CLEVELAND ROCKS; FERNANDEZ'S HR VAULTS INDIANS.

Byline: Frank Fitzpatrick Philadelphia Inquirer 

This American League Championship series ended Wednesday night. And that's really too bad.

Cleveland and Baltimore for a fifth straight game had turned simple baseball into something more compelling. And for a fourth and final time, the Indians, apparently blessed by fate, were the winners of a one-run game.

This time it wasn't a passed ball or a wild pitch but a two-out, 11th-inning home run by Tony Fernandez, a last-minute lineup addition, that gave the Indians a 1-0 triumph, a 4-2 margin in the series and their second pennant in three seasons.

``I don't even have to wait for perspective. I can say it right now,'' said B.J. Surhoff in the gloomy Orioles locker room. ``That was a great, phenomenal, unbelievable series. Anyone who saw it can't possibly believe that there's anything wrong with baseball.''

Game 6 ended when Roberto Alomar watched a third strike from Jose Mesa. With that, the excitement that had animated Camden Yards all afternoon rushed out of the lovely downtown stadium as quickly as if someone had stuck a pin in the Goodyear blimp that hovered overhead.

``It was such a great year,'' said Baltimore's Rafael Palmeiro. ``We have no reason to hang our heads. We are still a team that's headed up.''

When Alomar struck out to end the 3 hours and 52 minutes of excruciatingly tense baseball, the Indians formed a human pile atop Mesa. The celebration - and the pile - moved into a clubhouse that soon smelled of cigars, champagne and destiny.

``It's like there's something at work here,'' said Marquis Grissom, whose three-run homer won Game 2 and who, despite four strikeouts yesterday, was named the Series MVP. ``I don't know what it is, but it's an incredible feeling. But it's like they say, you have to be good to be lucky.''

Cleveland's Bip Roberts became an inadvertent hero when he was hit on the left thumb by a batting-practice groundball. When Mike Hargrove decided 30 minutes before the game that Fernandez would take Roberts' spot, veterans Sandy Alomar and Orel Hershiser approached the new second baseman.

``We both told him that God must have wanted him to play a role in this game,'' said Hershiser, who would have pitched Game 7 for Cleveland and probably will start Game 1 of the World Series Saturday night in Miami.

Without a world championship since 1948, the Indians now will get a chance against the National League-champion Florida Marlins in a Series that will be hard-pressed to match this one for drama.

``We were supposed to lose to the Yankees and then to these guys,'' Roberts said. ``Now we'll probably be underdogs again to Florida. That should be a great series. I expect it to go seven games.''

The goat again was Armando Benitez, the Orioles' often-unhittable left-handed reliever who gave up Grissom's series-turning Game 2 homer. Knowing his 2-0 pitch to Fernandez was destined for the right-field seats, the Baltimore pitcher dropped his head and never looked.

``He hung a forkball to Fernandez and that wasn't typical of his year,'' said Baltimore manager Davey Johnson. ``As far as I'm concerned he had a phenomenal year, as good as anyone in baseball.''

The Orioles' loss means that they and the Atlanta Braves, two dollar-drenched teams that compiled baseball's best records this season, will be watching the World Series at home.

``I'll think about this for a while,'' Johnson said. ``This whole series, I didn't think we caught many breaks.''

No one was more luckless than Mike Mussina, who struck out 25 Indians in two brilliant starts that the Orioles ended up losing. The Orioles ace struck out 10 Wednesday and allowed only a fifth-inning double to David Justice. This performance followed Saturday's record 15-strikeout outing - a game Cleveland won on a missed squeeze bunt in the 12th inning.

``Mike was unbelievable,'' said Johnson, who lifted him after 109 pitches and eight innings. ``That was all I could ask of him. I knew he was pretty much pooped.''

The Indians feared facing Mussina in the mid-afternoon shadows. But on an overcast afternoon, it turned out they had nothing to fear but Mussina himself.

Unfortunately for the Orioles, they fared no better against Indians starter Charles Nagy, despite collecting nine hits and three walks in 7-1/3 innings against him.

The Baltimore crowd, chastised by players and the local press for being too laid back and quiet, was on its feet screaming at every pitch as the runless game pressed into extra innings.

Finally in the 11th, after Grissom struck out and Omar Vizquel (1 for 24 in the series) bounded out to short, Benitez fell behind Fernandez.

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1--color) If Cleveland received help from above in winning the ALCS, reliever Jose Mesa acknowledges it after the final out.

(2--color) Cleveland's Marquis Grissom is awarded the MVP trophy.

(3) A home run in the 10th by Tony Fernandez, starting in place of injured Bip Roberts, turned out to be the only run of Game 6.

Associated Press