INDIANS DOWN TO THEIR LAST SWING
Red Sox, Yankees resume in the Bronx
Jason Kipnis and his Cleveland teammates are one game away from elimination vs. the Houston Astros.
CLEVELAND — The Indians are very familiar with the postseason hole they’re currently stuck in. They saw one just like it last October — from above. At least they know it can be scaled. But Cleveland’s climb in this AL Division Series seems much steeper than just the 2-0 deficit they’re facing after dropping the first two games in Houston. The defending World Series champion Astros have shown their exceptional pitching and extraordinary depth while outplaying the swing-and-miss Indians in every facet of the game.
“They’ve played pretty much perfect baseball to this point,” Indians third baseman Josh Donaldson said following Saturday’s 3-1 loss. “We have had a couple mistakes the first couple games, and now, it’s our time to respond.”
If they don’t, another Cleveland baseball season will end before the leaves change colors.
Astros aces Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole dominated Cleveland’s hitters in Games 1 and 2 as Houston’s pitchers combined on consecutive three-hitters. The Astros piled up 24 strikeouts against one of the league’s most balanced lineups, which is batting a combined .100 in this ALDS. The Indians’ offense was so anemic Saturday that they didn’t have a single at-bat with a runner in scoring position.
If not for Francisco Lindor’s solo homer, Cleveland would have been blanked.
“We had good at-bats,” Lindor said. “I know we struck out a lot. We had good at-bats, but the hits haven’t fallen. We’ll be fine.”
But as bleak as things appear for the three-time AL Central champions, who will start Mike Clevinger in Game 3 today against Dallas Keuchel, they only have to look back to last October for inspiration. As painful as that might be.
The Indians jumped out to what appeared to be a commanding 2-0 lead in the ALDS before New York stormed back and won three straight to advance, denying Cleveland a return trip to the World Series and extending the club’s title drought to 70 years.
The Yankees paved the comeback trail. It’s up to the Indians to follow it.
“It might be a little unfortunate that we know it can be done,” said usually reliable reliever Andrew Miller, who replaced starter Carlos Carrasco in the sixth inning and gave up Marwin Gonzalez’s goahead, two-run double in Game 2.
The Astros would have every reason to feel confident, but they’re not looking past the Indians.
“This is not our first playoff series,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “We know it’s not over. We’re not going to take anything for granted. Our mindset will be to get after Game 3 and try to do everything you can to win it and end the series.”
YANKEES-RED SOX: Aaron Judge walked past Boston’s Fenway Park clubhouse early Sunday morning, Frank Sinatra’s rendition of “New York, New York” blaring from a boom box atop the wheelie bag he was pulling with his left hand.
“It’s a good song. And Aaron, he’s one of our resident deejays, so he’s got a pretty extensive playlist,” New York manager Aaron Boone said later in the day at Yankee Stadium, a smirk filling his face. “We like to hear that song sometimes when we win a big game.”
New York and Boston split at Fenway Park and are tied 1-1 in the bestof-five AL Division Series going into Game 3 tonight. Luis Severino, coming off four scoreless innings in the wild-card game against Oakland, starts for New York and former Yankees pitcher Nathan Eovaldi pitches for the Red Sox.
Severino was 10-2 with a 2.74 ERA and .217 opponents’ batting average at home, just 9-6 with a 3.99 ERA and .257 opponents’ batting average on the road.
New York is 19-9 in the postseason at new Yankee Stadium. The Yankees were 53-28 there in the regular season, second-best behind Boston’s home record of 57-24.
This will be the first postseason game in the Bronx between the rivals since Boston won Games 6 and 7 of the 2004 AL Championship Series across the street at old Yankee Stadium, becoming the first major league team to overcome a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven postseason series.
New York’s bullpen has allowed one run in 10 innings, led by Dellin Betances, Zach Britton and Aroldis Chapman. Red Sox relievers have given up five in 11 innings.
Hoping for a deep outing, Boston manager Alex Cora selected Eovaldi for Game 3 over Rick Porcello. Eovaldi was 3-3 with a 3.33 in 11 starts and one relief appearance for the Red Sox, who acquired him from Tampa Bay in July. The 28-year-old right-hander allowed no earned runs in three of four starts against the Yankees.