Best of seven
Indians 2, Blue Jays 0

After the Indians pitching staff did a masterful job of silencing the much-vaunted Blue Jays offense in Cleveland, the series now turns to the Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto. To avoid elimination, the Blue Jays MUST win two out of three in their home park (and obviously if they lose both of the first two games in Toronto, there will not be a third). But the Jays have got to be thinking that they really need to win all three. Going 2 for 3 means the Indians will return to Cleveland on Friday with a 3-2 series lead, and would need to win only one game at Progressive Field, not two, in order to advance to the World Series.

So this is a pretty big game for the Blue Jays. Their starting pitcher is Marcus Stroman. The right-handed Stroman went 9-10 for the Blue Jays during the regular season, and his ERA was 4.37, a tad higher than the league average of 4.20. Stroman was the starting pitcher in three postseason games for the Jays in 2015, and was the starter during this season’s wild card game against the Orioles. He got a no-decision, but pitched effectively, allowing two earned runs over six innings. He gave up only four hits and didn’t walk a batter. He enters tonight’s game well-rested, as he hasn’t pitched since that game, which took place on October 4.

Going for the Indians is Trevor Bauer, who had been scheduled to pitch the second game until he cut the pinky finger on his right hand (which is of course his throwing hand) while goofing around with one of his beloved drone airplanes. This required a cab ride to the ER of a Cleveland hospital, where Bauer received about eight or ten stitches. Keeping his wits about him, Indians manager Terry Francona simply sent Josh Tomlin to pitch Game 2, which he did with great success. Bauer claims to be perfectly ready to pitch today.

The last time Bauer pitched was on October 6, in the first game of the ALDS with the Boston Red Sox. He was not at his best on that day, giving up three runs, all earned, in 4 2/3 innings of work. He gave up two homers in that game, something he’ll need to do his best to avoid tonight. And it won’t be easy, as six different Blue Jays hit 20 or more home runs in 2016. You can be sure that Francona won’t hesitate to yank Bauer early again if he looks a little shaky out there tonight.

Here are the starting lineups for tonight’s game:

 

As always, feel free to comment below as the game progresses, if circumstances permit. And thanks for reading IPL!

1 Comment