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Indians Party Like It's 1997 After Winning Pennant

Indians Party Like It's 1997 After Winning Pennant

Indians party like it's 1997 after winning pennant will host Game 1 of the for first time in its history By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | @MLBastian | 12:38 AM ET TORONTO -- They took turns passing the trophy around. A bottle in one hand and the hardware in the other, one by one, Cleveland's players savored their moment. They would stare at it, champagne dripping from the gold eagle that sits atop the black base, pausing for a moment before posing for photos. In that brief personal moment, the players probably thought about all that had to happen for the Indians to reach this stage, for that trophy to be placed in their arms. Wednesday's 3-0 win over the Blue Jays in Game 5 of the Championship Series, a victory that clinched the franchise's sixth AL pennant, gave the world a look at what has defined this Indians team all season long, and why it is now going to the World Series. "I'm just really happy that we're standing here today," said Indians president , as his players partied on the other side of 's visitors' clubhouse. "However we got here, I'm not sure I've reflected back on. But this team, the resiliency, the grit, the perseverance to overcome all that they've gone through over the course of the season ..." More champagne bottles popped behind him. "The guys we have are not focused on who's not here," he continued, "but focused on the guys that are here and [they] try to find a way to help them win. I think that says a lot about the team and [manager ]." In a little more than three weeks, the Indians' players have soaked through the carpets of three visiting clubhouses. The plastic sheets could not the clubhouse on Sept. 26, when the Tribe clinched the AL Central in Detroit. On Oct. 10, Cleveland crowded into the tight quarters of 's clubhouse and raged on after dispatching the Sox in three games in the AL Division Series. The narrow clubhouse at Rogers Centre will now be forced to undergo some serious cleaning in the coming days after the Tribe took down Toronto's high-powered offense in five games. Corks were strewn across the floor, as players waded through the beer and champagne in shower sandals. The ceiling dripped after the bottles were uncorked, sending celebratory bubbly spraying in all directions. "Every time you put on this uniform, what you're trying to do is make it to the World Series," Indians ace said. "We're in the World Series. We're going to be one of the last two teams playing. Our goal is to win that Series, win four games before they do. It is a little bit surreal, but at the same time, I think we're ready to embrace it." The World Series -- the first to feature the Indians since 1997 -- will begin at on Tuesday and will be aired on FOX. It is the first time Cleveland will open a World Series at . The Indians now have five days off to rest and reset their depleted rotation, which will presumably begin with Kluber taking the ball in Game 1. The Tribe awaits either the Cubs or Dodgers, who are battling in the Championship Series. On paper, Cleveland is probably best matched up against Los Angeles, but this team has overcome so much, and defied so many odds, the players would probably want a crack at Chicago. No matter who emerges as the Tribe's opponent, the men inside the champagne-soaked clubhouse in Toronto did not expect to be favored. They have not been favored yet. "I've got news for you: Nobody is picking us next series," Indians second baseman said. "They won't, and we don't care. If it means that we're going to win again, none of us care. Predictions mean nothing. The game is decided in between the lines, and that's where we do our best work." The Indians went to the World Series in 1997 and in '95, but those teams were jam-packed with superstars from Cleveland's golden era. The Indians also went in 1954, but and his legendary catch for the Giants had something to say about their chances. Not since 1948, when was on the mound -- not just a statue outside Gate C at Progressive Field -- has Cleveland won it all. Given all that has happened this year, it is incredible that the Indians are still standing. missed most of the season. was sidelined for most of the second half. Injuries robbed the Tribe of the electric right arms of and Carlos Carrasco in October. A lacerated pinkie finger -- caused by an accident while repairing a drone, if you can believe it -- cost a normal start in the ALCS. Kluber entered the playoffs with one bad leg. And yet, somehow, here are the Indians, champions of the AL. "In February or March of many years, we foresee a team that can win," said Indians owner , while getting his turn with the AL trophy. "And then the story develops and something happens and we don't. This has been that year where everything goes right. Even when something goes wrong, it turns into something right. I've heard 'team of destiny' mentioned a few times. It sure feels like something like that." It was fitting then that rookie was on the mound on Wednesday. Who, you might ask? Exactly. The kid from Celina, Texas, was a virtual unknown before the spotlight found him in the past 48 hours. Then, one day after Kluber could not slam the door on the Blue Jays to complete a sweep, it was Merritt who baffled Toronto in an outing that will go down in Indians lore. In Toronto's famously loud environment, the soft-tossing lefty confounded the Jays for 4 1/3 innings, forming the bridge to the . Merritt was the embodiment of the next-man-up mentality that has defined Cleveland's season. "He was unbelievable," Indians pitching coach said. "He was calm. It was unbelievable. I was nervous and he was all calm. He kind of calmed us all down." As Callaway spoke, walked over and dumped a series of beers on the pitching coach's head, and yelled for reporters to keep asking questions. Tomlin was taken in the 19th round of the MLB Draft by Cleveland in 2006. On the other side of the room, Carter Hawkins, Cleveland's director of player development, wrapped rookie outfielder (Cleveland's first-round pick in 2012) in a hug. Eleven players on the Tribe's ALCS roster were acquired via trades and 10 others were drafted and developed by the ballclub. Only and came aboard as Major League free agents. Cleveland is not able to compete with the big boys in free agency, and the team still pulled this off. That is the only way this team could make this happen. "Every scouting department has touched this," said Brad Grant, the Indians' director of amateur scouting. "We can see it now. This has been a team that's been built from within and everybody has a hand in it. To watch that and for everybody to have a part in that, it's really fulfilling." As players posed with the AL trophy behind him, Napoli smiled when asked if Wednesday's win served as a summation of this season. "That's us," Napoli said. "The amount of people that stepped in to be able to come up big, it's unbelievable. ... It's happened all year. We thrive on it. We're all family in here. It doesn't matter if you're coming in from Triple-A or not, we're all together in . To come together as a group, it's just something special."

Tribe in World Series: Better relieve it! By Jordan Bastian and Gregor Chisholm / MLB.com | October 19th, 2016 TORONTO -- This was not how the Indians would have imagined it. Then again, that fits this unbelievable, improbable season of theirs. Against all odds, defying all expectations in the wake of so many setbacks, this Indians team is going to the World Series. Believe it, Cleveland. The circumstances surrounding the clinching game on Wednesday were as incredible and unfathomable as everything else has been for the Tribe. In a 3-0 win over the Blue Jays in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, rookie Ryan Merritt -- with only one Major League start to his -- blanked Toronto's lineup and lasted long enough forALCS MVP Award winner and Cleveland's bullpen to apply the clamp. "Nobody has shied away from the challenges that we've faced," Indians ace Corey Klubersaid. "It speaks to the kinds of guys we have. Nobody is backing down from anything. Everybody is just trying to go out there and do their jobs." That it was Merritt on the mound -- a player so unknown that team owner Paul Dolan was searching for the in the clubhouse celebration to introduce himself -- was a fitting way for this Cleveland team to win the pennant. "It is absolutely fitting," said Dolan, as he held the AL championship trophy under his left arm. "It just demonstrates this was an organizational win. We've built a system, so when we needed somebody to step up in a crucial moment, we have people behind them." On the final out, popped up a pitch from , sending the baseball drifting into foul territory in front of the Indians' . First baseman Carlos Santana camped under the ball, squeezed it with his glove and dropped to his knees. As Santana lifted both arms into the air, his teammates formed a mob all around him in celebration. What is it about this team? "I think 'it' is the right word. We just have 'it,'" said Miller. "Nobody's scared. We started a guy that had one career start today, and we had confidence in him, and I think that's special. It's just top to bottom, like I said, there's 25 guys, the staff, top down from ownership, the way they treat us is unbelievable. There's a good reason why we're here." For the first time since 1997, the Indians are the champions of the AL. This marks the sixth pennant for the Cleveland franchise, which has not won the World Series since the days of Bob Feller, and in 1948. The 68-year drought is the second longest in the Major Leagues, trailing only the Cubs, who have not won it all since 1908. As it happens, the Indians could be awaiting the Cubs, who are currently tied with the Dodgers 2-2 in the National League Championship Series. Game 1 of the World Series will be Tuesday at Progressive Field. This will be the first time the Tribe starts a Fall Classic at home, as its other World Series appearances all began on the road. On the eve of Wednesday's game, Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista quipped that Merritt would be "shaking in his boots" more than Toronto's hitters. Indians manager Terry Francona laughed at that comment, but then did not disagree. Merritt is 24 years old, a wide-eyed rookie, and he was nervous. Rogers Centre houses eight times the population of Celina, Texas, where the lefty went to high school. It gets loud under the closed roof, and the Jays' bats can make the decibel level climb in a hurry. Before the champagne bottles popped open in the clubhouse, one of Merritt's teammates yelled, "Were you shaking in your boots?" The team broke into a collective roar and the party was soon underway. "I heard it," Merritt said of Bautista's comments. "But I didn't let it affect me or get to me. I mean, that's a good lineup. I guess he's got a right to say it. It's my first start, but the emotions out there were kind of crazy at first -- a little nervous. But it settled down, [I] just trusted myself." Merritt pounds the strike zone, though, and he did so again vs. the Blue Jays, keeping them guessing over 4 1/3 shutout innings. With a that sat around 86 mph, the southpaw was perfect through 10 batters before allowing a single to reigning AL Most Valuable Player Award winner in the fourth. Merritt moved on unfazed, creating a -play grounder off the bat of Edwin Encarnacion to end the inning. The left-hander struck out three, scattered two hits and walked none. "The only guy that really got in his way was probably me," said Francona. "He gave up one , but I thought where he got us, we could turn it over to our bullpen, the guys that have been doing it all year. But for him to do what he did under those circumstances -- he may not look the part, but he is beyond his years, and it's one of the most phenomenal things I've ever seen." The raucous crowd was quieted by a first-inning , which was delivered via a wall-bruising double by Mike Napoli. The volume continued to drop with solo home runs by Santana (third inning) and (fourth), giving the Indians the kind of lead needed to calm Merritt's nerves and once again lean on the bullpen. Both home runs came off Toronto's Marco Estrada, who pitched admirably for six innings, but was hung with a hard-luck loss in light of Cleveland's stalwart pitching staff. It marked the second straight season in which the Blue Jays exited stage left in October during the ALCS. That is a tremendous tease, and a bit of torture, for a fan base that has not celebrated a championship since 1993. "One thing you heard me say, it's a special group," said Toronto manager . "They come to play. They had another great year. We got to this point. We weren't able to get over the hump again. But you know what, a damn good job of getting to this point.

