Indians’ Comeback Overshadows McGriff

Roberto Alomar couldn’t remember a game like it. Neither could Travis Fryman, Mike Hargrove, Larry Rothschild, nor anyone else at Jacobs Field.

No, the Cleveland Indians’ 20-11 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Cleveland was about as strange as they come.

The Indians overcame an eight-run deficit by scoring 18 runs in their final three at-bats for a wild victory in a game featuring a little bit of everything.

“We ran the gamut tonight, didn’t we?” said Hargrove, Cleveland’s manager. “I went from disgusted to livid to happy. That was a wild ride tonight.”

David Justice homered twice and drove in five runs, Fryman hit a three-run homer and Alomar hit a grand slam for the Indians, who got 16 hits and sent 33 batters to the plate in their last three trips to go from routed to router.

Cleveland scored four runs in the sixth, seven in the seventh and seven more in the eighth to match its biggest comeback in Jacobs Field history.

Tampa Bay’s Fred McGriff set a major league record by homering in his 34th ballpark, a milestone that was lost in a blur of runs and base hits.

The teams combined for a stadium-record 31 runs, 34 hits--21 by Cleveland-- and six errors. There were three hit batters, a wild pitch, catcher’s interference, and the Indians scored the go-ahead run in the seventh when second baseman David Lamb threw a ball into the Devil Ray dugout, allowing three runs to score.

The night also included 37 runners left stranded and a moment of concern when smoke filtered into the ballpark from a burning car nearby.

McGriff’s two-run homer in the third inning against Dwight Gooden gave him the AL lead with 11, and snapped a tie with Gary Gaetti and Ellis Burks, who have both homered in 33 ballparks during the regular season.

McGriff has homered in four consecutive games and has eight homers in his last 10 games. In his last five games, McGriff is nine for 15 with five homers, four doubles and nine RBIs.

Chicago 7, Oakland 1--Carlos Lee became the first White Sox player to hit a home run in his first major league at-bat, helping end the Athletics’ five-game winning streak in a game at Chicago.

Called up from triple-A Charlotte earlier in the day, Lee became the 75th major leaguer to homer in his first at-bat. He led off the second inning by hitting a pitch from Tom Candiotti over the center-field wall.

Lee was the first AL player to homer in his at-bat since Jon Nunnally did it for Kansas City in 1995. Marlon Anderson did it for Philadelphia last year.

Toronto 9, Texas 6--Tony Fernandez had the first five-hit game of his career for the Blue Jays at Toronto.

Carlos Delgado was three for four with a two-run homer, and Toronto backed Pat Hentgen (2-1) with 17 hits, tying a season high.

Toronto overcame a pair of homers by Juan Gonzalez to end a three-game losing streak.

Fernandez, 36, raised his average to .383--best in the American League. He had three doubles and two singles.

Fernandez’s run-scoring double in the eighth against Michael Venafro gave him a five-for-five night.

Gonzalez, who has two multihomer games this season and 35 in his career, has six homers in his last seven games.

Baltimore 9, Detroit 4--Albert Belle homered and drove in four runs at Detroit as the Orioles won their fifth consecutive game.

Charles Johnson hit a two-run homer and Jeff Reboulet scored four times for the Orioles, who have won seven of 10 after a 4-14 start.

Mike Mussina (5-1) gave up three runs on nine hits in seven-plus innings. He struck out four and walked four.

Mussina improved to 15-2 lifetime against Detroit, including 7-1 at Tiger Stadium.

Kansas City 5, Minnesota 1--Kevin Appier improved his career record to 4-0 at the Metrodome for the Royals at Minnesota.

Appier (3-2), who is 8-3 with a 2.79 earned run average against the Twins, gave up seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out three and did not walk a batter for the first time this season.

Carlos Beltran gave Appier all the offense he needed with a three-run homer against Eric Milton (0-3) in the third inning. The home run extended the rookie’s hitting streak to 12 games, the longest in the AL this season.