Game 1 a case of missed opportunities for frustrated Blue Jays
Cold bats, stranded baserunners add up to Cleveland’s victory in ALCS opener
Don’t blame the ump. The Toronto Blue Jays ended last season blaming the ump, and he deserved some blame, but not all of it. In Game 1 of the American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Indians, yes, the strike zone was artistically interpreted by home plate umpire Laz Diaz, who, if he is a painter in his spare time, must love working outside the frame.
But that wasn’t everything, and the Jays shouldn’t claim it was. You can tell yourself they weren’t going to hit bombs to the moon forever, and you wouldn’t be wrong. You can tell yourself that this was the best pitching Cleveland can muster, and you’d be right. The Jays roared through the playoffs to reach the ALCS, but all that really meant was they had four good games after a month and a half of mostly lousy ones. The bats could go cold at any time.
Well, they did, and the Cleveland Indians took Friday’s Game 1 of the ALCS 2-0 as a result.
It’s not that Toronto didn’t have chances; they got runners into scoring position in the first, the second, the third, the fourth, and wasted every chance. The strike zone was an issue, sure. Edwin Encarnacion finally snapped at the umpire after striking out against Andrew Miller in the eighth with Josh Donaldson on first.
The pitch was a strike, though. Right after that, Jose Bautista struck out for the third time, and Russell Martin, struggling mightily in the five spot, followed. Bautista’s strikeout in the sixth was a silly piece of umpiring, but in the eighth it was earned.
And if they had managed to score early, they wouldn’t have needed to beat back a human blowtorch like Miller late.
The ump was bad, but the Jays weren’t good enough, too.
It was a year to the day that the Jays won Game 5 against the Texas Rangers in that game: the bat-flip game, the near-riot game, the Texas implosion game. This, like almost every other baseball game in history, wasn’t as exciting. But it was tense. This ballpark is wedged into Cleveland’s downtown core, and none of the towers that rise out beyond the outfield keep their lights on at night. Inside, though, the floodlights ably illuminated the fly balls that died in the cool air; the singles that winked through, and amounted to nothing; the double plays that ate baserunners. They lit up Marco Estrada’s continued mastery, and Corey Kluber’s ability to make people miss the ball as it flew by.
And they shone down on the Jays base-runners who were left stranded, inning after inning. Kluber didn’t get through a frame clean until the fifth, but the scoreboard was still empty.
And in the bottom of the sixth, Estrada walked Jason Kipnis and threw an 0-2 changeup low and inside to Francisco Lindor, and Lindor drove it all the way into the centre-field stands, between the flag poles. 2-0, Cleveland.
That was enough. Miller relieved Kluber, and closer Cody Allen followed him. When Toronto battered Cole Hamels to start the Texas series, you thought the Rangers were in trouble. This time? Not so much.
Don’t worry, it’s a long series. Or at least, it should be
No, if there was a game Cleveland had to win, it was this one. Kluber was the last ace left in their starting rotation, and the weakness could show as soon as Game 2. Toronto’s starting arms will keep coming. There is a lot of series left.
Toronto’s advantage in starting pitching was underlined by Cleveland having to swap in Josh Tomlin for Trevor Bauer as their Game 2 starter after Bauer suffered a cut on the pinky of his pitching hand trying to work on a drone. It seems a very 2016 injury, cutting yourself doing maintenance on a drone, though one supposes it beats a sprained ankle while fleeing a creepy clown.
It was funny. Cleveland manager Terry Francona said, “It’s pretty self-explanatory. I think we’ve all, probably everyone in here, at some point or another, had a drone-related problem.” Toronto manager John Gibbons said, “Long as it wasn’t weaponized.”
Tomlin was asked, “Is this the first time you’ve ever had a start change because a teammate’s suffered a drone-related injury?”
“I think so,” Tomlin said. “I don’t know much about drones.”
Cleveland had already lost starters Carlos Carrasco (fractured right hand) and Danny Salazar (forearm strain) to injuries back in September, and even Kluber had a quad strain in late September that pushed him to Game 2 of the ALDS against Boston.
So you figured if Kluber couldn’t get a win, look out. Then you wondered if the Jays would live to regret not cashing in those baserunners, and they did. Estrada was a card-dealing master until Lindor got hold of one pitch. When the Jays hit, the margin of error widens. On a night like this, it didn’t exist.
And that’s baseball. For four playoff games the Jays smashed the ball; they were outplayed in this game, but just one, so far. Ideally, the Jays would exert their starting pitcher advantage more and more as the series goes on, if only because Kluber isn’t pitching until Game 5, if necessary.
Well, one game doesn’t change that for anybody, but it’s a start. Don’t worry, it’s a long series. Or at least, it should be.