"I'm proud of those guys, as well as the coaching staff. I know the organization is proud of them, too. Hopefully the fans are just as proud of them, because it's an entertaining group.They put on a good show. We just got beat in this series. Plain and simple. Cleveland will be a great representative of the American League." got through the fifth, punctuating his escape with a of Kevin Pillar. As he bounded off the mound, the reliever pointed at catcher Roberto Perez and sprinted over to slap him on the rear. Next up was Miller, who has been nothing short of a force in October for the Tribe. The big lefty needed only one pitch to end the sixth with a double play and then worked 2 2/3 innings to hold the Blue Jays at bay. "To have that guy right now," starter Josh Tomlin said of Miller, "it'd be tough to be in the situation we're in right now without a guy like that." That set the stage for Allen, who was on the hill for the AL Central-clinching moment in Detroit on Sept. 26 and again for the final AL Division Series win over Boston. There Allen was again, hugging Perez as the players poured from the dugout in celebration. How did the Indians do this? They did it without Michael Brantley, who missed all but 11 games due to a shoulder injury. They did it without Danny Salazar or Carlos Carrasco, who were lost to arm injuries in September. They did it despite Trevor Bauer lacerating his pinkie finger while fixing one of his drones, jeopardizing the Tribe's pitching further in this ALCS. They did it with one of baseball's lower payrolls and with prognosticators picking other teams to take them down every step along the way. "Our guys, from the start of the year," Indians team president Chris Antonetti said, "really focused on who was here and, 'How do we find a way to win that night's game?' They've overcome a lot of adversity. It's certainly not the script we would have written at the start of the year." This is a script that would have been rejected by Hollywood, and yet here the Indians are anyway. Four months ago, the Cavs ended Cleveland's championship drought with an improbable to win the NBA Finals. The Tribe is showing that the city might just not be done. "It's going to be nuts," Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis said. "Cleveland rallies around its teams pretty well, especially when it comes to the playoffs. They do a fantastic job showing up. They come with it. They're going to be ready to go, and they're going to be an advantage for us." MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Getting ahead early: Given Merritt's lack of experience, and Cleveland's October formula of leaning on its bullpen, striking swiftly was imperative for the Tribe. Heading into Wednesday, the Indians were 68-20 when scoring first, including a 5-0 showing this postseason. got things rolling by slashing a curveball from Estrada into left for a two-out single in the first inning. Napoli then drilled a changeup off the left-field wall for a double, with Lindor scoring on 's while fielding the hit. That allowed Merritt to take the hill armed with a lead in only his first career postseason start, after making just one big league start in the regular season. "That definitely helped," Cleveland pitching coach Mickey Callaway said. "For the offense to come out off an unbelievable pitcher who's been pitching lights-out in the postseason, to score a run early was huge. Let him relax and, 'Hey, I'm ahead.' So he could just sit there and hit the down-away corner, cut balls in on their hands and make some pitches." The last hurrah: The crowd at Rogers Centre did not have a lot to cheer about in Game 5, but they did not miss an opportunity to honor their longtime sluggers in the bottom of the ninth. Bautista and Encarnacion are both set to become free agents this offseason, and it's anyone's guess where they will end up. Toronto fans recognized the moment by greeting Bautista with a standing ovation, and he responded with a leadoff double to the corner in left field. That created a thunderous amount of applause, and two batters later, Encarnacion stepped into the box with the crowd doing its typical "Eddie, Eddie" chant. Unfortunately for the Blue Jays, Encarnacion struck out and the inning did not materialize into anything more than a possible send-off for two of the club's all-time greats. "I don't think it's the right time to be talking about that," Bautista said when asked if he thought Wednesday's game was his last with Toronto. "We just battled through a tough series. There's a lot of stuff in here and I don't want to make this about myself, and I don't really feel like I'm in the right state of mind to be talking about that. I know it's a possibility, but we'll see what happens." Crisp, Santana add on: In the AL Division Series, Crisp launched a key in Cleveland's clinching win over Boston. The veteran followed suit on Wednesday, pulling an Estrada pitch into the visitors' bullpen beyond the right-field wall in the fourth to give the Indians a 3-0 lead. When working with a cushion of at least three runs this season, the Tribe had a 68-1 record, and that held up again this time. Crisp's blast came an inning after Santana did his part with some power, too. Santana also sent a shot out to right, his coming with an exit velocity of 103 mph. Both blasts were the second of the postseason for each switch-hitter. "That's us. We're not trying to go out there and be this crazy offense," Napoli said. "We're an offense that works together, whatever the situation is. We try to score early, let our settle in. As it goes on, we try to scrap [for] runs. Just tack on runs. It's a carbon copy of what we've been able to do all year, what we did today." Trouble with the RISP: Toronto's first opportunity with runners in scoring position did not come until the bottom of the fifth inning. Merritt surrendered a one-out bloop single toRussell Martin and was then pulled from the game in favor of Shaw. Pinch-hitter followed with a single of his own as the Blue Jays put a pair of runners on base with one out. Shaw escaped the jam by striking out Carrera and Pillar in back-to-back at-bats to end the inning. "Probably a bad time to get into what happened and who did what and who didn't," Gibbons said after the game. "Our guys had a tremendous year, they got to this point." Miller Time: Francona handed the ball to Miller with one out and a runner on first in the sixth inning. The 6-foot-7 lefty escaped with a double play against Donaldson and then turned in his sixth straight multi-inning effort of the postseason. Toronto put seven balls in play against Miller, but still could not break through. In the ALCS overall, Miller ended with 14 and three hits allowed in 7 2/3 shutout innings. He is the first pitcher since 2005 (Kelvim Escobar) to have six straight relief appearances consisting of at least four outs in a single postseason. Miller's 14 strikeouts tied an LCS relief record ( had 14 for Astros in 2004). "Nobody's ever done that. He was unbelievable," Callaway said about Miller's overpowering ALCS. "It was like tonight he [said], 'I'm going to get some ground balls and conserve my pitches.' It was unbelievable. I think the kid can do whatever he wants." QUOTABLE "First and foremost, we're all just fans. I was enjoying the win like everybody else. I still remember in '95, how thrilled I was that my team could make it to the World Series. I never thought that was possible. Now, to do it in this position, to be able to be there with my father and to accept this trophy, those are the things you don't dream about as kids. You can't imagine it's even possible." -- Dolan, who grew up in Cleveland and whose family bought the team in 2000 "There's players that maybe will never or have never experienced a playoff atmosphere at all. So to be able to enjoy these little moments is huge for us. Enjoy it right now. Then when tomorrow morning comes, it's time to show up to work and try to get back to business as usual, and try to figure a game plan against either Chicago or L.A., whoever we've got to face." -- Tomlin "This morning, I told Napoli, 'I know the team needs me and I have to do something special.' Napoli told me, 'I believe you. You have the talent. You've helped the team a lot.' So, when I hit the home run, he told me, 'I told you. I told you.'" -- Santana WHAT'S NEXT Indians: For the first time in 19 years, the Tribe is heading to the World Series. Cleveland came within one win of reaching the Fall Classic in 2007, but fell short. This team went 7-1 through the ALDS and the ALCS to punch its ticket. Now the Indians await the winner of the Cubs- Dodgers NLCS. In all likelihood, Kluber would take the ball in Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday night at Progressive Field. Blue Jays: Toronto's season is complete. The Jays will open the 2017 season against the Orioles in Baltimore on April 3, with the 2017 home opener set for April 11 vs. the Brewers. Jordan Bastian has covered the Indians for MLB.com since 2011, and previously covered the Blue Jays from 2006-10. Read his blog,

ALCS MVP Miller stars among 'pen pals By Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com | October 19th, 2016 TORONTO -- In the lead-up to October, Terry Francona would tell anybody who would listen that, to get through the postseason, you need to have a guy who does something "extreme." Andrew Miller, your all-too-obvious American League Championship Series MVP in the wake of the Indians' clinching 3-0 victory over the Blue Jays in Game 5 on Wednesday, would certainly qualify. What word, other than "extreme," describes a man whose left arm accounted for five outs in Game 1, six in Game 2, four in Game 3 and eight in Game 5 -- each and every one of the Tribe's victories over the Blue Jays? What word better describes an otherwise indescribable pitching line: 7 2/3 innings, three hits, 14 strikeouts (tying Brad Lidge's LCS relief record from 2004), no walks and one save? What word better describes a 6-foot-7 dude with a wipeout slider who is as comfortable pitching in the fifth as he is in the ninth and has quickly and undoubtedly repaid an organization for dealing away a few of its most prominent prospects? What better word describes just the fifth time a reliever has won an LCS MVP? Yeah. This was extreme. "I don't know," said closer Cody Allen, "if you'll ever see that kind of performance in a series again, what he did against a lineup like that." Well, shoot, maybe we'll see it in the World Series, where the Indians are headed for the first time in 19 years. Because Miller is on some kind of roll. In the entirety of October, Miller has given the Indians 11 2/3 innings in which he's allowed just five hits with two walks and -- gulp -- 21 K's. Opponents are hitting .132 off him, and he's posted a minuscule 0.60 WHIP. But the only that mattered to Miller is seven, for the number of wins they've compiled in this amazing October run. "I would have given up a hundred runs if we won 101-100," he said. "That's all that matters is we're going to the World Series, and that's a special experience and I can't wait." It's not going to the extreme to say the Indians would not be embarking upon that experience if it weren't for Miller. To best the Blue Jays, they jumped on his back -- even if it takes a stepladder to reach it. The Indians started their ace, Corey Kluber, on short rest for the first time in his career in Game 4 of this ALCS because they quite literally would have had nobody else who could confidently go on three days' rest or more if the series had extended to a Game 7. In Game 2, they started Josh Tomlin, who just two months ago was cast out of their rotation altogether. In Game 3, they started a guy with 10 stitches in his finger, Trevor Bauer, and then watched blood drip out of said finger after two outs. They had All-Star starter Danny Salazar throwing simulated sessions on the side as part of his elbow rehab and Carlos Carrasco -- who got down-ballot AL Award votes in 2015 -- walking around with a brace on his broken hand. In other words, this was an unusual series for the pennant-winners, from a starting perspective. And the only way to survive such a thing is to have an unusual weapon in your bullpen. Miller was the weapon waiting in the wings when the Tribe sent untested rookie Ryan Merrittto the mound to start Game 5, just the second start of his big league life. The Indians knew if they could just jump out to an early lead and Merritt could work his way through that vaunted Toronto lineup a time or two without totally coming undone, they could start rolling out the relievers. And that's exactly what happened, with the added bonus that Merritt allowed just two hits in 4 1/3 scoreless innings. After Bryan Shaw got the last two outs of the fifth and the first of the sixth, Miller came on with a runner aboard. He needed exactly one pitch -- a 93.5-mph four-seamer -- to get reigning AL MVP Josh Donaldson to ground into the inning-ending double play. And then, in the seventh, he needed just 12 pitches to mow right through Edwin Encarnacion (flyout),Troy Tulowitzki (groundout) and Russell Martin (groundout). All right, so that killed his enormous postseason strikeout rate, but at least it was efficient work. singled off Miller for the second time in three days to lead off the eighth. But Miller quickly regrouped to strike out Ezequiel Carrera, get Kevin Pillar to ground into a forceout and get to fly out harmlessly to left. Eight outs, 21 pitches, then hand it off to Allen for the series-clinching save. Good work if you can get it. Miller's performance is an extreme extension of what he gave the Indians following his July 31 arrival in that blockbuster trade with the Yankees. In 26 regular-season appearances with his new club, he had a 1.55 ERA and a .433 opponents' OPS. Francona turned Miller into his favorite toy, foisting him upon opponents in high-leverage spots in the sixth, seventh, eighth or ninth and, in retrospect, providing a preview of the way he'd utilize this unique edge on the October stage. Through it all, Miller, in the second year of a four-year, $36 million contract, has never worried about his role. "All that matters are outs," Miller said. "All that matters are wins. It honestly does not matter how we get there." The Indians got there because they took on an inordinate amount of risk in the Miller deal. They didn't totally empty their system, but they gave up four players in all and three ( at No. 1, at No. 5 and at No. 30) of their Top 30 Prospects, as ranked by MLBPipeline.com. They also took on the remaining sum of Miller's large contract, which would be a pittance on some clubs but, for the Indians, currently projects to be one of their top three (assumingCarlos Santana's option is exercised) expenditures in 2017. "We gave up a lot, but it's all about winning," owner Paul Dolan said. "And we were positioned to win this year and it's very clear now that Andrew Miller was the big difference in terms of getting us there, because of what he meant to our pitching staff and our bullpen, particularly. Yeah, years from now I suspect we'll look at some of these guys that we traded and say, 'Why did we trade them?' But then we'll look at the couple trophies we have and we'll know why we did it." On Wednesday night, Miller got his trophy, and the Indians got theirs. Now the World Series awaits. It's an extreme stage, certainly, but the Indians think they have just the guy to handle it. Anthony Castrovince has been a reporter for MLB.com since 2004. Read his columns and follow him on Twitter at @Castrovince. This story

