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Wow. 48?! Incredible.

Loved that guy!

Oh, and I just checked. Coco is 36. That's getting up there.

It really sucks to think that a guy who is 17 years younger than me is getting old ..... lol

I like the way we can mix and match our outfield. Man, I wasn't all that excited about getting Guyer, especially when bigger names went off the board ..... but he has been exactly what this team needs. He can hit lefties exstremey well .... and that always helps.

Rajai Davis is 35, he'll be 36 in 10 days and led the A.L. in stolen bases this year, quite remarkable.

No way this game is getting in tonite rain all day and night.

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Indians not overconfident heading to Boston

STATS LLC

BOSTON -- Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona made a simple observation after his team went up 2-0 in the five-game ALDS series against the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.

"The atmosphere is going to be a little different come Sunday," said Francona, the former Red Sox manager.

He's right. The scene shifts -- to Fenway Park -- and so does the noise. So does a bit of history: of the 28 teams that have rallied from 0-2 to win an LDS, the Red Sox are two of those teams, doing it to the Indians in 1999 and the Oakland Athletics in 2003.

Francona's Red Sox also came from down 3-1 against the Indians to win the 2007 ALCS, the second of Francona's two World Series championships in Boston. Saturday, he called Fenway "kind of like a cathedral" and now he hopes to end this series on Sunday.

"It's not over yet. They have to beat us three times, not two," said Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia.

Valid point.

"Backs against the wall. (Clay) Buchholz on the mound Sunday with an attitude of no tomorrow," Red Sox manager John Farrell said after David Price followed Game 1 starter Rick Porcello into the postseason abyss with a poor Game 2 outing.

Game 3 features a matchup of two pitchers both banished to the bullpen this season because of poor work as a starter -- Buchholz and Cleveland's Josh Tomlin. Both, however, have been better lately.

Buchholz, actually exiled to the 'pen on three different occasions, was 3-0 with only one bad start in September. Tomlin had a 1.75 ERA and yielded a .540 OPS in his last 25/3 innings after a 7.96 ERA and .937 OPS in his previous 10 starts.

Buchholz was 0-2 in two starts against the Indians this season, allowing 11 hits and eight earned runs in 10 innings. He is 2-2 with a 4.85 ERA lifetime against Cleveland.

Tomlin faced the Red Sox in a makeup game in Cleveland Aug. 15, turning in a quality start with seven hits and three runs in 7 2/3 innings. He is 2/3 with a 5.49 ERA in seven career appearances (six starts) against Boston.

The Red Sox don't have great numbers against Tomlin. David Ortiz is 3-for-17 and Mookie Betts and Travis Shaw are 1-for-6 apiece. Jackie Bradley Jr., 0-for-6 with five strikeouts in the series, is 3-for-7 against Tomlin while Xander Bogaerts and Brock Holt are 2-for-6.

Cleveland's Jason Kipnis and Carlos Santana are both 4-for-8 with a home run, Coco Crisp is 5-for-18 with a homer and five RBI, but former teammate Mike Napoli is 3-for-15 against Buchholz.

"It looks like it's just one more game for us," Kipnis said after Game 2. "Guys look calm. They looked relaxed. Some of these guys who are younger and less experienced than I am are handling it way better than I handled my Wild Card Game (in 2013). It's impressive.

Said Pedroia: "I think we lost who we are -- we're the Boston Red Sox."

Added Price: "I know I'm going to get to pitch again in 2016 and I'll be ready. I want it for sure. And I know these guys will give it to me."

Kipnis and Jose Ramirez are both 4-for-7, Brandon Guyer 3-for-4 and Roberto Perez 2-for-5 in the first two games for Cleveland. On the other side, Pedroia, David Ortiz and Xander Bogaerts are all 1-for-8, Sandy Leon is 1-for-6.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/preview?gameId=361009102

Sounds like the two pitchers for game 3 can be either really good or really bad. Is that correct?

