Make it 17: Indians win 17th straight, beat Orioles

CLEVELAND — The crowd of 30,459 stood and cheered as Cody Allen fanned Trey Mancini for the final out.

Make it 17 in a row for the Cleveland Indians.

Francisco Lindor homered and Allen finished off another impressive performance for Cleveland’s bullpen, helping the Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-2 on Saturday for their 17th straight victory.

“It’s one of crazy those things where you’re just playing good baseball,” said Allen, who earned his 25th save. “We’re not really thinking about it as much as you guys are.”

Cleveland’s franchise-record streak is the longest in the majors since Oakland won 20 straight in 2002. The longest streak in baseball history belongs to the New York Giants, who had a 26-game run in 1916, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Giants’ streak included a tie, which doesn’t count as a game in baseball.

Jay Bruce’s fourth-inning single put the Indians ahead to stay, and Josh Tomlin (9-9) pitched into the sixth to win his fifth consecutive decision.

“It’s kind of weird, but it’s also a lot of fun,” Tomlin said.

The Indians haven’t lost since Aug. 23. They have outscored their opponents 118-30 during the streak, but their latest win was a close one.

The Orioles jumped in front on Mancini’s infield hit in the first. It was the first time since Cleveland’s last loss that the Indians didn’t score first.

Tomlin was pulled after Tim Beckham’s 20th homer leading off the sixth. Five relievers then combined for four innings of one-hit ball.

“They’re a heck of a team, man,” Beckham said. “They have everything they need to win ballgames. You just give it your all and don’t waste any at-bats because you can’t afford to.”

Baltimore rookie Gabriel Ynoa (1-1), making his first start of the season, allowed three runs in 4 2/3 innings. The Orioles were three games out in the wild-card race entering play.

Giovanny Urshela’s third-inning double tied it at 1. Carlos Santana scored on Bruce’s single past a drawn-in infield, and then added an RBI double in the fifth.

Lindor hit his 28th homer in the seventh.

The Indians nearly pulled off two spectacular defensive plays in the first. Urshela, playing second base for the first time in the majors, made a diving stop behind the bag of Manny Machado’s ground ball. Throwing from his back, Urshela nearly got Machado at first.

Machado took third on Adam Jones’ single. Mancini hustled down the line to beat a strong throw from shortstop Lindor, who ranged behind second for his grounder.

The Indians went 11-0 on a road trip that ended Thursday. Cleveland extended the streak with a 5-0 win Friday in the opener of a 10-game homestand.

ROLLING ALONG

Cleveland slugger Edwin Encarnacion singled in the seventh and has reached base via a hit or walk in 32 consecutive games.

FOR STARTERS

Orioles right fielder Austin Hays made his first big league start, batting ninth and going 0 for 2. A third-round pick in the 2016 draft, Hays hit .329 with 32 homers and 95 RBIs before his promotion from Double-A Bowie.

NEXT MAN UP

Cleveland’s winning streak has come with a pair of 2017 All-Stars on the disabled list — ace reliever Andrew Miller (right knee tendinitis) and left fielder Michael Brantley (sprained right ankle). Second baseman Jason Kipnis (strained right hamstring) is also on the DL.

“I remember there was a day in here a while back and I said something about this could be our time to shine,” manager Terry Francona said. “Guys get chances that maybe wouldn’t of before.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Indians: 2B Jose Ramirez (sore wrist) missed his third straight game. He hit seven homers and drove in nine runs during the team’s unbeaten road trip.

UP NEXT

Baltimore right-hander Jeremy Hellickson makes his eighth start since being acquired from Philadelphia on July 28. He is 2-3 with a 6.87 ERA with the Orioles. Cleveland right-hander Trevor Bauer seeks to extend his career-long winning streak to nine games. He is 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA in four career starts against Baltimore.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Great expectations: Indians eye World Series title after ’16 run

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Above the small cactuses and flowering plants dotting the concrete-blocked plaza outside the doorway to Cleveland’s training complex is a new sign that serves as both a reminder and motivator.

“American League Champions 2016,” it says.

The Indians have some unfinished business.


