Despite going 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position, striking out 23 
times (mostly on dirtballs), and dropping popups, Roberto "Expectorgate" 
Alomar would not let the Orioles lose.  With two outs in the ninth, he 
singled off of Jose' Mesa to tie the game.  In the 12th, he led off with a 
solo homer that was the winning run in the 4-3 game that clinched the series. 
 Surrounded by the controversy he brought on himself, and followed by a 
torrent of boos, he nonetheless rose to the occasion in a big game in which 
his teammates left their bats on the bus.  He made a stupid, childish mistake 
when he spit in Hirschbeck's face (inexcusable no matter what Hirschbeck may 
have said, and despite the fact that Hirschbeck was the person who kept the 
argument going by following Alomar to the dugout rather than staying behind 
the plate), and deserves at least a 10 game suspension at the start of next 
season, but the guy is a prime-time player.  
It's O's vs. Yankees for the A.L. pennant.  The Rangers blew a lead at home 
for the second straight day, this time a 4-0 lead, and lost to the Yankees 
again.
--- MsgedSQ/2 3.35
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