Cleveland Indians One Win Away from World Series Appearance
The Cleveland Indians seem to have The Toronto Blue Jay's number this season and more namely in the American League Championship Series. The Indians are one game away to punching their ticket to the 2016 World Series.
With Trevor Bauer departing game 3 of the series early with a cut that was bleeding on his pinkie, you would think it would be just the break that Toronto could capitalize on to regain some momentum in the series, but it was not to be.
The Tribe has been getting it done with great pitching and quality defense. The latest victory proved to be no different with six Indian relievers combining for 8 1/3 quality innings and with Andrew Miller shutting the door to notch a save.
Mike Napoli and Jason Kipnis were the stars for Cleveland's offense, as they both took Blue Jay starter Marcus Stroman deep for homeruns in the 4-2 loss for the Blue Jays.
Toronto will have to come out fighting in the next game or risk having their season end abruptly. They have painted themselves into a corner and are in a must-win situation being down 3-0 in this year's best of seven American League Championship Series.
The Indians will likely give the ball to ace, Corey Kluber to complete the sweep.
"We've got our work cut out for us," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "I guess that's an understatement."
The powerful Blue Jay offense needs to erupt to fend off an early exit from the series. There is a little bit of hope as the Indians have plenty of injury problems of their own to contend with. And, at this point, you have to believe that bullpen can't continue to be this masterful. Also, with that being said, the Blue Jay lineup is simply due.
Despite Terry Francona's injury issues with his starting pitching he is firm believer in Bob Lemon's words, "The two most important things in life are good friends and a strong bullpen."
The Indians are 6-0 in playoff games so far this postseason and if they win the next one will have swept two series.