One swing away from beating the Chicago Cubs in an epic World Series last year, the Indians, who pumped up their payroll to nearly $130 million by winning baseball’s offseason with the surprise signing of free-agent slugger Edwin Encarnacion this winter, have their sights set on a return to the postseason — and this time winning it all.

“Everyone is very proud of what we accomplished last year, but everybody wants that one more run,” Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis said Sunday. “Everybody wants to get back. We finally got a taste of that fruit, and we want to be there and we want to stay there.”

With one of baseball’s best starting rotations, deepest bullpens and a lineup counting on the return of All-Star Michael Brantley from injury, the Indians, who lost 94 games in 2012, are positioned to make another run at ending a World Series title drought stretching to 1948 — now the majors’ longest.

Cleveland has vaulted from powderpuff to powerhouse.

The Indians are determined to erase the memory of last year’s Series when they gave away a 3-1 lead to the Cubs, who completed their comeback by winning an unforgettable Game 7 on Nov. 2 in extra innings. Chicago’s victory not only triggered a celebration on the soggy grass in Progressive Field, but a national outpouring of affection for the lovable Cubbies and their fans, who waited 108 years to sip championship champagne.

There was obvious heartache in Cleveland. But also hope.

By going so far in the postseason despite not having Brantley, missing starters Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar and losing starter Trevor Bauer in the AL Championship Series when he sliced open his right pinkie while repairing a drone at home, the Indians showed resiliency, confidence and a glimpse of their potential.

They were one step away, and this year the Indians are better prepared to take it.

Kipnis pointed to the Kansas City Royals, who bounced back from losing Game 7 of the World Series in 2014 to winning it the following year, as a model for the Indians.

“They knew they wanted to be right back there,” he said. “They knew what it might take or fill in the hole from what they were missing the year before and they went out and did it. We’re kind of hoping to follow that path and there are guys who now know what it takes and what they need to work on and what they need to kind of fix to get back there. It gives you that past experience that now you don’t have to ask any questions. You have that experience yourself.”

With a light rain falling and the nearby Estrella Mountains shrouded in low clouds, manager Terry Francona laid out his expectations during a team meeting on Sunday. Francona said he spent the past week stressing over how to deliver the proper message — “cutting and pasting the old-fashioned way, erasing” — as he felt he owed his players a clear outlook for 2017.

Francona wants his players to be proud of what they accomplished, but not to dwell upon the success or be satisfied. He reminded them not to cut corners or to take anything for granted.

As great as it was, last season is over.

“Our players have with their talent, and with the way they have played, people think they have a chance of doing some pretty good things,” he said. “Now you gotta go out and do it and there’s a way to do it. … if you got rewarded for last year, we would do it. Like if (baseball) said, ‘Hey, man, you went to the World Series last year, you get five extra wins.’ We’d take them. But that’s not how it’s going to be.”

The Indians were attentive while Francona spoke, and Kipnis said without being disrespectful, most off the players knew the message already.

“Guys were almost not like, ‘We know,'” he said. “But was like, ‘Hey, we know. Let’s get-this-going-kind-of-thing.’ It wasn’t like we’re too good for it by any means. It was we’re right there with you, and let’s get back to work — right now. You could get that sense around the room, and I think it’s a real good thing.”

NOTES: Francona isn’t ready to name ace Corey Kluber his opening-day starter, and said the club is “slowing” the right-hander down early in camp. Kluber pitched 215 innings during the regular season and another 34 1/3 in the postseason, making three starts on short rest. “If he’s not ready for Game 1, we can adjust,” Francona said. “We’re more than willing to, because there’s a lot at stake over the course of the year. We know opening day is a big deal, but we want him to position himself where he’s ready to log as many innings as we need.” The Indians open at Texas on April 3.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Chapman, Cubs top Indians 3-2 to force Game 6 in World Series

CHICAGO — They’ve waited 108 years for a championship. So with this World Series on the verge of slipping away, the Chicago Cubs could not wait any longer.

Manager Joe Maddon summoned closer Aroldis Chapman from the bullpen in the seventh inning for the first eight-out save of his big league career, needing to hold off the Cleveland Indians in Game 5.

