The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Boston series not true preview of playoffs
Indians lineup is depleted by injuries
The Indians and Red Sox met for the final time in the 2017 regular season on Aug. 24 at Progressive Field. Appropriately, an autumn nip was in the air — appropriate because if the American League standings remain unchanged, the same two teams will meet in the divisional playoffs for the second straight year. “Right now we’re playing against them like it’s playoff time,” Tribe catcher Roberto Perez said before the game.
The Indians won the first game of the series on Aug. 21, 5-4, when Brandon Guyer scored from second on a bunt by Perez and a throwing error by Brock Holt, who tried to nail Guyer sliding into third. Not exactly what you would expect in playoff baseball.
Tribe bats were anemic the next two nights. A leadoff home run by Francisco Lindor in the first was the Indians’ only hit in a 9-1 loss on Aug. 22. A home run by Edwin Encarnacion in the eighth was the only offense in a 6-1 loss on Aug. 23.
The Indians are not ruffled, as they proved when they tagged Red Sox ace Chris Sale with seven runs — six earned — in three innings on Aug. 24 to snap out of their hitting slump with a bang despite missing key players from the lineup. The good news is the walking wounded should be back for the postseason.
Left fielder Michael Brantley has been on the disabled list with a sprained ankle since Aug. 9. Second baseman Jason Kipnis is back on the DL with a hamstring injury, and first baseman Carlos Santana missed the entire series with a back injury.
Jay Bruce, acquired earlier this month in a trade with the Mets, has been a great addition to the Indians, but rules allow him to stand at the plate only once in the batting order.
Relief ace Andrew Miller is on the disabled list with a knee injury for the second time this month. He, too, should be back for the playoffs, barring unforeseen complications.
“We have a lot of guys down right now, but we’re going to come back,” Perez said confidently. “It’s exciting playing Boston, especially with all the tradition they have, but it’s going to be a great playoff.”
The Indians swept the Red Sox out of the ALDS in three games last year, winning 5-4, 6-0 and 4-3. Since then, the Red Sox lost designated hitter David Ortiz, whose 127 RBI carried Boston to a major-league high of 878 runs scored. The Red Sox went into the game Aug. 24 ranked ninth with 614 runs scored this year.
The Indians lost Mike Napoli and Rajai Davis in free agency, but added Encarnacion.
The Red Sox raided their farm system when they traded four minorleaguers for Sale, who went into his duel with Tribe pitcher Trevor Bauer tied for the American League lead with 14 wins and first in the majors with 250 strikeouts, 175 1/3 innings pitched and first in the American League with a 2.62 ERA.
The offseason moves by both teams were made with October in mind, and though two games comprise a small sample size, Sale might be wondering what it will be like to face the Indians when they are healthy. The Tribe chased him out of Fenway Park on Aug. 1 by hanging seven earned runs on him in five innings. Sale has made 26 starts this season. His worst two games were against the Indians, which bodes well for the Indians in a potential pitching showdown between Sale and Indians ace Corey Kluber in the playoffs.
“We understand how good they are,” said Josh Tomlin, the winning pitcher for the Indians in Game 3 of the 2016 ALDS. “They’ve added some pieces and so have we.
“You don’t want to get too far ahead of yourself. You worry about today today and worry about tomorrow tomorrow, but you should take pride in what their batters are trying to do and try to find any way to get an edge on somebody. But things change in a month and a half. Guys that might be crushing fastballs now might not get to it later in the season or in the playoffs.
“You take it for what it’s worth. All that stuff changes, but you watch and try to see tendencies. If you can pick up on something and it can benefit your team, absolutely you do it.”
Tomlin is on the disabled list with a hamstring injury, but he is on schedule to return by early to mid-September. That will give him plenty of time to be ready to pitch against the Red Sox in a game with much bigger consequences than the one played on a chilly night in late August.