ALOU-LOO FOR THE MARLINS; HERSHISER BATTERED : FLORIDA 7, CLEVELAND 4.

Byline: Ben Walker Associated Press 

For openers, the Florida Marlins will always take Orel Hershiser.

The 5-year-old Marlins made child's play of Game 1 in the World Series, getting back-to-back home runs by Moises Alou and Charles Johnson and a nice effort by rookie Livan Hernandez to beat the Cleveland Indians 7-4 Saturday night.

In doing so, Florida picked on a familiar foe.

It was Hershiser whom the Marlins beat in their very first game as an expansion team, back on April 5, 1993, when he pitched for the Dodgers. And now, in the biggest game in franchise history, they got him again.

``I don't think there's a lot of luck involved,'' Marlins manager Jim Leyland said. ``Most of the time, you get what you deserve.''

Robb Nen, the fourth Marlins pitcher, worked out of a first and second jam in the ninth for a save. His fastball was clocked at 102 mph as he struck out Jim Thome and Sandy Alomar Jr. to give Leyland a win in his first Series game.

A Marlins' record crowd of 67,245 dressed in teal at Pro Player Stadium watched Alou's three-run homer and Johnson's upper-deck shot in the fourth inning put Florida ahead 5-1.

An inning after Alou and Johnson became the 11th set of teammates to hit consecutive homers, Jeff Conine finished the 39-year-old Hershiser with an RBI single. In that 1993 opener, Conine went 4-for-4 in the win over the October ace.

``Even after I let them down, I was proud of the way they came back,'' Hershiser said. ``I wasn't tired at all. I felt great.''

The Marlins, though, felt even better.

``To get the first game is awesome,'' Alou said. ``Now we need to keep playing the same way. We are playing a team that never gave up. They battled and kept coming back.''

While Hershiser was tagged for a Series record-tying seven earned runs, the 22-year-old Hernandez stayed in control. He became only the fifth rookie starter to win a Series opener - Philadelphia's Bob Walk did it last in 1980 - and showed the poise that enabled him to strike out 15 in Game 5 against Atlanta in becoming MVP of the NLCS.

``When I was a child, I didn't even think of this because it was not something that was passing through my mind,'' Hernandez said.

Florida followed its pattern of quick starts this year. The Marlins won their first 11 spring training games, won three in a row to begin the regular season and won four straight to start the NL playoffs.

The Indians, despite home runs by Manny Ramirez and Thome, lost the opener of a postseason series for the sixth straight time. Cleveland closed to 7-4 in the eighth on Brian Giles' RBI double, but Jay Powell struck out Omar Vizquel with two runners on base to end the inning.

Game 2 will be Sunday night, with Florida's Kevin Brown pitching against Chad Ogea.

Hernandez allowed three runs and eight hits in 5 2-3 innings and improved to 3-0 this October. Without umpire Eric Gregg's enlarged strike zone, he managed to fan five.

Hernandez overcame a double by Bip Roberts on the third pitch of the game. Wearing No. 32 on his cap in tribute to injured teammate Alex Fernandez, he did not shake.

Hershiser, meanwhile, lasted just 4 1-3 innings and fell to 8-2 in postseason play. With sweat creeping out on his cap bill in the 76-degree heat, he wilted.

The score was 1-1 when Hershiser began his own downfall with a leadoff walk to Bobby Bonilla in the bottom half. Darren Daulton followed with an infield single.

Up stepped Alou, whose sore left wrist contributed to him hitting only .067 in the NLCS. He hooked a drive to left that hit the foul pole for a three-run homer and a 4-1 lead.

It was the third big hit of the postseason for Alou. He had a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth against San Francisco in the division series and hit a three-run double off Greg Maddux in a Game 1 victory in the NLCS.

The crowd was still buzzing when Johnson gave them even more reason to let loose.

He launched a drive a lot longer than Alou's shot, a blast that landed in the upper deck in left and was estimated at 438 feet, electrified the neon-dressed fans.

``We've been preaching all year that it is important to win the first game of a series to get off to a good start,'' Johnson said.

``We can celebrate tonight because it was a big win. But there's a lot of baseball left,'' he said.

Alou and Johnson hit the first consecutive homers since Boston's Dwight Evans and Rich Gedman did it in Game 7 in 1986 in a loss to the New York Mets.

Ramirez homered in the fifth, making it 5-2, and the Marlins came back with two runs in their half.

Conine, the lone Marlins regular left from the team's inaugural game, hit an RBI single that finished Hershiser. Reliever Jeff Juden's wild pitch scored another run.

Thome, held to one RBI in the AL playoffs after hitting 40 home runs in the regular season, hit a solo homer in the sixth.

David Justice, sidelined in last year's World Series by an injured shoulder, put the Indians ahead 1-0 with a single in the first.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1--color) Marlins' Moises Alou celebrates after hitting a three-run homer in the fourth inning Saturday.

(2) Cleveland's Brian Giles slides safely into third base, ahead of Bobby Bonilla's tag, during the eighth inning Saturday.

Associated Press