CLEVELAND ¡ª The Cleveland
Indians
Reggie
Sanders Jersey , who are in full-blown postseason preparation mode, will
host the Detroit Tigers on Friday night at Progressive Field, the first game of
Cleveland¡¯s final homestand of the regular season.The Indians¡¯ magic number for
clinching their third consecutive American League Central title is three. With
that in mind, Indians manager Terry Francona and his staff are implementing some
lineup adjustments in preparation for the postseason.The most obvious is the
addition of third baseman Josh Donaldson, who was acquired in a trade with
Toronto. He made his debut with the Indians on Tuesday in Tampa Bay, batting
fifth and going 0-for-4.Article continues below ...Donaldson is expected to be
in the lineup Friday at third base. His addition has moved third baseman Jose
Ramirez to second base, bumping second baseman Jason Kipnis to center field.For
Ramirez, the position switch comes at a time when he¡¯s trying to hit his way out
of his first slump of the season. After a spectacular first half of the season
that landed him a start at third base for the American League all-star team,
Ramirez has been in an extended slump.From opening day through the end of July,
Ramirez was hitting .298, with a 1.038 OPS. Since Aug. 1, he is hitting .228
with a .763 OPS.In Cleveland¡¯s 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay on Wednesday, Ramirez, who
is third in the American League with 38 home runs, snapped an 86-at bat
homerless streak with a homer off Rays ace Nate Snell.Francona says he isn¡¯t
worried about his MVP candidate¡¯s slump.¡°We¡¯ve all seen what he can do. We know
it¡¯s in there, and we know he¡¯s going to get hot,¡± Francona said. ¡°He¡¯s an
extremely intelligent hitter when it comes to knowing how teams are pitching
him, and what they¡¯re trying to do. He¡¯s had a little lull here, but he can hit
any pitch. He¡¯s going to be fine.¡±Cleveland¡¯s starting pitcher Friday night also
reflects the team¡¯s priority of getting the rotation lined up for the start of
the postseason. Because of that, Josh Tomlin (1-5, 6.63 ERA) will get a spot
start.Tomlin
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who won 23 games as a member of the rotation the last two years, made six
disastrous starts to begin the 2018 season and was quickly moved to the bullpen.
In three starts, Tomlin was 0-3 with an 8.10 ERA. In 22 relief appearances, he
is 1-2 with a 4.91 ERA.Friday will be Tomlin¡¯s first start since May 15, when he
took the loss as Cleveland fell 9-8 to Detroit. In that game, Tomlin gave up
four runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings, with four strikeouts and no walks.In
four appearances (two starts) against Detroit this year, Tomlin has no record
and a 2.92 ERA. In 20 career appearances (14 starts) against the Tigers, he is
7-6 with a 4.87 ERA.Left-hander Matt Boyd will start for Detroit. Boyd (9-12,
4.11) made his last start on Sept. 8, when he got no decision in a 4-3 Detroit
loss to St. Louis. In that start Boyd was outstanding, working seven innings and
allowing one run and two hits, with 11 strikeouts and one walk.In two starts
against Cleveland this year, Boyd is 0-1 with a 6.30 ERA. In his career, he has
made seven appearances (six starts) against the Indians and is 1-3 with a 3.05
ERA.The Tigers, who come into Friday¡¯s game on a four-game losing streak, are
4-12 vs. the Indians this year. NEW YORK (AP) ¡ª Eduardo Nunez charged Gleyber
Torres¡® four-hopper toward third base and whipped the ball across the diamond .
Steve Pearce stretched, falling on his chest for a sprawling catch. The umpire
signaled: ¡°Out!¡±The Boston Red Sox gathered around exhausted closer Craig
Kimbrel, hugging and celebrating after the New York Yankees¡® two-run rally in
the ninth inning fell short.But wait!In 21st century baseball, the game doesn¡¯t
always end when it seems, hanging in limbo until umpires in a downtown Manhattan
replay room agree .A Yankee Stadium crowd of
49
Joe Morgan
Jersey ,641 wondered and the Red Sox paused as they watched from the
infield in suspended celebration, fixated on the center-field video board.After
63 seconds that felt like a lot longer, crew chief Mike Winters heard the
decision, took off his headset, raised his right fist and made it official: The
Red Sox beat the Yankees 4-3 Tuesday night to win the AL Division Series 3-1,
setting up a postseason rematch with the World Series champion Astros.¡°I¡¯ve been
talking about them the whole season, so now we go,¡± said Red Sox rookie manager
Alex Cora, Houston¡¯s bench coach last year. ¡°Best of seven. They know me. I know
them. It should be fun.¡±J.D. Martinez and the 108-win Red Sox reached the AL
Championship Series for the first time since Boston won the title in 2013. A
year after losing to Houston in a four-game ALDS, the Red Sox open the
best-of-seven matchup against the 103-win Astros on Saturday night at Fenway
Park. Houston went 4-3 against Boston this year.¡°Awesome to clinch this one,¡±
Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes said, ¡°but we¡¯ve got eight more.¡±A New Jersey
native who grew up a Mets fan, Rick Porcello held the Yankees to one run over
five innings for his first postseason win in 13 appearances. Barnes and Ryan