Relieveland! Title not without Merritt TORONTO -- Ryan Merritt sprinted out of the visitors' dugout at Rogers Centre and was the first Indians player on the field. The pitcher ran across the turf, jumped over the first-base chalk line and plucked the baseball from the mound dirt before getting ready for some warmup tosses. That display at the start of the third inning Wednesday made one thing very clear: Even with a trip to the World Series on the line, Merritt was not overwhelmed. The small-town kid from Texas was eager and ready to take on Toronto's lineup, and his name will now be remembered for decades by Tribe fans after the Indians' 3-0 win over the Blue Jays in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series. "I loved it," fellow Indians starter Josh Tomlin said amidst the champagne mist in the visitors' clubhouse. "I loved every second of it." Merritt was counted out before the game even began. With a fastball that registers around 86 mph -- slower than Carlos Carrasco's changeup -- the Blue Jays' lineup was supposed to be licking its chops and sending souvenirs into the left-field seats. Instead, Merritt flirted with the edges of the zone, pumped strike after strike after strike, worked into the fifth and helped push the Indians to their first World Series berth since 1997. Circumstances led to Merritt being in this position. With right-handers Danny Salazarand Carrasco injured, Cleveland's rotation has been whittled down to three: Corey Kluber,Trevor Bauer and Tomlin. Merritt was not even going to be on the ALCS roster, but plans changed when Bauer cut open his right pinkie finger Thursday night. The Indians went with Merritt as insurance, and then handed him the ball for Game 5. Before the game, Indians manager Terry Francona passed the 24-year-old lefty and shared a few words. "I just wanted to let him know this isn't life or death," Francona said. There were nerves -- plenty of them -- but Cleveland picked Merritt for a reason. The Indians' advance scouting of Toronto's lineup led to a few discoveries. First, the Blue Jays are susceptible to breaking balls. That is why Kluber and Tomlin set career highs in curves thrown in Games 1 and 2. Cleveland also found that having a lefty who can get ahead quick can tilt the percentages in the Indians' favor. While the Indians were doing this homework, though, Merritt was out in Arizona facing hitters to keep his arm loose. He pitched in instructional league games and had simulated outings. The idea was to keep him ready in case of emergency. Well, emergency called, and the scouting reports indicated that Merritt would be a good choice. Even with only 11 Major League innings to his name, Merritt could be counted on to throw strikes. "We looked into it," Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway said. "If you're a lefty and you throw first-pitch strikes and fill up the strike zone, these guys don't do a ton." The Indians also felt confident that Merritt would not be intimidated by a Rogers Centre crowd that has rattled plenty of pitchers before him. That feeling dates all the way back to when Merritt was pitching for McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas, before the Indians picked him in the 16th round of the 2011 MLB Draft. When Cleveland got to know Merritt, it believed that his calm demeanor and competitiveness were attributes that could overcome any lack of stuff. "Our scouts did an unbelievable job of recognizing that," said Brad Grant, Cleveland's director of amateur scouting. "The way he handled it was incredible tonight. He didn't get rattled." Rogers Centre houses around 50,000 fans, which is roughly eight times the population of Celina, Texas, where Merritt went to high school. Tomlin -- a native of Whitehouse, Texas -- said Celina was known for its powerhouse football program. Now, it's the "Home of Ryan Merritt." "No doubt about it," Tomlin said. "He's the face of that dang town right now." Merritt's first batter of the game was Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista, who rolled over an 84-mph cutter for a groundout to third baseman Jose Ramirez. One day earlier, it was Bautista who said that Merritt would be "shaking in his boots" more than Toronto's hitters. "I heard it," Merritt said. With those words on his mind, and under the skin of all Merritt's teammates, the lefty was perfect through the first 10 batters he faced. After he finally surrendered a single to Josh Donaldson in the fourth, Merritt recovered with an inning-ending double-play groundout. He worked two more batters in the fifth before Francona opted to turn the game over to the bullpen. ALCS MVP Award winner Andrew Miller and Co. then finished the job. "The only guy that really got in his way was probably me," said Francona. "For him to do what he did under those circumstances, he may not look the part, but he is beyond his years, and it's one of the most phenomenal things I've ever seen." Before the champagne popped in the clubhouse after the win, a teammate yelled, "Were you shaking in your boots?" Another shouted: "Speech, Merritt! Speech!" Merritt smiled, but kept quiet. Then, the party started. "He's the unflappable Ryan Merritt," Callaway said. "He probably doesn't even know [Toronto's hitters'] names." They know his name now. Jordan Bastian has covered the Indians for MLB.com since 2011, and previously covered the Blue Jays from 2006-10. Read his blog,

Indians celebrate first WS appearance in 19 years By Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com | @castrovince | October 19th, 2016 TORONTO -- The cigar smoke was filling up the visiting manager's clubhouse in the bowels of Rogers Centre, but the bag sitting on a shelf had been kept safe and dry from the champagne-spraying madness taking place just a few yards down the hall. Terry Francona rummaged around in that bag and pulled out his iPhone. Sure enough, there it was, buried amid the avalanche of voicemails and the 186 text messages that had flooded Francona's phone in less than an hour. The missed call had come in mere seconds after 6:46 p.m. ET Wednesday, when the , with a 3-0 victory over the Blue Jays, had clinched the American League pennant and their first ticket to the World Series in nearly two decades. The caller ID confirmed Francona's hypothesis: Dad. The real . That's where this story starts, because that's where Francona's baseball story starts, shadowing his dad at old Municipal Stadium. The tug of the heart is a powerful thing, and in this case, it was enough to get a two-time World Series-winning skipper to at least consider coming to Cleveland, a place where an accomplishment like this can't possibly come without collaboration and an enormous amount of creativity. Francona knew how much it would mean to his father, the former outfielder who spent six years with the Indians' organization and never let it leave his blood, to see the Tribe on the World Series stage. "This has been good for him," the younger Tito said. "He's getting older, but he's been glued to every game. His whole day is wrapped around what time the game starts." From there, we jump -- run, rather -- to the two treadmills side by side at the Anaheim Marriott at the in December 1999. Mark Shapiro, the young assistant of the Indians, found himself working out beside Francona, skipper for the Phillies. "We had , , [agent] Pat Rooney -- a lot of common friends," Shapiro recalled. "So it was easy for me to start a conversation." And, it turns out, a friendship. When Francona was dismissed by the Phils after the following season, it was only natural for the Indians to bring him aboard as a special advisor while he waited for his next managerial opportunity -- the one where he would make history, build a legacy and, after things went sour in Boston in that awful September 2011, become perhaps the most valuable free-agent manager in the game. Where are the Indians right now if Francona doesn't spend an uncomfortable season on ESPN before looking for his next gig? Where are they if Shapiro doesn't squeeze a workout into the typically swamped schedule at the Winter Meetings? Where are they if Frank "Trader" Lane doesn't deal Larry Doby, the man who broke the color barrier in the AL, for a young and hungry kid from western Pennsylvania. Every manager gets credit when a club wins. Every manager gets burned at the stake when a club loses. But honestly, logically, there is no way the Indians win the pennant with their rotation in shambles and their lineup robbed of its best hitter if not for Francona. It's really that simple. Take the Ryan Merritt masterpiece as a fresh example. Francona caught his fair share of first- and second-guessing for starting Corey Kluber on short rest with the Tribe up 3-0 in the AL Championship Series, but he did it both out of the desperation of knowing, in the aftermath of Trevor Bauer's bleeding finger, that he'd have no other viable starting options in a Game 7 unless he tweaked Kluber's schedule and the confidence that, should Kluber falter in Game 4, he could calm the nerves of a kid with just 11 Major League innings to his name in advance of a Game 5. Francona called Merritt into his office a few hours before Game 5, and he gave him a tactically brief backing. "Hey man, this isn't life or death," he told Merritt. "No matter the outcome, just go and pitch. We're behind you, I'm behind you, the team's behind you. Just go out there and have fun." It made the kid feel good. And Merritt, with 4 1/3 shutout innings in which only two of the 14 men he faced reached base, pitched the game of his life. "I think what you see," said Tribe general manager , "is an atmosphere where guys aren't afraid to take advantage of situations and step into a moment. Every single one of those conversations during the year is a moment where he's building that culture." The Indians have had a ton of guys step in and step up in this ridiculous run of seven wins in eight October games. And that's an organizational victory for a team that was the only postseason entrant which entered the year in the bottom 10 in payroll. But people aren't paying lip service when they say the confidence to overcome limited resources and injury adversity stems from the skipper. "He's a difference-maker," said Shapiro, the Blue Jays' president, after he visited Francona's office to offer his heartfelt congrats. "More than I ever would have imagined." Tribe owner Paul Dolan admitted much the same. "I didn't fully appreciate," said Dolan, "what a difference he would make with our franchise." In a lot of ways, Francona legitimized the Indians' effort. Even as the Indians necessarily scaled back their payroll in the wake of the -orchestrated glory days of the 1990s, the front office led by Shapiro and Chris Antonetti remained a model for many others in terms of its analytical approach and focus on the farm. But success came only in short spurts, and the difficulty of sustaining that success was deeply rooted in the inability not to groom top talent, but to keep it. The margin for error was impossibly small, and that's why a disastrous development like coughing up a 3-1 lead in the 2007 ALCS hurt so hard. Francona couldn't change the finances, but he could change the clubhouse. He could achieve buy-in from the veterans and youngsters whose playing time wouldn't always be assured, selling them on the value of effective partnerships that pay off in the longer run. Francona couldn't attract the nine-figure free agents, but he could attract a guy like Mike Napoli, a playoff-tested vet looking not for the most lucrative home but the right one. And as we've seen night after night on this postseason stage, he could manage a bullpen like few can. Shapiro and Antonetti knew all this when that first contact was made with Francona with the 2012 season spiraling out of control and good as gone. But in some ways, as conversations escalated, they probably spent more time reminding Francona about the negatives associated with the position rather than pouncing on the positives. To say Cleveland -- with scant fans in the stands on those cold April nights (or, for that matter, many warm June, July and August nights) -- is not Boston is an understatement. Shapiro and Antonetti were worried that after the initial excitement of returning to his baseball roots wore off, Francona would feel the pangs of regret. But he signed on, because he valued the "we" more than the "me." "A lot of people came to me and said, 'I thought you were going to cherry-pick,'" Francona said. "My answer is that I did. I knew I'd be happy here, going to work every day with these guys. I wanted to do that." The Indians won in Francona's first year, a blissful run of 10 straight wins at season's end that, ultimately, only set them up for the heartbreak of the AL Game. They won in 2014 and '15, too, just not enough to hang with the Tigers and then the Royals. They entered this year with a vaunted rotation fronted by Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar, a questionable lineup shrouded by concern about Michael Brantley's recovery from shoulder surgery and a farm system strong enough to put them in the mix for any of the summer's prime pieces. If not for that farm and a 14-win run in the second half of June, Cleveland wouldn't have been able to swing the Andrew Miller trade. But the Indians pulled the trigger on that deal in large part because they knew they had a progressive skipper who would maximize the value of the relief arm they were giving up such a large swath of their system to land. And Francona has surely maximized Miller this month. It seems impossible to say this about a man who ended an 86-year curse in a major market, but this improbable advancement is surely Francona's finest managerial moment to date. Given the Indians' hurdles and their health, they have no business heading where they're headed. But they're headed there all the same, and it's a story borne out of family and friendships and faith in the ability to overcome all odds. "Me and Chris talked about it a lot of times, even in tough times," Francona said in that private moment in his office, the party outside raging on. "We'd say, 'If we can do it, it's going to be that much more meaningful.' And you know what? It is." Anthony Castrovince has been a reporter for MLB.com since 2004. Read his columns and follow him on Twitter at @Castrovince. This story

Relieve-Miller band keeps on rockin' By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com | @BryanHoch | October 19th, 2016 TORONTO -- In some alternate universe, the American League Championship Series might have turned when Blue Jays manager John Gibbons made that slow amble out of the dugout in Game 3, alerting home-plate Brian Gorman to the blood that was rapidly stainingTrevor Bauer's right pants leg. It did not, as the Indians' very capable bullpen soaked up 25 outs and pushed the Blue Jays to the brink of elimination, then sent them home two days later with a 3-0 victory in Wednesday's Game 5. No matter what happens in the World Series, the Indians' bullpen use this October will be talked about for years to come. "That bullpen game after Bauer couldn't go, that was the key to the series," Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway said. "It put us up 3-0 and then we could just relax and play baseball from then on." ALCS MVP Andrew Miller has proved to be every bit the valuable weapon that the Indians thought he would be, as manager Terry Francona's favorite names in this ALCS were the ones repeatedly crossed off of his lineup card. His relievers soaked up 22 of 44 innings, permitting four earned runs and compiling a 1.63 ERA. • World Series Game 1: Tuesday on FOX "Our bullpen did some phenomenal things," Francona said. "They answered the bell time after time after time, and they're going to have to continue to do that. But everybody chips in wherever they're asked and they do the best they can. And to this point it's been good enough." Over eight postseason games, Cleveland relievers have limited opponents to six earned runs in 32 1/3 innings (1.67 ERA), with a .212 opponent batting average and a 0.99 WHIP. The bulk of the work has been done by Miller (11 2/3 innings), Cody Allen (7 2/3 innings) andBryan Shaw (5 2/3 innings). • Bullpen anchor Miller wins ALCS MVP Award "Just top to bottom, we love our guys," Miller said. "We had guys out there who were getting their first playoff experience. Nobody was scared. Everybody went out there and attacked. They had every excuse to be rusty or not throw the ball well, and they didn't. What an awesome group." It was telling how short Francona's leash was on starter Ryan Merritt in Game 5. Even though the rookie faced the minimum through the first four innings, Russell Martin's one-out single was enough to trigger the reliever sequence of Shaw, Miller and Allen. All pitched scorelessly. "The way Francona used their bullpen is not something you see very often," Toronto's Kevin Pillar said. "You give him a lot of credit for taking guys out of their comfort zone from what they were doing all year. Shaw is one of the best setup guys in the game, and here we're seeing him in the fifth and sixth inning." Allen said that he believes Indians catcher Roberto Perez's effect has been overlooked in guiding the hurlers past the Blue Jays' potent offense, which scored the second-most runs in the Majors this season. "We need everybody here," Perez said. "I think it's a collective thing. As a team we did a pretty good job. I think the main thing was, everybody was ready to pitch. It doesn't matter, any situation. Oh man, they were awesome. "I think our starters gave us good innings and then our bullpen was fantastic. If we get to them early, we were going to have success. Tito loves this bullpen, I love our bullpen. It was a big team win." Though there were some loud Toronto outs, navigating Game 5 seemed like a breeze compared to what Cleveland had to deal with in Game 3. With Bauer unable to continue, "Disco" , and Zach McAllisterweaved through the next 3 2/3 innings before Shaw and Allen each recorded five outs before handing off to Miller. "I don't think there's enough credit, first of all for guys that had long layoffs and came in to pitch well," Miller said. "Otero coming in because of Trevor's finger bleeding issue, and warming up in front of this crowd -- doing that whole routine in front of this crowd. For whatever reason, it's a lot more difficult than I think people give credit for." That night, more than any other, reinforced the Indians' belief in relief. "When we won that game, it was one of those things like, 'If we can win that game, we can win any game,'" Allen said. Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of or its clubs.

