DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum MLB Playoff Thought II

Miller is a legend.

Yes!!!!!

This is a wonderful year to be a Cleveland Fan no matter what's going on on the football field!

Terry Francona-Toronto, you're in check.

Oh my god Napoli just said he's a grinder.

5 wins to go.

#Believeland

Series over. 98.9 per cent sure.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves, I'm pretty confident as well but remember, we were up 3-1 on the Red Sox in '07.

Quote above by YTown on Oct. 15th:

“I still say that Napoli will get one of his hot streaks before this thing is through”

One game not a streak make, or something like that

No, but a hot streak has to start somewhere doesn't it?

Man, Tito has pushed every right button. You're already down 2 starters, and your game 3 starter leaves in the 1st? No problem.

Klubot starts tomorrow.

Yep, hopefully it rolls for about 5 more games

No way Kluber goes tomorrow now.

I thought I heard Tito saying merrit

Tito said that Kluber goes tomorrow.

An interview in the dugout had him say kluber but then said that if we win, "who knows".

...watching Tito in the postgame now.

I'd rather you wait an extra day with Kluber.

As good a pitcher as Miller is, why can't he be a starter and pitch 5-6 innings?

Kluber definitely gives you the best chance of winning. If we win tomorrow, he gets a full week rest before the World Series starts.

There's no sense in letting the Blue Jays back int he series at all. The last thing we want is to let them blow up in game 4 ..... and regain their footing, and their confidence.

I guess Kluber could always go in game 7 if needed as well.

I agree, close it out.

Just a minor rant... baseball needs to fix the replay rule on a close tag. Review if the tag got their first, but this reviewing if the runner lost contact with the bag for a fraction of a second is just dumb. Either that or coaches are going to have to teach sliding differently.

He's been a starter and was awful. He can't maintain his mechanics or effectiveness over long stretches. Also, most successful starters have three pitches (at least) and Miller has two.

Chief Wahoo loves him some BlueJays apparently. Feasting on 'em!

If you will excuse me, I'm just gonna go believe some more.

j/c..

What an incredible job by the bullpen. The whole year, teammates have been picking one another up.

It's incredible the Tribe has not lost a game this postseason.

Both Kluber and Tomlin said they were willing and ready to go tomorrow. This bunch is a true team.

Great to see Napoli contribute offensively this series.

Our defense has been sensational. Pitching and defense wins in the postseason.

On a selfish note, World Series presale tickets are offered tomorrow. I'm going to snag tickets for home game 3 of the series.

Go Tribe!

WOW I fell asleep and woke up to see the final ... that's a GUTTY win right there. Defines the team.

So, does Kluber still pitch today?

Kluber scheduled to take Clevinger's start for Game 4 of ALCS
John Alfes
JOHN ALFES
Yesterday at 11:55 PM
Corey Kluber will make his third career postseason start in Game 4 of the ALCS in place of Mike Clevinger. Manager Terry Francona made the news official following his use of six different relief pitchers in Game 3.

A bevy of breaking news headlines have been made in the 2016 American League Championship Series.
From Trevor Bauer's drone-related injury to Jose Bautista's "circumstances" statement, the ALCS news feed has not stopped refreshing with fresh content. The list continued on Monday night.
The Cleveland Indians made it official that RHP Corey Kluber (18-9, 3.14) will make his third postseason start in Game 4 of the ALCS in place of the original starter Mike Clevinger on just three days rest.
After Kluber pitched Game 1 on Friday and Josh Tomlin hurled Game 2 on Saturday, manager Terry Francona raised the possibility of Kluber pitching on short rest for a potential series-sweeping opportunity in Game 4. That possibility officially became a reality.
"If we don't bring him (Kluber) back tomorrow (Tuesday) and he pitches Game 5, we don't have a starter for Game 7," Francona said. "I mean, we have to physically have a starter. So this is the best way to do it. I mean, this is the only way to do it. There's no other way around it. We don't have another starter right now. It's not that difficult."
Francona made this assertion following a relentless 4-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, a win in which Trevor Bauer exited after just 21 pitches due to injury and six relief pitchers had to enter on short notice.
"That wasn't the way we drew it up," said Francona following the win. "But about our bullpen, that's one of the most amazing jobs I've ever seen. I mean, starting with Otero to Manship to McAllister to Shaw, if anybody has a hiccup we probably lose. And they all made pitches, and against some really good hitters."
One of Bauer's 10 stitches had ripped open in the first inning causing blood to gush from his injured right pinkie finger. The agitated starter helplessly walked off the mound to a raucous Blue Jays crowd.
"It was bleeding pretty good," said Francona of the injury. "The weird thing, it was only one little spot that opened, but man, it was coming out a lot."
With Bauer likely sidelined for the remainder of the series, Francona has artfully crafted the remaining portion of his starting rotation for the rest of the week. With Clevinger likely returning to the bullpen, only one question remains... Who pitches Game 5 if the Indians were to lose on Tuesday afternoon?
The answer?
Rookie LHP Ryan Merritt (1-0, 1.64) will start Game 5 in the new realigned rotation. Due to Trevor Bauer's bloody right pinkie finger and Monday night's bullpen game, Francona is in need of at least one more starter. In this case, it will be a southpaw with a sub-90 mph fastball making only his second big league start (if necessary).
"When we announced Clev (Clevinger) earlier in the week, Ryan (Merritt) actually wasn't on the roster. (Joseph) Colon was our reliever. When Trevor had his drone accident we decided we'd better make sure we had some length," said manager Terry Francona. "So that's the reason. With Clev -- if Clev pitches really well, he's probably going to go a couple, maybe three, if Ryan throws really well. He's stretched out where he could give us some innings."
A late add to the ALCS roster, Merritt has only made four major league appearances, one of which was a start on September 30th against the Kansas City Royals: 5 IP 3 H 1 R/ER 0 BB 4 K (62 pitches, 40 strikes, 65%). The southpaw features impeccable command with zero big league walks and only 23 free passes in 143.1 minor league innings pitched this campaign.
"Tito and Mickey and Chris (Antonetti) sat me down a few days ago and just told me, Hey, you probably will be getting a start pretty soon. We don't know exactly when, but we'll keep you up-to-date," said Merritt. "And I mean, the emotion of that is -- it's the playoffs. My first time in the playoffs. But it's awesome that they trust me to be in the situation, and I'm just going to go out there and have fun, enjoy it, and try to give my team the best chance to win."
If the series reaches a Game 5, Merritt will be showcased on one of the biggest stages in all of sports at the age of just 24-years-old with only 11 MLB innings under his belt.
The drama continues to unfold in October for the Cleveland Indians.
Game 4 of the ALCS is scheduled to be played at 4:08 PM ET from the Rogers Centre in Toronto, ON.
Once more, TBS will have the television coverage.

http://www.scout.com/mlb/indians/story/1..._medium=twitter

well, we at least got one up there!

Wow. Just WOW. This is incredible to witness.

With Game 1 of the WS starting Tuesday the 25th, Bauer will have 10-11 days to get that closed up enough to not open again if we go Kluber, Tomlin, Bauer.

Tito said only ONE stitch opened up. He'll be ready for Game 3.

That, plus Salazar reportedly threw a simulated game this past weekend with no ill effects. He'll throw another soon and we'll find out if he gets added to the WS roster. I guess he's still not throwing his breaking stuff, but his fastball and change-up are right there. He could pitch middle/short relief, or be an important cog if we need a "bullpen game". All that assumes, of course, that we win the ALCS.

that would be awesome. A big boost