As nervous fans fretted at Wrigley Field, Chapman fired his 100 mph heat and preserved the Cubs’ 3-2 win Sunday night, cutting Cleveland’s lead to 3-2.

The Cubs won a Series game at Wrigley for the first time since Game 6 in 1945.

“High anxiety,” first baseman Anthony Rizzo said. “A lot of deep breaths. Every pitch gets bigger and bigger as the game goes on. It’s unbelievable. Great win here, we sent these fans off with a win, now we have to go to Cleveland and win.”

Now, the team that led the majors in wins this year will try to extend its season again Tuesday night when Chicago right-hander Jake Arrieta faces Josh Tomlin at Cleveland in Game 6.

Chicago is trying to become the first club to overcome a 3-1 Series deficit since the 1985 Kansas City Royals and the first to do it by winning Games 6 and 7 on the road since the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.

Cleveland, in search of its first title since 1948, is in search of its third-ever title and has won the championship at home just once, in 1920.

Chapman hadn’t pitched in the seventh inning since 2012. He threw 42 pitches, 15 of them at least 100 mph.

The lefty struck out four and fanned Jose Ramirez, who had homered earlier, with 101 mph heat to end it.

With the crowd at the Friendly Confines desperate for a win, Kris Bryant homered to start a three-run burst in the fourth off Trevor Bauer.

That gave Jon Lester a 3-1 lead. The Indians nicked him for a run in the sixth, and Carl Edwards Jr. took over to begin the seventh with a 3-2 edge.

Chapman came in with a runner on second and one out. He stranded the potential tying run at second base in the seventh and at third in the eighth, then pitched a 1-2-3 ninth.

Lester, the Game 1 loser, improved to 4-1 in Series play by allowing two runs and six hits.

Ramirez homered in the second to put the Indians ahead. Cleveland closed within a run in the sixth when Rajai Davis singled, stole second scored on a two-out single by Francisco Lindor.

Mike Napoli singled against Edwards leading off the seventh and took second on a passed ball by rookie catcher Willson Contreras, who had just replaced David Ross.

Carlos Santana flied out, and Chapman came in to strike out Ramirez with a 100 mph pitch. He hit Brandon Guyer on the left leg and retired Roberto Perez on a groundout as fans screamed in relief.

Then in the eighth, Davis singled with one out on a hard grounder down the line that Rizzo stopped with a dive — Chapman took a few seconds before heading to cover first, leaving Rizzo with no one to throw to. Davis stole second, and after Jason Kipnis fouled out, swiped third standing up.

Lindor, Cleveland’s hottest hitter, took a 101 mph pitch at the knees for a called third strike, then stood in the batter’s box for nearly 20 seconds in anger and frustration.

Bauer, his pinkie seemingly healed from a cut sustained while playing with a toy drone during the AL Championship Series, dropped to 0-2 in the Series, giving up three runs and six hits in four innings.

After a pair of relatively balmy autumn nights on the North Side, the temperature dropped to 50 degrees at game time and a 10 mph win added chill. Maddon wore a ski hat with a blue pompom rather than a baseball cap.

Bryant, in a 1-for-15 slide, led off the fourth with a drive into the left-field bleachers, where a fan in the first row dropped it.

Rizzo sent the next pitch off the ivy on the right-field wall for a double, admiring its flight before hustling, took third on Ben Zobrist’s single and came home with the go-ahead run when Addison Russell reached out and topped a pitch down the third-base line for an infield single.

Jason Heyward took a called third strike, slumping Javier Baez dropped a bunt down the third-base line for a single that loaded the bases and Ross, a 39-year-old making perhaps his final big league start, hit a sacrifice fly for a 3-1 lead.

CARBON COPY

Ross allowed Santana’s second-inning foul pop to glance off his glove and Rizzo batted the ball in the air with his bare hand, then gloved it. It was similar to Game 6 in 1980, when Philadelphia first baseman Pete Rose grabbed Frank White’s foul pop after it nicked off catcher Bob Boone.