Indians welcome break before Fall Classic By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com | @BryanHoch | October 19th, 2016 TORONTO -- They'll have five full days to string up the bunting at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario, preparing Progressive Field and its surrounding area to host Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday. Until then, the Indians plan on enjoying every second of their American League Championship Series afterglow. Sometimes, clinching a postseason series early can be viewed as a negative, forcing a club to wait around before it can advance to the next round. That was not the case as the Indians celebrated their ALCS-clinching 3-0 win over the Blue Jays on Wednesday, looking ahead to giving their batteries a much-needed charge as they await the Cubs or Dodgers. It'll be the first time Cleveland starts a World Series at home. "For Andrew Miller and those guys, it does a lot," Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway said. "We really like the fact that they get to rest for a little bit. We'll do some sim games to keep everybody where they should be. It's a huge lift for us to go into the World Series." Of the 16 teams that had a wait of five or more days after winning an LCS, eight went on to win the World Series, though the 2015 Mets were the fourth straight to lose. The last one to win after such a layoff was the 2008 Phillies. As for Game 1 specifically, when a layoff should theoretically cause the most harm if it is in fact a problem: teams beginning the World Series following five-plus days of rest are a combined 7-9 in Game 1. The 2006 Tigers committed three errors after their six-day break in 2006, but that appears to be more the exception than the rule. The other 15 teams combined for just nine errors in Game 1. Manager Terry Francona had to push his bullpen hard to get past the Blue Jays, including using Miller for 7 2/3 splendid innings that ended with the left-hander bringing home honors as the MVP of the ALCS. Including the AL Division Series sweep of the Red Sox, Miller has thrown a staggering 172 pitches over the past 12 days. Contrary to popular belief, Miller is not a slider-wielding cyborg, so the very human hurler hopes the layoff will allow him to come back at full strength. "I think it'll be nice," Miller said. "Our training staff, the way our organization takes care of that kind of stuff, the way they understand recovery and health is going to go a long way. I expect to feel great." After a full Spring Training, 161 regular-season games (a Sept. 29 at Detroit was never made up) and hard-fought playoff battles with Boston and Toronto, Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis said that he and the rest of the team's position players can't wait for a little R&R. "I almost asked Tito for the day off today," Kipnis said. "I was hanging there, my swing wasn't feeling too good. I almost got the day off today. He said, 'Go the first inning, see how you feel.' It's a long season, I'm sure everyone is running on fumes. "Everyone in the NL is running on fumes, but at this point, you really don't care. You really don't feel too much of the pain because you're having so much fun and it's so exciting to be a part of this that you just go out and play the game." The five-day wait also will be important as the Indians look to get Trevor Bauer back on the mound after he was forced out of his Game 3 ALCS start in the first inning. The additional time can only help Bauer, who was seen by renowned hand specialist Dr. Thomas Graham in Toronto. Francona has suggested that Bauer could be penciled in for Game 3 of the World Series on Oct. 28 or Game 4 on Oct. 29. That would give him 10 or 11 days, respectively, between outings to give the wound more time to heal. "So he's going to be available at some time in the World Series and that thing's going to be healed by then," Callaway said. "We're going to need him to pitch probably two games. We're excited that he'll be back." Another starter, Danny Salazar, continues on a throwing program as he attempts to return from a forearm strain. It's unclear whether he will be available, but most likely if Salazar pitches in the World Series, it will be as a reliever. Five days. Plenty of time to set up in Cleveland. Speaking of which -- when is that Party at Napoli's, anyway? "I don't know -- I'm not even worried about it yet, you know what I'm saying?" Mike Napolisaid. "We're going to enjoy this. This is something special. This is something that doesn't happen often. To be able to get here and do this, we need to enjoy this and when the time comes, we'll worry about it." Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Crisp homers in third straight Tribe clincher By Jane Lee / MLB.com | @JaneMLB | October 19th, 2016 TORONTO -- Much praise has been bestowed upon the World Series-bound Indians for their actions ahead of the non-waiver Trade Deadline. They landed the grand prize, after all, in American League Championship Series MVP Andrew Miller, and any discussion about their wheeling and dealing has to start with him. Coco Crisp surely deserves a mention, though. Crisp arrived after Miller, and just before the less-heralded postseason roster deadline on Aug. 31 as a last-minute addendum to an Indians club that was planning for a postseason without outfielder , who was deemed ineligible for the playoffs as part of his punishment after testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance. Crisp would be a nice filler, the Indians thought. First they had to convince him to sign off on the deal, though; Crisp, nearing the end of his seventh season in Oakland, had the right to veto the trade because of his 10 and five rights (10 years in the big leagues, the past five being with his current team). He didn't, and boy, are the Indians better for it. On Wednesday, amid the backdrop of starterRyan Merritt's gutsy performance, Crisp chimed in with a solo home run, helping the Indians take down the Blue Jays with a 3-0 victory in Game 5 of the ALCS to clinch their first World Series appearance in nearly two decades. Each of Crisp's past three home runs have come in clinchers: the switch-hitter homered Sept. 26, when the Indians claimed the AL Central, and again Oct. 10, the day Cleveland punched its ticket to the ALCS with an AL Division Series sweep of Boston. This is no coincidence. "He's a big-time player," said Indians reliever Dan Otero, who played with Crisp in Oakland. "He loves the big moments." Otero remembers hearing about Crisp's impending return to Cleveland, where the 15-year veteran began his career in 2002, and immediately texting A's pitcher . "I was like, 'Hey, you think Coco's going to help us?'" Otero recalled Wednesday night, in between tastes of champagne. "He told me, 'Absolutely he's going to help you." Crisp has that way about him. Even when he was relegated to a reserve role this season, as the A's tried to keep the injury-prone player -- he had six DL stints with Oakland -- on the field, Crisp kept at it, proving his worth as a valuable bench bat. He led all AL players with a .392 average with runners in scoring position. Each of the previous two seasons saw Crisp battling a chronic neck issue that can only be resolved with likely career-ending surgery. "He was always on the couch, in the trainer's room," said Otero, who has found Crisp after each of Cleveland's clinching victories. "We've embraced after every one of them," Otero said, "and to see the smile on his face every time has just been awesome." "For Cleveland to want me back here, for Oakland to give me the chance to come to a winning environment, it's very special, and I feel very blessed to be here with these guys," Crisp said. "To come back to the place where I started, and to be in this situation with these guys, who have been grinding all year, I can't say enough, It's like a family in here." In 2002, the Indians acquired Crisp from the Cardinals as the player to be named in the trade, later packaging him to Boston in 2006 with and in a deal to pick up prospect , among others. Crisp played under then-Boston manager Terry Francona, the man responsible for guiding the Indians to this year's Fall Classic, and won his first World Series championship in 2007 with Boston. Crisp will turn 37 on Nov. 1. His steps have slowed, but his pulse for the game hasn't. "I think he underappreciates himself a little bit," Mike Napoli said. "He's a humble guy, but he brings a whole lot to the table." Jane Lee has been a reporter for MLB.com since 2010. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Title town? Cleveland fans toast ALCS win CLEVELAND -- Every out was drawing thunderous applause, and by the time the Indians clinched a World Series berth with their 3-0 win on Wednesday over the Blue Jays, fans across Cleveland could not hold in their excitement. The win has Cleveland within reach of a second major sports crown this year, following the Cavaliers' NBA title in June that broke the city's 52- year championship drought. This is the first appearance for the Indians in a World Series since 1997, and they haven't won since 1948. Honking cars in the streets, cheering fans at the sports bars; Cleveland was the place to be. For many fans, Camino -- a Mexican restaurant on West Ninth Street -- proved to be a popular spot. Cleveland natives Maggie Williams and Molly Wantz, both 23, rushed to meet at Camino to watch the game, because they didn't have a television set up in their new apartment yet but wanted to support their team. "I know people from out of state buying championship shirts and Cleveland shirts and wearing them when they go back to their state," Wantz said. "Everybody's excited to celebrate." The story was similar for another fan, 27-year-old Cleveland native Peter Fellowes. Despite the 4 p.m. ET start time on a working day, he was able to grab a bite to eat and watch the final frames with the other fans. "I was at the office, and a couple of the guys in the conference room across from my desk had the game on, so I was working until a little after 5, catching pieces of what was going on," Fellowes said. "We haven't done this since '97. Hopefully it doesn't end like that, but it's good that we've had a good season." The Indians will face the winner of the Cubs and Dodgers, with the first game of the World Series at Progressive Field on Tuesday. The city is abuzz despite its history of sports heartache, with fans feeling like this is their year. "The whole city the whole year has been exciting," Cleveland native Mike Smerick, 60, said. "Between the Cavs and the Indians, it's been a great summer." Ben Weinrib is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Shapiro salutes Indians in bittersweet moment By Richard Justice / MLB.com | October 19th, 2016 TORONTO -- Mark Shapiro choked back tears as he searched for words. He wanted to say this just right, and he didn't want anyone to misconstrue his swirl of emotions. Shapiro had just come from the visitors' clubhouse at Rogers Centre, where some of his closest friends were celebrating the Cleveland Indians winning the American League pennant. For the past 11 months, Shapiro has been the president and CEO of the . This is the team he's completely invested in. On that, there's no conflict. He wants to be clear about that. "When the first pitch was thrown, I wanted to win," Shapiro said. "I wasn't conflicted in the least." Until last November, though, the Indians had been Shapiro's team. He'd served the franchise in a variety of roles for 24 seasons, including the last five as team president. Shapiro's fingerprints are all over the Indians, not just in the personnel, but in the franchise's structure and style of doing business. The Tribe is respected throughout baseball for doing things a certain way. For hiring talented people. For empowering them and trusting them. This was Shapiro's legacy with the franchise, and on Wednesday evening, the Indians accomplished the very thing he had been focused on for most of his adult life. After beating Shapiro's new team, 3-0, in Game 5 of the AL Championship Series, Cleveland is going to the World Series for the first time since 1997. Shapiro, bitterly disappointed, eventually made his way down a hallway to the Tribe's clubhouse and stepped inside to congratulate the Indians. This is what baseball people almost always do after a postseason series. This walk, though, was different. In that celebration, Shapiro found people he hired, admired and respected, from team president Chris Antonetti to manager Terry Francona to dozens of others. Antonetti, who was promoted after Shapiro's departure, thanked his former boss. The hug they shared was symbolic of their years together and how hard they'd worked for a moment like this one. "There is no classier person than Mark," Antonetti said. "I know it's really difficult for him in the moment because the team he works for ultimately didn't come out on the right end for him. "But I encouraged him to really look around the room and think about the impact on every single person that was here and his efforts throughout the entirety of his time here and the impact he's made on the organization and the people. "We wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for Mark's efforts. I'm incredibly grateful to have worked alongside him for as long as we did, and his impact will be here for a long time." Afterward, Shapiro tried to sort through everything he was feeling. "That room is full of people I've known for 25 years," he said, voice cracking. "It's the relationships in this game. Anyone who has been in this game knows it's all about the people. It's really hard to articulate." Shapiro was awash in memories, thinking of Indians owner Paul Dolan among others. "For the owners, their steadfast belief," Shapiro said. "That doesn't always happen in this game. I'm incredibly happy for Chris, who I love and respect. And Tito. And people like [coaches] Sandy Alomar and . It's a special thing for them." Now, about what else Shapiro was feeling. He'd just witnessed another booming crowd at the Rogers Centre. Shapiro has watched the Blue Jays make a second straight postseason appearance, win the AL Wild Card Game and sweep the Rangers in the AL Division Series. Toronto led the AL in attendance, and when more than 10 million people tuned in to watch its Wild Card Game victory over Baltimore, Shapiro was overwhelmed. "I've experienced the depth and passion and what it truly means to represent a country and not just one city," Shapiro said. "That's easy to hear from someplace else, but until you're here and feel the depth of that passion and see how remarkable it is. What you feel overall is a responsibility." Richard Justice is a columnist for MLB.com. Read his blog, Justice4U. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or

