The Cleveland Indians have taken their flair for the dramatic to new extremes.
Playing their first postseason game in 41 years, the Indians beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 Tuesday night on light-hitting Tony Pena's home run with two outs in the 13th inning.Pena, who spent four years with the Red Sox from 1990-93, drove a 3-0 pitch from Zane Smith just over the bleacher railing in left field.
It ended the longest game, by time (5:01), in postseason history. It was also the longest night game, by innings, in postseason history. Three previous night games went 12 innings; the Mets and Astros played a 16-inning day game in the 1986 NLCS.
"We broke out our secret weapon," Cleveland manager Mike Hargrove said. "You look at Tony Pena, and you don't think home run. But Tony's a clutch player. He's been a clutch player all his life."
It was the 10th time this season that the Indians ended a game with a home run. They were 13-0 in extra innings during the regular season, and Tuesday's victory gave them a 1-0 lead in the best-of-5 series.
Pena, who had only five homers in the regular season, didn't get in until after the Indians pinch-ran for starting catcher Sandy Alomar in the 11th inning.
"With a 3-0 count, I thought he'd be thinking I would take a pitch," Pena said. "He threw a fastball, and I hit it hard."
The home run ended the game just after 2 a.m. local time - but most of the nation didn't see it. The Baseball Network did not show the game in the majority of the country, although it was televised in Cleveland and New England.
Boston lost its 11th consecutive postseason game dating back to Bill Buckner's infamous error in the 1986 World Series. The Red Sox were swept by Oakland in the ALCS in 1988 and '90.
There was plenty of drama even before Pena came to bat, including a revival of an old controversy over Albert Belle's bat.
The game went to extra innings tied at 3, and the teams traded solo home runs in the 11th inning to extend it again. Boston's Tim Naehring homered off Jim Poole, and the Indians tied it in the bottom half on Belle's leadoff homer against Rick Aguilera.
The plot thickened when the Red Sox had the umpire confiscate Belle's bat; Belle was suspended for seven games last year for using a corked bat against the Chicago White Sox.
Yankees 9, Mariners 6
At New York, the crowd came ready to cheer, and Don Mattingly, David Cone and the New York Yankees had them letting loose all night long.
In the first year of baseball's expanded playoffs, the Yankees became the first wild-card team to win. They offset two home runs by Ken Griffey Jr. with big hits by Mattingly, Bernie Williams, Wade Boggs and Ruben Sierra, beating the Seattle Mariners 9-6 Tuesday night in their AL playoff opener.
The crowd of 57,178 was the largest at Yankee Stadium since it was remodeled for the 1976 season. Standing and stomping for most every batter, the fans welcomed postseason play back to the ballpark for the first time since 1981.
"I can honestly say it was the most amazing crowd I've ever seen," Cone, the winning pitcher, said. "They were chanting on every pitch. It was very similar to my experience at Shea in 1988. But, that's New York.
"The crowd was cheering from the opening bell when Mattingly first took the field. They never let up," he said.
Mattingly made it memorable evening, hitting an RBI single and a double in his first postseason game in a 14-year career. Before the game, Griffey and several other Mariners made a point to shake hands with Mattingly.
"It was everything I had supposed it would be," Mattingly said.
Griffey made most of the noise for the Mariners in their first postseason appearance, going 3-for-5, driving in three runs and scoring three times with two dingers.