Cleveland rocks Blue Jays
Indians advance to World Series for first time since 1997
Amid the champagne celebration inside the visitors clubhouse at Rogers Centre, Cleveland Indians general manager Chris Antonetti was off to the side, watching his players bask in the joy of advancing to the World Series.
“There’s no city more deserving than the city of …” and at that moment an ice-cold bubbly beverage came rushing down his back, bringing out a high-pitched “Cleveeeeeeland!”
These Indians have taken the postseason by surprise in much the same way as that impromptu shower.
“Ohhh, that is cold, man! That feels good … and smells good … and tastes good!” Antonetti shouted before turning back to his questioner. “I hope I covered it.”
A team Antonetti put together that won the American League Central Division with one of the best starting rotations in the game bore little resemblance to the one that had just finished off the Toronto Blue Jays in five games.
Yes, ace Corey Kluber remains the rock of the rotation, but the loss of Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar to injuries — and a freak injury to No. 4 starter Trevor Bauer before his scheduled start in Game 2 of the ALCS — has turned the playoff Indians into a team that has relied heavily on its bullpen to carry the load.
“We have a lot of guys down there that can mix and match,” Kluber said. “We’ve got guys that have unbelievable stuff, and we have a lot of faith in them to come in and finish games for us.”
In 321⁄ postseason innings, Cleveland relievers have allowed six earned runs (1.67 ERA).
“That’s us all year,” first baseman Mike Napoli said. “Get an early lead for our pitchers and let ’em settle in and we chip away as the game goes on. We got it to the back end of our bullpen, and that’s what we like to do.”
That will be a huge advantage for the Indians in the World Series, even though they don’t yet know who their opponent will be.
One thing they know is that they will host the first two games at Progressive Field, where they tied for the best home record in the American League this season at 53-28.
And they won’t have to play again for six days. That will give the bullpen plenty of time to rest and — perhaps even more important — their starters as well.
It will give Bauer more time to allow his lacerated pinkie to heal.
“I’ll be back out there,” he said. “I’ll be ready to pitch when they schedule me to pitch. I’m very happy I get to go out there again and compete.”
And the Indians might even have another addition to their rotation.
A forearm strain hasn’t allowed Salazar to pitch since Sept. 9, but Antonetti said it was possible he could be included on the World Series roster.
Winning seven of their eight games this postseason proves how strong this team is, but don’t expect its underdog mentality to go away.
“Can we still be underdogs?” asked reliever Andrew Miller, who appeared in four of the five ALCS games, tossing 72⁄ scoreless innings and winning the series MVP award.
“Maybe we have guys that aren’t on billboards across the country — maybe not yet. We’ll see,” he said. “There are some incredible players on this team. We’ve got a good mix of veterans and young guys, but we’ve got some guys out there that are superstars.”
Kluber has already established his credentials, winning the AL Cy Young Award in 2014 — and possibly again this season.
He’ll get the ball in Game 1 against the National League’s best.
“We’ve still got one more series to win,” Kluber said. “We’re not done yet, but this is pretty awesome.”