In an even more closely contended match than game one, the Indians prevailed over Boston in Boston for the three game ALDS sweep. Huge games from Josh Tomlin and Coco Crisp propelled the Indians to victory while the bend, but don’t break bullpen did just enough to get through the final innings.
First Inning
The Red Sox gifted the Indians a base runner to start the game as Brock Holt misplayed an easy pop up, allowing Carlos Santana to reach with a “single.” After Jason Kipnis struck out, Francisco Lindor singled to left center, but both were stranded in place as Mike Napoli and Jose Ramirez were quickly retired.
Josh Tomlin had great command in the first, getting ahead of all three batters faced before getting them all to mishit the ball for easy outs.
Second Inning
The Indians started the second inning with a base runner as well as Lonnie Chisenhall lead off the inning with a single up the middle, but the next three batters were retired to end the inning. In the bottom of the inning, Tomlin worked around David Ortiz for a walk, then got right back to throwing strikes. After an Andrew Benintendi single, Francisco Lindor turned a slick double play to end the inning.
Third Inning
The trend of getting a runner on and stranding him continued into the third when Lindor doubled off the green monster with two outs and stayed there as Mike Napoli grounded out to end the inning. For Tomlin in the bottom half, he had his second 1-2-3 frame and his first two strike outs of the game as he got both Sandy Leon and Jackie Bradley, Jr. looking. Jose Ramirez made an impressive play on a ground ball to end the inning and Dustin Pedroia.
Fourth Inning
The Indians finally got on board in the fourth and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that it was Ramirez who got things started against Clay Buchholz. Leading off the inning with a single to right, he moved to second on a Lonnie Chisenhall walk. Coco Crisp completed the successful sacrifice to move up both runners and both were able to score when Tyler Naquin singled to right. Dustin Pedroia then made an incredible diving play to limit the damage and rob Roberto Perez of a hit. With two outs, Santana struck out to end the inning, but the Indians still went onto the bottom of the inning with a 2-0 lead.
Tomlin continued his rash of strike out looking with Holt for the first out of the inning, then got both Mookie Betts and Ortiz out on two pitches to quickly end the inning. While many expected this to be Tomlin’s limit, he had only allowed one hit to this point and was under 50 pitches thrown.
Fifth Inning
Just as in the first two games of the series, the Red Sox went to their bullpen early as Drew Pomeranz came in for Buchholz to start the fifth. The former Indians left hander struck out Jason Kipnis for his third K of the day, then put down Francisco Lindor and Mike Napoli to end the inning in order for the first time in game 3.
Tomlin got hit around for the first time all game in the fifth as Xander Bogaerts hit a one out single, then scored on an Andrew Benintendi double off the monster. Terry Francona never wavered in his confidence in Tomlin and he was rewarded as he struck out Sandy Leon on a ball in the dirt and got Bradley, Jr. to ground out to first to end the inning.
Sixth Inning
Ever the spark plug, Ramirez walked to lead off the inning, then moved to second on a sneak bunt attempt from Chisenhall. In the end, Coco Crisp wouldn’t need the extra 90 feet to knock him in as he launched a ball over the green monster for a 4-1 lead. Some (myself included), may have questioned Francona leaving Crisp in against a left hander with Brandon Guyer and Rajai Davis on the bench, but at this point, we should all know not to second guess the best. Davis did pinch hit for Naquin and this brought in Joe Kelly from the bullpen, who retired the right handers Davis and Roberto Perez to end the inning without further damage.
Incredibly, Tomlin came out to pitch the sixth inning, but after allowing Pedroia to reach with a single, he was pulled for Andrew Miller. Miller struck out his first batter faced, Aaron Hill, in his first at bat during the series, but Mookie Betts doubled high off the wall in left and David Ortiz brought home Pedroia with a sacrifice fly to short center, a run that was counted against Tomlin. In the end, Tomlin pitched 5+ innings, struck out four and allowed just four hits and two runs. His only walk was the one against Ortiz. Miller then struck out Hanley Ramirez to end the inning.
Seventh Inning
The Tribe went in order in the top of the inning, ending with a strike out of Lindor and Miller stayed on for the bottom of the inning. While he didn’t look as dominant as he usually does, he was still able to get through his second inning of work without another run scoring. With one out, he walked Chris Young, but was then saved by a great grab by Ramirez on a hard hit line drive off the bat of Leon. Miller finished the inning in more typical fashion with a strike out of Bradley, Jr.
Eighth Inning
Ramirez continued on with his exciting play as he was robbed of extra bases by Betts in right with one out in the eighth. Koji Uehara had replaced Kelly for the inning and he benefited from both that play and another nice play by Bogaerts to catch Chisenhall to keep the Indians off the bases.
Bryan Shaw started the eighth struck out Pedroia on a call that the Red Sox second baseman wasn’t happy about. Travis Shaw then pinch hit for Hill and hit a single. It looked like things could be getting worse when Betts ripped a ball down the left field line, but Ramirez fielded it and threw to second for the second out of the inning. With Big Papi coming up, Francona went to the closer, Cody Allen, who walked Ortiz and gave up a one run single to left to Hanley Ramirez. For the second time in the game, Crisp had a poor throw in from left and after the play, Francona substituted Michael Martinez in for Crisp, moving Davis to left. The defensive changes wouldn’t affect the inning as Bogaerts lined out to second to end the inning, although they would effect the next as Martinez lead off the ninth with a strike out.
Ninth Inning
After Martinez struck out in an at bat he never should have been given, Davis struck out wildly and Perez popped out to the catcher, Leon, to give Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrell a perfect inning. Allen was far from perfect in the bottom half of the inning as he had trouble throwing strikes, but despite a 3-2 single from Bradley Jr and a walk to Pedroia, Allen was able to come back and get Shaw to fly out to Chisenhall to end the game and complete the sweep.
Player of the Game – Josh Tomlin, 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 K, 1 BB, 4 H, Win
Final Score: Boston Red Sox 3 – Cleveland Indians 4
On Deck: Since both teams swept their ALDS, the Indians and Blue Jays will have a few days off before they have to come back. Because of this, the Indians will be able to switch around the rotation and, although they have non announced anything yet, it is likely that Corey Kluber will start for the Tribe when the ALCS begins on Friday at 7:00 PM in Cleveland.
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