DYK: Facts and figures from ALCS Game 5 The Indians punched their ticket to the World Series on Wednesday with a 3-0 win over the Blue Jays in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series in Toronto. The Tribe has won seven of its first eight playoff games -- sweeping the Red Sox in the AL Division Series before besting the Jays in five games -- and is now advancing to the World Series for the sixth time in franchise history. It's Cleveland's first appearance in the Fall Classic since 1997, when it lost to the Marlins in seven games. The Tribe hasn't won the World Series since 1948, a 67-year title drought. If not for the Cubs, the Indians would own the longest title drought in the Major Leagues. Cleveland is 2-3 in its five World Series appearances. • This is the first time the Indians clinched a best-of-seven postseason series in Game 5. Before Wednesday, they had led 3-1 in a best-of- seven series three times in franchise history, and lost Game 5 each time. • The Blue Jays fell in the ALCS for the second straight year. They haven't made the World Series since 1993, when they won the second of back-to-back titles. • Until they beat the Blue Jays in Game 5, the Indians were 2-11 in their past 13 potential clinching games in the postseason. Toronto, on the other hand, had been 6-1 in elimination games over the past two seasons. • With 2 2/3 innings in Game 5, Indians left-hander Andrew Miller pitched in all four wins in the ALCS. Miller continued his postseason brilliance -- he's now thrown 11 2/3 scoreless innings this postseason, with only five hits and two walks allowed and 21 strikeouts. • Miller won the ALCS MVP Award after 7 2/3 scoreless innings with 14 strikeouts against Toronto. He became the first to win an LCS Most Valuable Player honor since the Red Sox's Koji Uehara in 2013. Miller is just the sixth reliever to win MVP of an LCS, joining (1988), Rob Dibble and Randy Myers (co-MVPs in '90), (2003) and Uehara. • Going back to the regular season, the last time Miller allowed a run was Sept. 7, against the Astros. Since then, he's made 17 straight scoreless appearances out of Cleveland's bullpen, throwing 24 innings with 41 strikeouts over that span. • Miller's 14 strikeouts tied the record for most by a reliever in a single LCS, matching Brad Lidge's mark set with the Astros in 2004. Miller and Lidge are the only relief pitchers to pitch at least seven scoreless innings with 14 or more strikeouts in an LCS. • Indians rookie left-hander Ryan Merritt pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits in his Game 5 start, a huge boost for Cleveland's short-handed rotation. Merritt had only made one career start (and four total appearances) prior to Game 5, becoming only the second pitcher in MLB postseason history to start a game with only one previous regular-season start. The other was the Rays' , who had only started one game when he pitched Game 1 of the 2011 ALDS against the Rangers. Merritt is the least-experienced starter in LCS history. • Merritt set down the first 10 Blue Jays he faced Wednesday -- the longest streak by an Indians pitcher to start a postseason game since Hall of Famer in Game 2 of the against the New York Giants. • Both teams' pitchers were in firm control of their stuff, with neither team issuing a walk. It was the first game in LCS history where two teams combined for zero free passes, and just the eighth postseason game ever with no walks. Game 1 of this year's National League Division Series between the Cubs and Giants also had no walks. • Merritt's four-seam fastball averaged 86.4 mph in Game 5, according to Statcast™. The Blue Jays had batted .249 this year against less than 90 mph -- the fourth-lowest such batting average in the Major Leagues. (The Cubs were last at .215.) Toronto slugged .446 against those fastballs, ranking 20th in baseball. • This game marked the sixth time this season that Blue Jays right-hander Marco Estradaallowed multiple home runs in a start. He's done so 31 times in his career, but never before in the playoffs. • Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor went 3-for-4 in Game 5, his third multihit game of the ALCS. At 22 years, 340 days old, he's the second- youngest player in ALCS history with three multihit games in the series, after , who was 22 years, 109 days old when he set the mark in the 1996 ALCS. • With Wednesday's 3-0 win, the Indians have three shutouts this postseason. They're the first AL club to post three shutouts in the same playoffs since the Yankees did it four times en route to a World Series title in 1998. • Mike Napoli's first-inning double for the Indians was a barreled ball with an exit velocity of 108.2 mph and a launch angle of 24 degrees, according to Statcast™. Balls hit at that speed and angle had been a home run 97 percent of the time. • Coco Crisp has had a knack for coming up with clutch home runs since joining the Indians. The veteran outfielder -- who was acquired via trade with the A's on Aug. 31, just in time to be eligible for the postseason -- has come through in pivotal moments for the Tribe with each of his past three homers. Prior to his solo shot in Wednesday's win, Crisp last homered on Oct. 10, when the Indians defeated the Red Sox to reach the ALCS, and Sept. 26, the day they clinched the AL Central. • Game 5 was a brisk affair, lasting just two hours, 37 minutes. The last LCS game to be completed that quickly was Game 1 of the 2008 NLCS between the Dodgers and Phillies (2:36). In the AL, you have to go back three more years -- to Game 2 of the 2005 ALCS between the White Sox and Angels (2:34) -- and even further for a series-clinching game. The last LCS clincher completed under 157 minutes was Game 7 of the 1996 NLCS, which the Braves won to advance past the Cardinals to the World Series. • The Indians are the second team from Cleveland to contend for a title this year after the Cavaliers won the NBA Championship in June. If the Tribe can break the franchise's title drought, it would make Cleveland the first North American city to claim two major professional sports championships in the same year since Boston in 2004, when the Patriots won the Super Bowl and the Red Sox won the World Series. David Adler, Chad Thornburg and Ben Weinrib are reporters for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League

Status uncertain: Bauer set for another checkup TORONTO -- The Indians continue to monitor the laceration on Trevor Bauer's right pinkie finger, but there remains little clarity about his potential availability. Prior to Game 5 of the American League Championship Series on Wednesday, whichCleveland won, 3-0, to advance to the World Series, Indians manager Terry Francona noted that Dr. Thomas Graham -- a renowned hand specialist -- is scheduled to re-examine Bauer's stitched- up finger in Toronto. Francona's hope was that Bauer might be available out of the bullpen if the ALCS extended to six or seven games, and that the pitcher would then be able to start again in the World Series. Bauer, who cut his pinkie while repairing one of his personal drones on Thursday night, exited Game 3 of the ALCS on Monday at Rogers Centre after 21 pitches due to blood dripping from his finger. When he throws on the side, Bauer can keep a bandage over the cut, which required 10 stitches from the second knuckle to his fingernail. The right-hander is not allowed, however, to have any kind of covering on his finger in games. Bauer could be penciled in for Game 3 of the World Series on Oct. 28 or Game 4 on Oct. 29. That would give him 10 or 11 days, respectively, between outings to give the wound more time to heal. "[Dr. Graham] didn't put any more stitches in there," Francona said. "He thought it really was healing pretty well, considering all it had been through for the last three or four days. He thought -- with time -- it's going to continue to get better." Other items of note from Wednesday • Indians relief ace Andrew Miller was already the first reliever to have a streak of five appearances (with no starts in the middle) with at least 1 1/3 innings in the same postseason since 2005, when Kelvim Escobar had six for the Angels. Miller averaged 16.8 pitches per inning, and he topped 30 pitches three times prior to Wednesday. Miller added 2 2/3 scoreless innings and 21 pitches to his ledger in Game 5, and he was honored with the ALCS Most Valuable Player Award after Cleveland won the series. Francona said there was no innings cap on Miller. The manager instead focuses on pitch count, stress level of innings and feedback from the pitcher. "It's not just innings," Francona said. "It's probably how much you work for each inning. ... You get in a rhythm sometimes -- guys are making quicker outs. We're not just going to put a limit on him because there's a number [of innings]. I think we always check with our guys, because that's what's most important, how they feel." • Before Game 5 in Toronto, Francona had a brief word with rookie starter Ryan Merritt in the clubhouse. The manager said the lefty was understandably nervous ahead of his start against the Blue Jays, but Francona said he believed Merritt would calm down more once he began his warmup routine and got on the mound. "I just wanted to make sure he understood that this isn't life or death," Francona said. "I just wanted him to know that, 'We're with you here. Just go do your thing.'" Merritt went on to toss 4 1/3 scoreless innings while allowing two hits and striking out three in a superb outing. • Mike Napoli had manned first base in each of Cleveland's first seven games this postseason. For Wednesday's game, Francona switched things up, moving Carlos Santanato first and slotting Napoli in as the . Santana DH'd in the previous seven games. "This has been the third day up here," Francona said. "I just think it'll do Nap a lot of good, and I think it'd be good for Carlos. He's been taking ground balls every day. It'll get him playing defense, not just sitting on his at-bats in-between when you're DHing. I think that'll be good for him." Napoli provided an early spark with a double that scored Francisco Lindor with help from an error, and Santana clubbed a solo home run in the third. Jordan Bastian has cover

On Merritt: Indians go to World Series, top Toronto in ALCS NOAH TRISTER (AP Baseball Writer)•Oct 19, 2016, 9:36 PM TORONTO (AP) -- For the Cleveland Indians, the script was the same every game - hope for the best from whoever they started, then count on Andrew Miller and the bullpen to close it out. That plan seemed especially dicey in Game 5 of the AL Championship Series, with lightly used Ryan Merritt on the mound. But out of nowhere, the rookie delivered. Merritt coolly kept the Indians ahead until reinforcements arrived, and Cleveland earned its first trip to the World Series since 1997 by blanking the Toronto Blue Jays 3-0 Wednesday. The 24-year-old lefty defied expectations, shutting down the powerful Blue Jays before exiting in the fifth inning. Thanks to a most unlikely pitching performance, a most unexpected team won the ALCS 4-1. Cleveland, which has never hosted a World Series opener, will play Game 1 at Progressive Field on Tuesday night against the or . Manager Terry Francona's team will try to augment what's already been a scintillating year in Cleveland after LeBron James and the Cavaliers earned the city's first major pro sports championship since 1964. The Indians' title drought dates to 1948. In 1997, they let a one-run lead get away in the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 7 and lost to the Florida Marlins in the 11th. ''We always said if we could do it with this group it would be so special because this is as close to a family feel as you can get in a professional setting. So for that part of it, it is beyond feeling good,'' Francona said. The Dodgers led the Cubs 2-1 going into Game 4 of the NLCS on Wednesday night. Cleveland didn't play either club this season. Miller, acquired from the in a midseason trade, was selected the ALCS MVP as the Indians took their sixth pennant. ''I feel like I've said the word 'special' a million times in the last 20 or 30 minutes. But it's the truth. It's a blast to be a part of,'' Miller said. With all of 11 major league innings under his belt - and only one start, on Sept. 30 - Merritt took the mound and looked just like a seasoned vet . The lefty retired the first 10 batters and allowed a mere two hits before being pulled after 4 1/3 innings. ''I know they were counting on me,'' Merritt said. ''Before the game, they came and told me they had my back, everybody had my back, good or bad. So that takes some pressure off, and I just went out there and pitched and trusted my team.'' Merritt got taps on his heart and hat from teammates when he left the mound. Then it was up to Cleveland's tireless relievers to hold a three-run lead against the wild-card Blue Jays. Miller again did most of the heavy lifting, going 2 2/3 innings before Cody Allen worked the ninth for a save . Winning pitcher Bryan Shaw tossed an inning before Miller came in. Carlos Santana and Coco Crisp homered for the Indians. With starting pitchers Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar and Trevor Bauer dealing with injuries, the Indians kept defying the odds. Cleveland overtook defending World Series champion Kansas City and topped a $196 million Detroit team to win the AL Central, then put an abrupt end to Big Papi's career, sweeping and the in the Division Series. The Indians stayed on a roll in the ALCS, shutting down the banging Blue Jays. Cleveland won despite hitting .168 in the series, with slick- fielding shortstop Francisco Lindor leading the way in going 7 for 19. Toronto lost in the ALCS for the second straight year. ''I'm sure there will be some disappointments and grumbling and complaining about how you fell short again, but that's not coming from me,'' manager John Gibbons said. ''Because I know what these guys did, and I think it's a pretty good accomplishment. The key is we want to take that next step one of these days. Hopefully, it's next year.'' Merritt - a Texas native drafted in the 16th round by Cleveland in 2011 - hadn't pitched in a game since his late September start, although he'd gotten some work in this month in the instructional league at the Indians' spring training complex in Arizona. A day after Toronto averted a sweep, the crowd at the roaring Rogers Centre expected the Blue Jays to roll over the rookie. Maybe the Blue Jays did, too. ''With our experience in our lineup, I'm pretty sure he's going to be shaking in his boots more than we are,'' Toronto slugger Jose Bautista said after Game 4. After the Blue Jays were eliminated, Bautista took a different tone. ''He seemed to make the right pitches at the right time,'' Bautista said. ''Hats off to him.'' After the game, Cleveland players chanted ''boots'' in the celebration, urging Merritt to pull cowboy boots from his locker and shake them. Merritt struck out three batters in the first two innings - all looking - and didn't allow a baserunner until Josh Donaldson's one-out single in the fourth. After Russell Martin's bloop single with one out in the fifth, Francona leaned again on a bullpen that soaked up 8 1/3 innings in a Game 3 win Monday. Shaw pitched an inning, and Miller came on with one out in the sixth and a runner on. Donaldson bounced into a double play on Miller's first pitch, and the tall lefty made it through the seventh and eighth with little trouble before giving way to Allen. Cleveland took a 1-0 lead in the first when Mike Napoli doubled and left fielder Ezequiel Carrera misplayed the ball off the wall for an error. Lindor scored from first on the play. Santana and Crisp added solo shots in the third and fourth off Toronto starter Marco Estrada to put the AL Central champions up 3-0. PRECEDENT Merritt was the second pitcher to start a postseason game with only one previous regular-season start. Matt Moore of Tampa Bay did it in 2011 in Game 1 of the Division Series against Texas. Moore pitched seven scoreless innings that day. CLEVELAND KIN James posted video on his Instagram account of him and the Cavs watching the game's final out at a crowded Cleveland sports bar. James, Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith and others were gathered around a table by the front door, with fans pouring out into the street to watch. TRAINER'S ROOM Indians: Francona said before the game that Bauer was supposed to have his lacerated right pinkie looked at by a doctor again. The idea was to see if the right-hander could potentially pitch out of the bullpen at all during this series after being lifted when he was bleeding in the first inning of Game 3. Now the question is whether Bauer can be of any help in the World Series. ''Obviously, he needs to heal, but he can't just not throw,'' Francona said. Bauer sliced his pinkie last week repairing one of the drones he enjoys flying as a hobby. During the boozy clubhouse celebration after Game 5, Bauer had his right arm wrapped in protective plastic. UP NEXT Indians: Cleveland returns home and rests up for the World Series. Blue Jays: Toronto faces an uncertain offseason. Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Michael Saunders are in the final year of their contracts.

