinella let Abbott stay in there and take his lumps. Lofton homered in the fifth off him and Thome did the same in the sixth. After Thome's homer, both Burks and Fryman walked, so Pinella finally pulled him, down 10-1 with two more runners on base. John Halama entered, and Jolbert Cabrera drove in a run on a single and Lofton's fly to left, scored another.

With a huge lead, Sabathia went about getting outs. There was a Wilson double in the fourth, a walk to Cameron in the fifth and one to Buhner in the sixth. After David Bell doubled and Ichiro singled him home in the seventh, David Riske got two outs and Ricardo Rincon finished off Olerud. For good measure, the Indians piled on five more in the eighth. There were three doubles back to back to back. Omar's cleared the bases and Robbie and Gonzalez both drove in the other. Dave Burba and John Rocker mopped up in the eighth and ninth. The Indians were one win away from heading to the ALCS and the Mariner squad was on the brink of matching what the '54 Tribe had done, not winning with the second best record ever.

2007 ALCS Game 2, Fenway Park: Indians 13, Red Sox 6, 11 innings

With Curt Schilling taking the hill in game two, the Tribe were facing a 2-0 deficit. Fausto Carmona was tasked with taking down the hot Red Sox lineup. Like game one, the Tribe drew first blood in inning one. Grady Sizemore doubled and scored three batters later when Victor Martinez also doubled. Fausto walked both Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz, but Manny Ramirez hit into an inning ending double play.

Jhonny Peralta singled in the second but was out in a Franklin Gutierrez double play. Fausto had a perfect second and Schilling did likewise in the third. Again, the Red Sox rallied in the third. Coco Crisp singled and stole second. Julio Lugo struck out, Dustin Pedroia walked and Youkilis struck out too. An infiedl single by Ortiz loaded the bases. Manny walked on four pitches and a two RBI single by Mike Lowell, made it 3-1 Red Sox.

The Indians regained the lead in the top of the fourth. Both Victor and Ryan Garko singled, with both scoring on Peralta's home run. Sizemore homered in the fifth, pushing it to 5-3. Travis Hafner and Victor both singled, chasing Schilling. But Manny Delcarmen ended the inning on a Garko double play.

A Youkilis single off Fausto in the fifth ended Fausto's night as well. Rafael Perez gave up back to back jacks to Manny and Lowell and just like that the red Sox had the lead again, 6-5. Peralta walked to start the sixth and went to third on Kenny Lofton's single, and scored on Gutierrez's groundout. A Sizemore walk and Asdrubal single, loaded the bases against Hideki Okajima, but Hafner's liner left the bases loaded and a 6-6 tie. Neither side had a baserunner until the ninth with Jensen Lewis, Okajima, Rafel Betancourt and Mike Timlin pitching.

Jonathan Papelbon came out for the ninth. Hafner singled with two out. Pinch runner Josh Barfield stole second, letting Papelbon avoid Victor with a walk. Ryan Garko lined out to end the threat. The Sox got a two out single by Pedroia in the ninth as well. And like Barfield, pnch runner Jacoby Ellsbury stole second. Youkilis battled with Betancourt for 11 pitches before finally flying out. After a perfect tenth by Papelbon and Tom Mastny, we headed to the eleventh.

Eric Gagne struck out Blake, but Sizemore singled and moved over on Cabrera's walk. Javier Lopez relieved Gagne and gave up a single to pinch hitter Trot Nixon. With Victor batting, Lopez uncorked a wild pitch, scoring Cabrera and Nixon taking second. Jason Michaels pinch ran for Nixon and Victor was intentionally passed a second time. Garko plated Michaels with a single. Jon Lester came on to face Peralta, who doubled in Victor. After Lofton flew out, Gutierrez crushed over the monster and the Tribe now led 13-6. Joe Borowski came out for some work in the bottom half. JD Drew led off with a single. Jason Varitek struck out and Crisp singled as well. Julio Lugo ended the game with a 4-6-3 double play. The Tribe was headed home with the all-important split, 1-1.