BALTIMORE'S BULLPEN CATCHES FEW BREAKS.

Byline: Associated Press

O and four.

That was the Orioles' bullpen record in the ALCS against Cleveland.

Finger-pointers can start there.

``I certainly will not question our pitching,'' Orioles pitching coach Ray Miller said after Cleveland eliminated Baltimore with a 1-0, 11-inning victory Wednesday. ``I don't know what they held them to. It has to be pretty microscopic.''

Baltimore's bullpen had a 2.22 ERA in the six-game series, allowing 10 runs - nine earned - and 28 hits in 36-1/3 innings. But timing is everything, and the Orioles didn't have it as the Indians won four games by a total of four runs.

In Game 2, Baltimore was four outs from taking a 2-0 lead in the series before Armando Benitez allowed a three-run homer to Marquis Grissom that gave Cleveland a 5-4 victory.

In Wednesday's loss, it was Benitez who gave up the 11th-inning homer to Tony Fernandez that put the Indians in the World Series for the second time in three seasons.

In between, Randy Myers gave up the 12th-inning run that lost Game 3, and Alan Mills lost Game 4 by giving up a run in the ninth.

``You don't hang your head,'' Myers said. ``You win or lose as a team. There's a couple of things that happened not to go our way.''

For more than six months, Baltimore's bullpen was the best in baseball, perhaps the biggest reason the Orioles led the American League with 98 wins. Baltimore became the first AL team to lead wire-to-wire in the regular season and not win the World Series.

``I'll think about it quite a while,'' Orioles manager Davey Johnson said. ``This is a tough loss. This whole series I didn't think we caught many breaks.''

Baltimore's bullpen led the majors with 59 saves during the season and blew only 10. It combined with the starters to lead the league in fewest hits allowed, and the Orioles were second to the New York Yankees in team ERA.

In the playoffs, though, Benitez wasted a two-run, eighth-inning lead in Game 2. And Scott Erickson blew a lead for the starters, allowing Cleveland to come back from a 5-2 deficit in Game 4. Benitez gave up the pennant-winning homer to Fernandez on a forkball that didn't sink.

``He got two pitches up in the series and they hit both of them out,'' Miller said.

Johnson didn't fault Benitez for throwing an off-speed pitch to Fernandezx with a 2-0 count.

``He has a great split-finger and a great slider,'' Johnson said. ``He got Ken Griffey out on a couple of great split-fingers all year long.''

Benitez allowed seven homers in 73-1/3 innings during the season. Against Cleveland, he gave up two in three innings and went 0-2.

``It was a learning experience,'' he said. ``Hopefully, I can learn from the season and come back better next year.''

His manager didn't fault him.

``People may not look at it that way,'' Johnson said, ``but as far as I'm concerned, he had a phenomenal year, as good as anyone in baseball.''

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Photo

Photo: Baltimore starter Mike Mussina struck out 25 in 15 innings against Cleveland in the ALCS, including 10 Wednesday, but came out with two no decisions to go with a 0.60 ERA.

Associated Press