What we learned: Indians pitch way into WS, Cubs slug way back into NLCS David SchoenfieldSweetSpot blogger We had a day when one team started a pitcher who had made one major league start. Another sent out the youngest pitcher ever to start a playoff game. It worked out for the Cleveland Indians, who are going to their first World Series since 1997. The Chicago Cubs, meanwhile, found some offense against the Los Angeles Dodgers' young Julio Urias, as they scored 10 runs and tied up the NLCS in Game 4. 1. These boots are gonna walk all over you ... all the way to the World Series. One of the best parts of the baseball postseason is that the heroes can be your superstar cleanup hitter or a backup role player or a 24-year-old rookie with a Texas drawl and 11 innings of major league experience who made the roster only because another pitcher cut his pinkie fixing a drone. Ryan Merrittwas a complete unknown, and though the Indians expressed confidence in him before the game, the truth is nobody knew what to expect from him. Merritt admitted after the game that he was nervous. He didn't pitch like it. He's a soft-tossing, command lefty who didn't strike many guys out in the minors, and he brought his command against the Toronto Blue Jays. He threw 49 pitches in his 4ѿ scoreless innings: 22 fastballs, 12 cutters, eight changeups and seven curves. Thirty-three of the pitches were strikes, including seven pitches out of the zone that he got the Jays to chase. He did a great job moving the ball around -- outside, in, up and down -- and only two pitches missed in the middle of the zone. The dilemma Terry Francona looked to face was how quick of a hook he might have. Merritt made that decision easy. He retired the first 10 and then gotEdwin Encarnacion to ground into a double play to end the fourth. When Merritt allowed a one-out single in the fifth, Francona went to the pen for the final 14 outs. Andrew Miller, of course, was once again dominant, as he got eight outs on just 21 pitches in what felt like an absurdly easy outing. I thought Francona might stick with Miller in the ninth with that 3-0 lead, but he went to closer Cody Allen, who gave up a leadoff double to Jose Bautista before blowing a 95 mph fastball past Josh Donaldson, striking Encarnacion out on a curveball and getting Troy Tulowitzki to pop out. (The sequence to Donaldson and Encarnacion was beautiful: three fastballs to Donaldson, three curveballs to Encarnacion.) Miller stole the show by throwing 7Ҁ scoreless innings with 14 strikeouts in the ALCS, and he earned MVP honors, but give the rotation credit as well: Starters: 22.0 IP, 3 ER, 23 SO, 8 BB Relievers: 22.0 IP, 4 ER, 27 SO, 3 BB The Jays hit .201 in the series. Remarkably, the Indians hit just .168, the lowest average ever by a winning team in a playoff series: 2016 Indians, ALCS: .168 1996 Braves, NLDS: .180 1974 Athletics, ALCS: .183 1918 Red Sox, WS: .186 1986 Mets, NLCS: .189 It was good enough. As for Bautista's comment before Game 5: 2. Francisco Lindor is Nostradamus. Check out the tweet from 2014, before Lindor had reached the majors: 28 months ago, @Lindor12BC had a #WorldSeries dream.http://atmlb.com/2euizIh World Series here we come!! Congrats Boyz!! @Indians#RallyTogether 3. Bautista might have played his final game with the Blue Jays.Andrew Marchand has the story on what could be the end of an era for the Blue Jays. Bautista and Encarnacion are both free agents. The Jays are still in a strong position with the rotation other than R.A. Dickey returning (thoughFrancisco Liriano can take his place). The offense, however, will need some rebuilding if it loses Bautista and Encarnacion. The Jays scored 132 fewer runs in 2016 than they did in 2015, even as scoring increased across the league. Bautista turned 36 on Wednesday and is a risky multiyear investment, considering his down year, injuries and declining defense. Still, his legacy as an all-time great Blue Jay is secure. Since his breakout season in 2010, he ranks ninth in the majors among position players in WAR. He helped return the Blue Jays to the postseason. He got trolled hard after the game, with the Indians having fun with his "boots" comment during their clubhouse celebration. The at Rogers Centre after the game promoted ticket sales for 2017, with pictures of Tulowitzki andRussell Martin. If it is the end, it was a fun ride. 4. Cubs Nation is revived from planning a funeral. You wouldn't be able to tell from the final score, but it was a good game for three innings. The Cubs and Dodgers were tied 0-0 through three -- after Adrian Gonzalez was thrown out at home to end the second inning when replays suggested he was safe -- and Cubs fans were more nervous about their team's lack of offense than peoplewalking across that glass suspension bridge in China. The Cubs' four-run fourth inning off Urias began innocently enough, with an exquisite bunt single by Ben Zobrist that hugged the third-base line. Javier Baez then hit a soft fly ball off the end of his bat to left field; good pitch, bad result. muscled an 0-2 fastball into left field for another hit; again, pretty good location in and off the plate. Just some tough luck for the kid. Zobrist headed home on the hit by Contreras. Dodgers fans have assured me that Andrew Toles has a cannon, but he made his second brutal throw of the postseason when he had a decent chance to get Zobrist. He got to the ball quickly in shallow left, but his throw was 15 feet up the first-base line, which allowed Baez and Contreras to move up. Jason

Indians pitching simply overwhelming x ESPN Stats & Information Cleveland Indians pitchers threw 44 innings against the Blue Jays. Their starting pitchers threw 22 innings, allowed three earned runs and struck out 23. Their relief pitchers threw 22 innings, allowed four earned runs and struck out 27. It was a good series all the way around. Miller time Andrew Miller allowed no runs and three hits, with 14 strikeouts in 7Ҁ postseason innings. His 56 percent strikeout rate was the highest of anyone to face at least 20 batters in a postseason series. Miller is the second reliever in postseason history to throw at least seven scoreless innings with at least 14 strikeouts in a single series (Brad Lidge, 2004 NLCS). The Elias Sports Bureau notes that the only relief pitchers to win LCS or World Series MVP with one or fewer saves are Rob Dibble in the 1990 NLCS and Larry Sherry in the 1959 World Series How he did it Miller threw 48 of his 60 sliders for strikes (77 of 107 for the postseason). Of his 14 strikeouts, 13 came with that pitch. His 18 strikeouts with the slider are the most for any pitch type this postseason. His 21 total strikeouts rank second to 's 25. Allen was good too Allen might be the least-heralded closer on an LCS winner. He notched three saves, allowed no runs on one hit and threw seven strikeouts in Ҁ innings. How he did it Allen won by pitching effectively at the top of the strike zone. He threw 21 pitches to the upper-third, netting 17 strikes. That included 13 strikes on 14 pitches to right-handed batters. Kluber and Tomlin's one-two punch Corey Kluber was the Indians' ace in the opening game of this series, and Josh Tomlin pitched 5Ҁ highly successful innings in Game 2. They didn't have to go deep in the game, knowing they had a great bullpen behind them. How they did it Kluber won with his best pitch, getting a career-high 14 outs with his curveball. Tomlin had a highly efficient cutter, which yielded him eight outs on 17 pitches. He was there on Merritt Ryan Merritt wasn't supposed to be in the LCS, but Trevor Bauer's finger injury necessitated his use in Game 5. He threw 4ѿ scoreless innings. How he did it Merritt threw 12 of 14 first-pitch strikes. Eight of his 14 plate appearances lasted three pitches or fewer. Merritt won without being overpowering. Of his 49 pitches, only five reached 87 mph. He kept the ball on the edge of the plate, throwing only eight of his 49 pitches to the middle-third of the plate, width-wise. You can win without hitting The Indians set a record of sorts in this series. Their .168 batting average in this series is the lowest ever for a team that won an LDS, LCS or World Series.

With the mindset of a bullpen grunt, ace reliever Andrew Miller is ALCS MVP Jerry CrasnickESPN Senior Writer TORONTO -- When the Cleveland Indians acquired Andrew Miller from theNew York Yankees at the non-waiver trade deadline this season, media analysts raved about the deal because of Miller's depth and versatility. The 6-foot-7 lefty figured to be the guy who divvied up the late innings with Cody Allen and Bryan Shaw to make sure they weren't ground to a pulp by the end of the regular season. His new bullpen mates had a slightly different reason to rejoice. It took the other Cleveland relievers about five minutes to realize Miller was just another grunt at heart. "His first day with us, that's the one thing we noticed," said Indians reliever Dan Otero. "We said, 'He's gonna fit in right away.' He was like, 'I'll pitch the sixth or the seventh,' and he truly meant that. It wasn't just for the media. That was what he meant. He's one of the better teammates I've ever come across." Miller struck a blow for creative bullpen use, selflessness and team spirit on Wednesday, when he was named the American League Championship Series Most Valuable Player. As he walked off the mound after the eighth inning and gave way to Allen, who closed out Cleveland's clinching 3-0 victory over Toronto, Miller left a trail of awkward swings and bruised egos in his wake. Miller became the fourth reliever to win ALCS MVP, joining Dennis Eckersley of the 1988 , Mariano Rivera of the 2003 Yankees and Koji Uehara of the 2013 Boston Red Sox. But unlike his three predecessors -- who combined for two wins and nine saves in their three series -- Miller made his mark doing the dirty work rather than recording the final out and shaking hands at the end. In the playoffs against Boston and Toronto, Miller struck out 21 batters in 11Ҁ innings -- and that's with a relatively whiff-free performance in the ALCS finale. Of the eight outs that Miller recorded over 2Ҁ innings Wednesday, only one came on a strikeout. "Tonight, he was almost like, 'I'm going to get some ground balls and conserve my pitches,'" said Cleveland pitching coach Mickey Callaway. "He can do whatever he wants. "When we were talking about who we should acquire at the deadline, this is the reason. We wanted somebody that could come into games in the biggest spots and we could leverage to the max. That's why we went out and got him." Miller has a career ratio of 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings, so the Indians knew they were getting some swing-and-miss potential when they acquired him for former first-round picks Clint Frazier, Justus Sheffield and two other minor leaguers on July 31. But no one could have envisioned the devastation he has wreaked in the postseason. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, more than 2,200 players in postseason history have faced at least 20 batters in a single series. Miller's 56 percent strikeout rate in the ALCS was the highest of any of them. Beyond the strikeouts, Miller has earned the admiration of his teammates for the workload he has absorbed. He has recorded at least four outs in each of his six playoff appearances, and he has pitched two innings on four occasions. It's not easy for a reliever to exert maximum effort for 15-20 pitches, return to the dugout and sit for 10 minutes or more, then go back out to the mound and do it all again. Yet Miller has altered his routine and pitched multiple innings on a routine basis against the most challenging lineups in October. "That's the most impressive thing," Otero said. "There are shutdown relievers who can do it for an inning or three or four batters. He's been able to do it for five or six outings in the postseason for more than four or five outs. That's uncanny. You can't teach that. We're lucky to have him. Even with his stuff, he's a rare breed." Miller appeared sheepish to the point of embarrassed Wednesday when asked about winning the MVP award. He quickly changed the subject to Cleveland catcher Roberto Perez and how he has received far too little praise and recognition for his contributions in the postseason. The Game 5 celebration at Rogers Centre was particularly gratifying because of Miller's prolonged journey to get here. He failed to make it as a starter after being selected by the as the No. 6 pick in the 2006 first-year player draft out of the University of North Carolina. After drifting from Florida to Boston to Baltimore, he signed a four-year, $36 million contract with the Yankees as a free agent in December 2014. But he has never been part of a deep run in October. "At some point in your career, once you've found a way to stick around, this is all you want," Miller said over the din in the Cleveland clubhouse. "You want to win as part of a team. Nobody wants personal accolades at this point. Everybody just wants a trophy at the end of the day. "We're going to the World Series. It doesn't get any better than that."

