Indians dispatch Sox, prepare for Jays
DIVISION SERIES: Cleveland sweeps Ortiz into retirement, clinches AL Championship Series berth
The American League path to the World Series will be decided on the Great Lakes, starting Friday night in Cleveland.
A night after the Blue Jays swept the Texas Rangers, the Indians were clinical in their dismissal of the Red Sox in the other American League Division Series, sending Sox slugger David Ortiz into retirement Monday night.
Helped by a two-run, sixth-inning Coco Crisp blast over Fenway Park’s famed Green Monster, the Indians built an early 4-1 lead, then hung on for a 4-3 win over the Sox to set up the Lake Erie vs. Lake Ontario showdown.
“We’ve faced them this year and they’ve got a good ball club,” Indians centre-fielder Tyler Nyquin said of the Jays. “But we’ve got a good ball club as well. It’s going to be some fun baseball to watch.”
Just what kind of baseball it will be is anybody’s guess. The Jays hammered the Indians 17-1 in one memorable meeting this season and in another, lost 2-1 in 19 innings.
We do know this: there was no fun, just gloom for the home team on a windy night at Fenway.
So much more was expected of the Sox, especially after they ran away with the AL East in the last month of the season. But their offence went cold. When they scored their first run in the fifth inning Monday, it ended a 15-inning stretch without a score.
“I think we looked at every series with the (expectations) to win,” Boston manager and former Jays skipper John Farrell said. “We feel like we’ve got a very good ball club. They pitched well and some offensive opportunities that were there for us, they made some key pitches, shut things down.”
The Indians capitalized with key hits and a strong outing from starter Josh Tomlin, who held the Sox to four hits in his five innings of work. With the three-game sweep, the Indians advanced to their first ALCS since 2007.
As the higher seed, the Indians will have home-field advantage in the best-of-seven ALCS, beginning at Progressive Field.
Though the Jays have won four consecutive road games — two to end the season here in Boston and a pair in Texas to start their ALCS — the Indians are tough at their home park, where they built a 53-28 record during the regular season.
The Jays and Indians met seven times during the season, with the Indians holding a narrow 4-3 edge in wins. The Jays outscored the Indians 38-24, but that margin was skewed by that 17-1 Toronto win on Aug. 3.
“We know everybody in the post season can hit and has good pitching, including Toronto,” Crisp said. “We just have to come out and relax and keep believing.”
They’ll face a team feeling the same way.