WEB GEM

Cubs right fielder Heyward climbed the brick wall in the right-field corner, then reached back to catch Bauer’s wind-blown foul fly.

MOVING ON

This was the last game with the bullpens in foul territory at Wrigley, where new bullpens under the bleachers are to open next season. Zobrist had to climb the mound to catch Kipnis’ seventh-inning fly.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Finally! A Cubs team that ain’t afraid of no ghosts

CHICAGO — Grown men didn’t weep.

Maybe because anyone old enough to actually remember the last time the Chicago Cubs made it to the World Series would be at least 71 and know enough to stay home instead of parking himself in the middle of the pandemonium that engulfed Wrigley Field late Saturday.

Not so 78-year-old Billy Williams, a Hall of Famer and Cubs’ mainstay through the 1960s and ’70s. This was a moment he had to see for himself.

“I think about the guys I played with who never got to see this,” Williams began. “Especially Ernie Banks and (Ron) Santo. Man, we tried so hard for so many years and now they’re gone. … And I can’t tell you how long these fans stuck with us or how many times I heard stuff like, ‘This is the year.’

“But this,” he said with a sweep of his arm toward the still-rocking grandstand, “is finally the year.”

After believing their team was cursed by a goat, crossed by a black cat and undone by one of their own, after checking their sanity at the turnstiles for seven decades and counting, fans of the team on the North Side of town no longer needed any excuses . None needed reminding, either, that there was one hill still left to climb, starting Tuesday night in Cleveland.

But at the moment, a white flag with a single blue “W” fluttered in the night sky atop the huge, manually operated scoreboard in center field — a tradition begun in the 1930s so that riders on the nearby elevated train line would know when the Cubs won — and their fans basked in its possibilities.

“They win 100-plus games (in the regular season), they really have no weaknesses, they’ve got youth, veteran starting pitching … they catch the baseball, they can slug, they get on base, and they’re relentless,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said afterward, by way of a scouting report.

“That’s a very good club over there.”

You couldn’t have said that just seven years ago, when owner Tom Ricketts forked over $875 million of the family’s fortune to buy the ballclub and that faith was tested mightily. Normally a level-headed sort, he fell in love with the Cubs soon after moving to the city as an 18-year-old to attend the University of Chicago. The Cubs went 83-78 in Ricketts’ first year, then posted five losing seasons in a row.

In 2011, he shelled out good money to hire onetime Red Sox boy wonder Theo Epstein to rebuild the roster as president of baseball operations; the next year, the Cubs lost 101 games. But with Epstein pulling the strings, they also began collecting youngsters like Anthony Rizzo, Addison Russell and Kris Bryant, occasionally mixing in high-priced veteran pitchers like Jon Lester and John Lackey and turning around Jake Arrieta’s career.

In 2015, Ricketts shelled out good money again to hire manager Joe Maddon; last season, they were swept by the Mets in the NLCS. The cornerstone of Maddon’s baseball philosophy is focus on the short term; try to win each at-bat, each inning, each game. He pulls stunts to make it fun — bringing in zoo animals, wearing pajamas on the flight home from road trips and breaking up the monotony of a long season.

But even he struggled on this night not to look back.

“You stand out on that platform afterwards and you’re looking at the ballpark and the fans and the W flags everywhere, and truthfully you think about everybody,” Maddon said. “I think about the fans and their parents and their grandparents and great-grandparents and everything that’s been going on here for a while. I think about my wife, Jaye, my kids, my mom back in Pennsylvania, my dad who wasn’t here.

“It’s overwhelming,” he added finally, “and it’s awesome.”

The Cubs last won it all in 1908, which means they’ve been without a championship 40 years longer than the Indians, holders of the second-longest run without a championship in major North American pro sports. They may be the sentimental favorites, but they’re also savvy, ruthless and blessed with short memories — basically, anything but your father’s Cubbies.

Ditto for the owner. Asked what it would feel like to see that same flag fly at the end of the World Series, Ricketts admitted he already had his eye on a souvenir. It was likely to be more painful than expensive.

“I may make the ‘W’ a tattoo,” he said.

He won’t be alone.

source: sports.inquirer.net