Inside Ryan Merritt's unlikely path to ALCS hero Mark SimonESPN Staff Growing up in Celina, Texas (approximate population 6,000), Ryan Merritt and his close friend Troy McCartney looked for ways to entertain themselves during boring summer days. "He has a big, white rock driveway," McCartney said. "We would go out, pick up rocks. We still do it. You'd have to hit a tree 20 yards away, 10 times. The rocks would have all sorts of irregular movement. I'd hit the tree 10 times in 50 throws. He'd hit the tree 10 times in 15 throws." Merritt went from rocks star to rock star with his performance in Game 5 of the ALCS, helping the Cleveland Indians to a 3-0 win and their first World Series since 1997. In only his second major league start, Merritt threw 4ѿ scoreless innings, giving up only two hits and striking out three before being pulled by manager Terry Francona. Merritt, whom friends and coaches describe as being on the quiet side, was unfazed by the circumstances of Game 5, perhaps because he had been in the situation before, albeit on a much smaller scale. "When Ryan was a freshman, we were playing Mineola in the regional playoffs, best-of-3, and the lefty who was supposed to pitch had an injury," said McCartney, who was both a high school and junior college teammate of Merritt's. "Ryan went out to warm up, and the other team was watching him the whole time. They thought it was a joke." Merritt came back to the dugout and told one of his coaches, James Evans, "they're all over me." Undaunted by the circumstances, Merritt pitched the best he ever had, a one-hit shutout. "Ryan is a mental giant," McCartney said. "He never lets things bother him." The cool, calm approach took him through McClennan Community College, in Waco, Texas, where he went 10-3 with a 1.13 ERA in 15 starts in 2011. Most who dominate at that level do so with overwhelming strikeout numbers. Merritt managed 93 in 96 innings, but more notably, he walked only 13. Merritt was drafted in the 16th round that year, in the same draft that the Indians took Francisco Lindor in the first round. He was selected seven rounds ahead of Indians closer Cody Allen. But though Merritt won the Indians' Bob Feller Award as their top minor league pitcher in 2014 (when he led the Carolina League with 160 innings and an 0.95 WHIP), he didn't make top prospects lists. His fastball never topped 90 mph. Before this season, he ranked as the team's No. 22 prospect per . Nonetheless, he climbed the ladder to Triple-A this year and started strong, netting a brief recall to the majors that earned him 4ѿ innings of scoreless mop-up work against the Rangers. He got a second look for an inning in early August and pitched well upon his return to the minors, a 2.68 ERA in his last six starts with the , where his season-end ERA was 3.70. The Indians gave him one more look, two-thirds of an inning of relief in early September, followed by 17 days off and a five-inning, one-run effort against the Royals in his first career start. Still, Merritt didn't make the playoff roster until Trevor Bauer's pinkie was injured by his drone. But his former college coach, Pete Mejia, predicted he'd be unfazed. "I'm betting on him not being intimidated," he said. You might have even heard Francona tell a TV audience in the third inning, "The most important thing is he's being himself." And perhaps that had something to do with a little help from his friend, now a coach, who was following the game during football practice. "I texted Ryan earlier today," McCartney said. "I said 'Just be you. You'll be great.' " Much like the rocks star he was a dozen years ago.

Indians silence Blue Jays, headed to first World Series since '97 Andrew MarchandESPN Senior Writer TORONTO -- The Cleveland Indians are headed to the World Series after they culminated their amazing story by using a rookie starter, a lights-out bullpen, just enough power and what is turning into a managing job for the ages to win the AL pennant. On Wednesday, the Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-0 to take the American League Championship Series in five games. Incredibly, and befitting of their resourcefulness, the Indians were led by rookieRyan Merritt in Game 5. Who is Ryan Merritt, you might be asking? He is a 24-year-old, junk-balling lefty from McKinney, Texas, who before helping the Indians reach the World Series had thrown a grand total of 11 major league innings. With the Rogers Centre planning to rock, the Blue Jays' Jose Bautistapredicted the kid would be shaking in his boots. Merritt, though, looked quite comfortable in his cleats. He retired the first 10 Blue Jays he faced before Josh Donaldson singled. Merritt quickly erased Donaldson by forcing Edwin Encarnacion into a 6-4-3, inning-ending double play. With one out in the fifth, Merritt allowed a bloop single to Russell Martin, which set up a big decision for Indians manager Terry Francona. Like every other one that has been put in front of him this postseason, Francona aced it. With the lead and with the Blue Jays having gotten a chance to gauge Merritt, Francona turned to his bullpen. Bryan Shaw handled an inning before he passed the baton to Andrew Miller. Miller, who was named ALCS MVP, took care of the seventh and eighth. On offense, the Indians had given their pitchers enough of a cushion, with Mike Napoli crushing an RBI double in the first and Carlos Santana and Coco Crispadding solo shots. Cody Allen handled the final three outs, helping to send the Indians to the World Series next Tuesday.

Behind 3-1 in the ALCS, Blue Jays 'might as well make his Jerry CrasnickESPN Senior Writer TORONTO -- The Toronto Blue Jays are keenly aware that their remaining time together is precious. Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Michael Saundersare eligible for free agency shortly after the World Series ends, so this particular version of a 25-man roster has only so much time to play together in the same sandbox. Against that backdrop -- and a monumental deficit in the American League Championship Series -- the Jays will have to work their way back to relevance in increments. A hit here and a walk there lead to a run. A run leads to a rally. A rally leads to a win, and a win gives them an opportunity to show up for work again tomorrow. There's no reason to complicate things any further. In a sense, desperation can be liberating. During the three hours and one minute it took them to beat Corey Kluber and the Indians 5-1 on Tuesday, the Blue Jays went from dormant to defiant. "We've won four games in a row before, so why not us?" Jays reliever said. "Everybody is going to discount us, but we're the ones who aren't. "I guess if we're in this position, we might as well make history. We have everything to gain and nothing to lose. That's the position we're in. You can judge who the pressure is on, really. Call it as you see it. We know where we are and we're confident with the team we've got." The Blue Jays still face serious odds in their comeback quest. Since the advent of the best-of-seven format in 1985, seven teams have taken a 3-0 lead in an ALCS. The 2004 Boston Red Sox rallied to win, and the other six clubs were swept in four. Including the World Series, those Red Sox are the only postseason MLB team to overcome a 3-0 series deficit. That said, Tuesday's win sure seemed like more than a garden-variety face-saver for Toronto. The pitching matchups are favorable, and circumstances, as Bautista likes to call them, suddenly don't look so grim for the Jays. Having dispatched Kluber, the Jays will take their shot at rookie left-handerRyan Merritt, a former 16th-round draft pick out of McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas. A quick check of the résumé and scouting reports shows that Merritt averages a tick over 87 mph with his fastball and has 11 big league innings to his name. The harsh reality is that he's here only because injuries toCarlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar and now Trevor Bauer have cut a swath through Cleveland's rotation and put manager Terry Francona and pitching coach Mickey Callaway on perpetual warm-body alert. Cleveland's problems are even more acute when contrasted with Toronto's starting depth. The Blue Jays will counter with Marco Estrada, who is 3-2 with a 2.59 ERA in the postseason and looked ultra-sharp while going eight innings in a 2-0 loss to Kluber in the series opener. The Blue Jays have a lot of faith in Estrada, and if he can outpitch Merritt, they'll head back to Cleveland for Games 6 and possibly 7 on Friday and Saturday. Any travel itinerary for Toronto that entails a team flight to is good. "With our starters, I honestly wouldn't care who's going tomorrow," Saunders said. "We're here because of our starting pitching. They've kind of been our rock all season. But to have a guy like Estrada, and knowing what you're going to get from him, is really nice. "He really slows the game down and he's a surgeon on the mound, so we're always confident when he's out there." Josh Donaldson got things started with a huge solo homer in Game 4, and the Jays did enough damage to keep Andrew Miller and Cody Allen in the bullpen, where they could do the least amount of damage. After spending three games in pull mode and leaving themselves vulnerable to breaking balls and off-speed stuff, the Jays seemed more intent on going up the middle and to the opposite field against Kluber and friends. There's not much data to indicate how the Blue Jays might fare against Merritt, the quintessential soft-tossing lefty. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Toronto faced only three left-handed starters this season whose fastballs averaged 88 mph or less -- and all of those confrontations came when those pitchers were working in relief. The Jays worked over Minnesota's and Seattle's Wade LeBlanc for five runs in a combined 5 1/3 innings, and they were shut out for 4 1/3 innings by Texas' Cesar Ramos. So how do they prepare for Merritt, a mystery starter who is being thrust into the biggest moment in his professional life at age 24? "It's a little unusual," Toronto catcher Russell Martin said, "but I'm sure he's got some data somewhere. We can find some video and kind of do our homework. I don't think he's going to be such a surprise after everybody does their homework and sees what he has." In a way, the situation is reminiscent of the good old days in baseball, when hitters respond to what they see and they're not overloaded with scouting reports and pregame prep. "Sometimes too much information isn't good for you, to be honest," Saunders said. "Ultimately, we want to know what his bread and butter is -- what he likes to go to -- and then we can do the eye test during the game and see what's working for him. That being said, it's the postseason, and you don't know how a pitcher might respond. If his heart rate gets going, maybe he'll start leaving some balls up." If that happens, Merritt could be in a lot of trouble. Toronto's right-handed power nucleus -- Donaldson, Encarnacion, Bautista and Troy Tulowitzki -- has demoralized a lot of pitchers with more experience and savvy than Merritt has in his portfolio. "It's not a lineup you can take for granted," Grilli said. "I think every pitcher, in the back of their mind, is like, 'Shoot, if I make a couple of mistakes, I can get burned real quick.' "This team isn't going down without a fight."