I've been loving how Francona has handled the pitching staff in the first two games. In game 1, I thought he absolutely made the right move in yanking the starter. Bauer looked ready to implode and I think it was really smart to bring Miller in so early. That was a key point in the game.

In game 2, he gave Kluber a lot of rope, but man, I yelled out that he needs to be yanked after walking that last batter and sure enough, Francona made the change.

Masterful managing of the pitching staff. Does Francona have a rep for handling his staff expertly?

There have been times I thought he stayed with starters too long, but the proof is in his record as a winning manager that he must be a good handler of pitching staffs. I think he is much more an instinctual manager in that he is not such a by-the-book, push-button manager as, say, Mike Hargrove was. There's no way Mike Hargrove would ever bring in an Andrew Miller in the 5th, but Tito's approach is a bit more "asymmetrical" in that he's not married to any particular dogma. He knows that the pivotal point in a game could just as easily be in the 5th inning as the 9th.

Thanks for the feedback. You seem like one of the guys that really know baseball. I have enjoyed reading your takes.

Indians-Red Sox Game 3 is postponed, rescheduled for tomorrow at 6:08pm

Ugh, I'll be able to tune in at 8pm eastern. That really sucks.

I was looking forward to today, too.

On the plus side? Our bullpen will be totally refreshed for tomorrow!

This really sucks. +1

The bullpen refreshment is a plus.

Possibly facing Porcello and Price in games 4 + 5 is not.

Lucroy's postseason.

1 for 12
1 run
0 RBIs
6 LOB

Swept by the Blue Jays in three games.

wow, awful stats by Lucroy

It would be nice for the Tribe to close out in game 3 for pitching purposes

quote above by D4L:

"It would be nice for the Tribe to close out in game 3 for pitching purposes"

Yes, I also would like to see the Tribe win game 3.

For pitching purposes of course.

Hey, no kiddin', that Lucroy really smelled up the joint.

Excellent non-pick-up for the Tribe.

Texas paid dearly for squat.

Blue Jays are in! Now for the Tribe...

Jays/Tribe

Cubs/Dodgers?

I'd love the Cubs/Tribe series

A Cubs/Jays final would be even better...

And meanwhile, Perez's numbers:

2 for 5
1 HR, 1 RBI
3 runs scored
Complete beast in the field

quote above by candy:

"And meanwhile, Perez's numbers:

2 for 5
1 HR, 1 RBI
3 runs scored
Complete beast in the field"

And a 1.000 slugging percentage and .571 on base percentage (courtesy of the two BBs in game two)

Who could possibly care about the Jays?

In a perfect world Tomlin goes 6 innings, Miller comes in for 7-8, and maybe mix in Otero.

Missed a chance to make a statement there (and penalize a mistake by the 3rd baseman).

The Jays are in! The Tribe is not...

gotta hope Tomlin can be effective tonight. It'll be tough to win this one

So far so good with Tomlin. But man how bad has Napoli been in the playoffs. Batting like .088 or something. His swing is broke

yeah, napoli needs to get hot here

I think that Nap will wind up getting a big, important knock (or 2, or 3) before all is said and done this year. He is a streaky hitter. If he heats up again, he could hit HRs in 4 straight.

Anyone else here think these TBS announcers stink ??

Yeah they're not very good. Kind of sense a Red Sox bias.

I think he goes yard tonight if we can build on this lead. Like, the pressure would be off and he can relax a bit. That bat of his is turning into sawdust right now.

Good inning, probably should have been more than 2 runs, but I'll take it (duh).

Proud of Tomlin tonight.

That was a quick one

We need this from Tomlin. If he keeps this up, I wonder how long Francona sticks with him?

Get him tthrough 6 and bring in Miller. Don't risk it.

I think that if he gets through 5 we'll see the bullpen.

We have everyone available, and can easily use Shaw, Miller, Otero and Allen tonight.

gotta get 1-2 more runs IMO

HECK YES BABY