THEY CAN KEEP ROLLIN’
5 ways underdog Yanks can beat Tribe
On Aug. 28, Corey Kluber outdueled Luis Severino in the Bronx. Two days later, following a rainout, the defending AL champion Indians swept the Yankees in a doubleheader, pushing their winning streak to seven games. Two weeks later, the Tribe managed to extend that winning streak to an AL-record 22 games, en route to a 102-60 regular-season record. The Bombers did end up recovering, taking three out of four from the Red Sox and wrapping up a 91-71 campaign by going 21-9. Now, the two teams meet again in the ALDS. The Yankees are the underdogs, with the Indians possessing arguably the most complete team in all of baseball. So how can the Bombers pull off the upset?
1. WIN GAME 1
Terry Francona has opted for Trevor Bauer over Corey Kluber, setting the so-called Klubot up to go in Games 2 and 5 — or be in line for Game 1 of the ALCS. Bauer, a fascinating character who long-tosses from 400 feet, enjoys playing chess and holds an engineering degree from UCLA, went 9-1 with a 2.42 ERA over his final 13 games after beginning the year 8-8 with a 5.58 ERA over his first 19 games. He beat the Yankees on Aug. 4 at Progressive Field, allowing one run on seven hits over seven innings. His slider/curve combination can be filthy — especially of late. Still, Bauer isn’t Kluber, and if the Bombers are going to win this series, they need to win on Thursday night and instill some doubt in the Tribe.
2. SURVIVE KLUBOT
Here are likely AL Cy Young award-winner Corey Kluber’s two pitching lines against the Yankees in 2017… Aug. 3 at Progressive Field: 9 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 11 K Aug. 28 at Yankee Stadium: 8 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K.
The Yankees collectively have a .155/.201/.252 batting line in 155 career atbats against Kluber. Jacoby Ellsbury surprisingly has the most success, going 5-for-19 lifetime. Again, this is why the Bombers can’t afford to lose the opener. Their only hope versus Kluber is he somehow makes an unlikely
mistake or they drive his pitch count up and get into the Indians bullpen — which is also terrific, by the way.
3. SHOW ’EM THE BRONX
The Yankees went 40-41 on the road, but 51-30 at home, 52-30 if you count their 8-4 victory in Tuesday night’s AL wild-card game. The sellout crowd was absolutely electric.
“I was feeding off them all night,” Aaron Judge said.
The Bronx Bombers finished second in the majors in runs (858 total, 5.3 per game) during the regular season and scored eight more against the Twins. It can be an imposing place for any pitcher — especially given the short dimensions in right field, where it feels like any fly ball hit out there has a chance to leave the yard. The Yankees, who are capable of putting crooked numbers on the scoreboard in bunches, need to hold serve at home.
4. USE POWER OF ’PEN
This is going to be much tougher than expected, given the Bombers needed their bullpen to get 26 of 27 outs on Tuesday. And, as a result, both Chad Green (2 IP) and David Robertson (3.1 IP) may not be available for Game 1. Still, the Yankees possess so many arms who can dial it up to 95-104 mph while also featuring filthy breaking stuff. Consider the last time these relievers each gave up a run … Aroldis Chapman: Aug. 25; Robertson: Aug. 24. Tommy Kahnle had a 13.1-inning scoreless streak end on Sept. 30, but he was huge in the late innings on Tuesday. And Green, despite giving up a run, got two huge strikeouts to end the first while preventing Minnesota from going up 5-0. This doesn’t even count Adam Warren and the shaky Dellin Betances either. Severino’s over-amped up meltdown aside, the Bombers have a deep rotation that features Sonny Gray, CC Sabathia and Masahiro Tanaka. But their bullpen has to be the difference-maker.
5. GO UP THE MIDDLE
The Yankees need their Aaron Judge-Gary Sanchez-Didi Gregorius trio to stay hot. The three of them did huge damage on Tuesday, coming up with big hit after big hit. Gregorius drilled the game-tying three-run shot in the first, while Sanchez added a pair of hits and Judge drilled a two-run shot in his third at-bat. And with that, they’ve all been able to experience what it’s like to play on baseball’s biggest stage — in a do-ordie scenario, no less. The Bombers are obviously deeper than just Judge, Sanchez and Gregorius, but if they’re going to pull off this upset, their star hitters must carry the way.
The Tribe has its own duo of young studs: Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor.
“They’ve been on a roll the last 50-60 games, playing as well as anyone,” Girardi said. “But I like the guys in our room, and I like their fight, and we saw it on Tuesday night. Obviously, we’re going to have to play our best.”