Brasier followed with a perfect inning each to protect a 4-1 lead.Red Sox ace
Chris Sale told Cora when he arrived at the ballpark that he wanted to pitch,
and he followed with a 1-2-3 eighth in a rare relief appearance that extended
the Yankees¡¯ streak of consecutive outs to 11.New York had not put a leadoff
runner on until Kimbrel, a seven-time All-Star closer, walked Aaron Judge on
four pitches leading off the ninth.Didi Gregorius singled and Giancarlo Stanton
struck out, Luke Voit walked on four pitches, and Kimbrel hit Neil Walker on a
leg with a next pitch , forcing in a run that made it 4-2.Gary Sanchez fell
behind 0-2 in the count, worked it full and sent a drive that had the crowd
roaring only for Andrew Benintendi to catch it on the left-field warning track,
a few feet short of a series-tying grand slam .¡°I hit it well. But I got under
it
Dave
Concepcion Jersey ,¡± Sanchez said through a translator.Then came Torres¡¯
bouncer.¡°You never want to give a game back and go to a Game 5, so it¡¯s great
that we could do it tonight,¡± said Kimbrel, who got his second save of the
series.A night after Boston romped to a record-setting 16-1 rout in a game that
included three replay reversals, Martinez, Ian Kinsler and Nunez drove in runs
in the third inning off a wobbly CC Sabathia, who took the loss. For the second
straight night, Yankees rookie manager Aaron Boone hesitated to remove his
starting pitcher early.When Boone brought in Zach Britton to start the fourth,
and Christian Vazquez led off with an opposite-field drive over the short porch
in right field for his first career postseason homer.Not even the presence of
1978 AL East tiebreaker star Bucky Dent for the ceremonial first pitch could
inspire the 100-win Yankees, who were outscored 27-14 in the series, including
20-4 in the final two games. New York set a major league record this year for
most home runs in a season, but didn¡¯t go deep in the two games at Yankee
Stadium and hit .214 in the series, which included 3 for 14 by Gregorius, 1 for
15 by Andrew McCutchen and 3 for 15 by Sanchez.Stanton, New York¡¯s big
acquisition last offseason, was 4 for 18 (.222) with no RBIs.¡°I don¡¯t want to
experience the postseason. I want to win it all,¡± Stanton said. Dent¡¯s home run
over Fenway Park¡¯s Green Monster in the 1978 AL East tiebreaker propelled the
Yankees to their second straight World Series title, but Boston eliminated its
rival in the Bronx in the teams¡¯ second straight postseason meeting. In the 2004
ALCS ¡ª with Barnes in the crowd as a teen, rooting for the Yankees ¡ª the Red Sox
became the first big league team to overcome 3-0 postseason deficit, winning the
final two games on the road and going on to sweep the World Series for its first
title since 1918.Boston added championships in 2007 and 2013, becoming one of
baseball¡¯s elite clubs. But the Red Sox were knocked out in the Division Series
in 2016 and
¡¯17
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had not reached the sport¡¯s final four since their last title.A lanky, bearded
29-year-old right-hander, Porcello lived a traffic jam from Yankee Stadium in
Chester, New Jersey, and is a 2007 graduate of Seton Hall Prep in West Orange ¡ª
the baseball field there was renamed in his honor last year after he helped fund
artificial turf and pro-style dugouts. The 2016 AL Cy Young Award winner entered
with a 0-3 in 12 previous postseason appearances, which included four starts.He
didn¡¯t allow a run until a sacrifice fly in the fifth by Brett Gardner , like
Sabathia playing perhaps his last game for the Yankees. Aaron Hicks missed a
two-run homer by about 4 feet on a foul drive down the right-field line.Sabathia
escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first when Kinsler hit an inning-ending flyout
to Gardner in front of the left-field wall. Sabathia nicked Benintendi on the
right shoulder with a slider on his first pitch of the third, Pearce sliced a
cutter into right-center to put runners at the corners and Martinez hit a
third-inning sacrifice fly for second straight night , giving him a series-high
six RBIs.With David Robertson starting to warm up, Kinsler hit a two-out double
over a leaping Gardner for a 2-0 lead and Nunez singled on the next pitch for
his first RBI of the postseason.New York¡¯s starting pitchers allowed 15 runs in
13 innings, and Masahiro Tanaka was the only one to get an out in the fourth ¡ª a
sign the Yankees may pursue top free-agent pitchers such as Dallas Keuchel and
Patrick Corbin.¡°I think we¡¯re right there knocking on the door,¡± Boone said,
¡°very close to being a championship club right now. We just got to continue to
improve on the margins in every facet. Pitching is one of those.¡±BEHIND THE
PLATEA night after three of his calls at first base were reversed on video
reviews, Angel Hernandez was the plate umpire. Benintendi argued after he was
called out on a breaking ball with the bases loaded for the final out of the
eighth, a pitch that may have been outside. Sabathia was livid. ¡°I don¡¯t think
Angel Hernandez should be umping playoff games,¡± he said. ¡°He¡¯s absolutely
terrible. He was terrible behind the plate today. He was terrible at first
base.¡± Major League Baseball declined comment, spokesman Mike Teevan said.