Indians notebook: Team taking wait-and-see approach with Trevor Bauer’s lacerated finger By Ryan Lewis TORONTO: Trevor Bauer’s first attempt to pitch with his lacerated pinkie finger didn’t go so well. The Indians are hoping he’ll have a second try, and that it’ll last a bit longer. Bauer was taken out of Game 3 in the first inning when his gruesome-looking pinkie began dripping blood. Bauer’s jersey, pants and cleats all had blood on them, as did the mound. The Indians had Dr. Tom Graham fly to Toronto to take a look at Bauer’s finger, knowing he’ll likely need at least a couple of days before it’s possible he could try to pitch again. “Yeah, [we’ll] see how it heals,” manager Terry Francona said. “His thought was that he didn’t put anymore stitches in there. He thought it really was healing pretty well, considering all it had been through for the last three or four days. “He thought with time it’s going to continue to get better. … That’s the hard part right now is trying to — obviously he needs to heal. But he can’t just not throw.” Without Bauer, the Indians have two experienced starting pitchers who are still healthy and lengthened out on the roster, that being Corey Kluber and Josh Tomlin. Ryan Merritt, the Game 5 rookie starter, is the only other option. Underdogs The Indians have played with the underdog label for the last several weeks, surprising most of the baseball world at every turn. Article continues below Francona has never put much stock into a rah-rah type of message in baseball as it occurs in other sports, especially football. But the Indians have seemingly fed off every bit of it, so it certainly hasn’t hurt. “You know what? I think I always feel like if we can use something to our advantage we certainly do,” Francona said. “I think every team does that. I kind of laugh — a lot of times you’ll turn on the TV and you’ll hear usually a football player right after the game, they’re all jazzed up, ‘We proved to the whole world.’ “I guess what I’m saying is if that helps you, good. I think what’s important is how we feel in the clubhouse, our expectations of ourself are what matter. That way regardless of what the outside expectations are it doesn’t enter into our thinking because what’s truly important is how we feel.” Fall Classic A “very limited” number of tickets to any potential Indians World Series games at Progressive Field go on sale Thursday at 10 a.m. These tickets, among the last available without going through a secondary service, are available to the full public. They will be available online only at indians.com/postseason. The Indians are encouraging fans to access that site directly at 10 a.m. because of the high demand. Only the ticket fees are nonrefundable. Any unplayed games will be refunded. LOADED: 10.20.2016 Indians 3, Blue Jays 0: Indians advance to World Series for first time since 1997 behind MVP reliever Andrew Miller By Ryan Lewis Toronto: The Indians are headed to the World Series for the first time in 19 years. Rookie pitcher Ryan Merritt was practically conjured out of thin air to deliver one of the gutsiest starts in recent postseason memory and the bullpen was suffocating yet again Wednesday as the Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-0 in Game 5 at the Rogers Centre to win the American League Championship Series 4-1. Andrew Miller, in the midst of one of the most dominating postseason performances for a reliever in baseball history, was named series MVP. The Indians will await either the Los Angeles Dodgers or Chicago Cubs in the World Series. Game 1 will be Tuesday at Progressive Field. “I’m honored that we’re going to the World Series,” Indians manager Terry Francona said, adding that “we always said if we could do it with this group it would be so special because this is as close to a family feel as you can get in a professional setting. So for that part of it, it is beyond feeling good.” The team that wasn’t supposed to do anything in October after being ravaged by injuries is now four wins away from joining the Cavaliers in giving Cleveland a championship parade in 2016. After being counted out by most of the baseball world, the Indians have their first American League pennant since 1997. Merritt, the least-experienced starting pitcher in LCS history with one career start and 11 total innings before the postseason, mowed through the dangerous Blue Jays lineup. He was perfect through three innings and allowed only two hits — one of them a bloop single — before being taken out after 4ѿ scoreless innings. It was everything the Indians could have asked from him and more. Merritt left the game with a 3-0 lead, as the Indians jumped on starting pitcher Marco Estrada. Francisco Lindor singled with two outs in the first inning and scored when Mike Napoli drilled a double off the wall in left field to put the Indians up 1-0. Article continues below The Indians tacked on with some power. Carlos Santana crushed a solo home run to right field to make it 2-0 in the third inning. An inning later, Coco Crisp homered to right field to push the Indians’ lead to 3-0. Crisp also hit a key home run when the Indians clinched the American League Division Series in Game 3 against the Boston Red Sox. That all set up Francona to go to his bullpen with a lead, just as planned. Bryan Shaw entered in the fifth and allowed a single but then struck out Ezequiel Carrera and Kevin Pillar to end the inning. In the sixth, Jose Bautista singled off Shaw with one out to lead to Miller. Facing Josh Donaldson, the Blue Jays’ best hitter in the series, Miller induced an inning-ending double play on the first pitch. Miller worked a 1-2-3 seventh and then allowed a single in the eighth but retired the side, putting the Indians three outs away but against the heart of the Blue Jays’ batting order. In the ninth, Cody Allen allowed a double to Jose Bautista and then struck out Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion, two of the better hitters in the game. With the Rogers Centre roaring, Troy Tulowitzki popped out in foul territory to Santana, and the celebration began. The Indians’ Game 5 win, with an unproven rookie on the mound, 5Ҁ scoreless innings from the bullpen and enough offense, was a near- perfect snapshot of their road-block-laced path through the postseason. Through it all this season — the loss of Michael Brantley, the injuries to Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar in September, Trevor Bauer’s drone injury on the eve of the ALCS — the Indians have yet again defied the odds, and have now celebrated the division title in Detroit, the ALDS title in Boston and the ALCS title in Toronto. Now, they’re on to the World Series with homefield advantage. Akron Beacon Journal LOADED: 10.20.2016 Indians notebook: Team taking wait-and-see approach with Trevor Bauer’s lacerated finger By Ryan Lewis TORONTO: Trevor Bauer’s first attempt to pitch with his lacerated pinkie finger didn’t go so well. The Indians are hoping he’ll have a second try, and that it’ll last a bit longer. Bauer was taken out of Game 3 in the first inning when his gruesome-looking pinkie began dripping blood. Bauer’s jersey, pants and cleats all had blood on them, as did the mound. The Indians had Dr. Tom Graham fly to Toronto to take a look at Bauer’s finger, knowing he’ll likely need at least a couple of days before it’s possible he could try to pitch again. “Yeah, [we’ll] see how it heals,” manager Terry Francona said. “His thought was that he didn’t put anymore stitches in there. He thought it really was healing pretty well, considering all it had been through for the last three or four days. “He thought with time it’s going to continue to get better. … That’s the hard part right now is trying to — obviously he needs to heal. But he can’t just not throw.” Without Bauer, the Indians have two experienced starting pitchers who are still healthy and lengthened out on the roster, that being Corey Kluber and Josh Tomlin. Ryan Merritt, the Game 5 rookie starter, is the only other option. Underdogs The Indians have played with the underdog label for the last several weeks, surprising most of the baseball world at every turn. Article continues below Francona has never put much stock into a rah-rah type of message in baseball as it occurs in other sports, especially football. But the Indians have seemingly fed off every bit of it, so it certainly hasn’t hurt. “You know what? I think I always feel like if we can use something to our advantage we certainly do,” Francona said. “I think every team does that. I kind of laugh — a lot of times you’ll turn on the TV and you’ll hear usually a football player right after the game, they’re all jazzed up, ‘We proved to the whole world.’ “I guess what I’m saying is if that helps you, good. I think what’s important is how we feel in the clubhouse, our expectations of ourself are what matter. That way regardless of what the outside expectations are it doesn’t enter into our thinking because what’s truly important is how we feel.” Fall Classic A “very limited” number of tickets to any potential Indians World Series games at Progressive Field go on sale Thursday at 10 a.m. These tickets, among the last available without going through a secondary service, are available to the full public. They will be available online only at indians.com/postseason. The Indians are encouraging fans to access that site directly at 10 a.m. because of the high demand. Only the ticket fees are nonrefundable. Any unplayed games will be refunded. Akron Beacon Journal LOADED: 10.20.2016 Indians 3, Blue Jays 0: Ryan Lewis’ 27 Walk-Off Thoughts on Ryan Merritt, a trip to the World Series By RYAN LEWIS Published: October 20, 2016 Here are 27 walk-Off Thoughts on the Indians’ 3-0 win against the Toronto Blue Jays to take the American League Championship Series 4-1. 1. The Indians are going to the World Series. Though the injuries, the setbacks, the odds piled against them, this team has earned the benefit of the doubt. They just keep winning, and it’s been quite a postseason run—truly one for the ages. 2. The way the Indians punched their ticket to the World Series was fitting. A no-name starting pitcher takes the mound because of another injury, this one being rather bizarre. The bullpen takes over and delivers 5 2/3 scoreless innings, still holding as perhaps the most dominant unit in baseball. And the offense did enough, coming through early and adding on with a couple home runs. 3. These Indians are far from healthy and far from playing with a full deck. But they’ve taken down every wall in front of them so far. It’s been 19 years since the Indians were in the World Series. And it’s amazing, given all the circumstances, that this is the team to break that slump. 4. Said Corey Kluber, “It is kind of fitting. We’ve had a fair amount of injuries and things to overcome, but I think the biggest part of it is nobody has shied away from the challenges that we’ve faced, whether it would be losing one of our best hitters or losing guys out of the rotation. It speaks to the kinds of guys we have. Nobody is backing down from anything. Everybody is just trying to go out there and do their jobs. He knew today that his job was to go out there and fill up the zone and not beat himself and he did just that. He pretty much dominated.” 5. Ryan Merritt gave one of the gutsier postseason performances in recent memory. He wasn’t even supposed to be on the ALCS roster at all. Only a few weeks ago he was throwing in Arizona just to stay extended in case something drastic happened. It did, thanks to Trevor Bauer’s drone. Only a week or so removed from throwing on one of the auxiliary fields in Arizona, Merritt took the mound on the national stage in Game 5 of the ALCS in the Rogers Centre and was nothing short of terrific. 6. Jose Bautista said before the game that Merritt would be shaking in his boots. That certainly wasn’t the case. The kid delivered. 7. He was perfect through three and lasted 4 1/3 innings. It was everything the Indians could have asked from him and more. And it’s a pitching performance that won’t soon be forgotten in franchise lore, as Merritt pitched well enough to get to the bullpen with a lead—and that’s what sent the Indians to the World Series Wednesday night. 8. Said Josh Tomlin, “I loved it. I loved every second of it. I told Mickey that I’m on the edge of my set. I’m up cheering for him every pitch that he made, because I realize how tough it is for guys like us to do what he just did. But, you’ve got to give credit where credit’s due. He stuck to a game plan and he executed pitches. He didn’t get rattled at all. He showed big heart, is the word I can say right now. He went out there and did what he was capable of doing. He didn’t try to go out there and try to do anything more because it’s a postseason game, because he was facing eight righties in the lineup. He went out there and, ‘You know what? I’m going to treat it as another game and go out there and try to execute pitches and compete.’ When you get guys like that, we have 25 guys like that right now, that just go out there and compete and do the things we’re doing. It’s a pretty special thing.” 9. Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway used the word “unflappable,” saying, “I figured it before the game. And just watching him warm up, I came in and told Tito, I said, ‘He’s going to pitch good. He’s keeping the ball down. Throwing exactly where he wants to.’ He’s kind of unflappable. He’s the unflappable Ryan Merritt. He probably doesn’t even know their names. He did great.” 10. Said Dan Otero on Merritt, “What he did was unreal. And we’ve gone through a lot of injuries and different adversities throughout these last couple months. But everybody in this clubhouse, all 25 guys, and all the coaching members and training staff, knew that he was going to do what he did tonight. We knew he wasn’t going to be unnerved by the challenge at hand and the fans weren’t going to get to him, he was just going to go about his business and he was able to make good pitches and he got us into the fifth inning which probably nobody thought he could do, so it was unbelievable.” 11. It seemed to be a running joke that Merritt wasn’t into baseball history, or that he even knew what was going on. He’s just this wide-eyed kid from Texas who took the mound in Game 5 of the ALCS against one of the better lineups in baseball and threw a gem out of nowhere. After all, he was called up in May and it took a week for him to even get into a game. All he did was show up when the lights were brightest and respond in a big way. 12. And how new was he? Indians owner Paul Dolan was in the clubhouse trying to find Merritt, because he had never met him. 13. He’s just glad the Indians called him in Arizona. Said Merritt, “It's crazy. It's awesome that I'm here. I'm glad they called me and that they showed that they had trust in me to come out here and give them a chance to win a game, especially at this point in the season. It's tough for them to pick a guy and trust him to go out there that hasn't had much experience to go out there and win for them. So it's an honor, really, just to be able to have that opportunity to go out and try to win.” 14. Andrew Miller took home the ALCS MVP, essentially because he nearly struck out every hitter he faced and pitched multiple innings when he took the mound. Miller has put himself in the conversation as the best or, at the least, one of the very best relievers in baseball. He’s also validated the Indians’ trade for him several times over. 15. Said Dolan on the cost, “We gave up a lot, but it’s all about winning. And we were positioned to win this year and it’s very clear now that Andrew Miller was the big difference in terms of getting us there, because of what he meant to our pitching staff and our bullpen, particularly. Yeah, years from now I suspect we’ll look at some of these guys that we traded and say, ‘Why did we trade them?’ But then we’ll look at the couple trophies we have and we’ll know why we did it.” 16. The Indians’ acquisition of Miller has given them one of the best weapons in baseball, and Francona has utilized him aggressively and flawlessly. And, without it, the Indians might have been doomed. 17. One of the biggest pitches of the game was Miller’s first. He entered with one out and Josh Donaldson up to bat, with Edwin Encarnacion on deck. Not only did he not labor through the inning to escape with their lead in-tact, he needed only one pitch to induce an inning-ending double play against one of the best hitters in baseball. 18. That one pitch resulting in two outs set up the rest of the night. Miller could come out for the seventh effectively like he was just coming out of the bullpen and get through the seventh and eighth without much trouble. 19. This postseason run has been wild enough that some members of the team think it ought to be movie material. Merritt’s role in it all clinched it. 20. Here’s Jason Kipnis: “With all of the stuff that’s happened with us all year, first, we’re like, ‘There should be a movie made about this team. This team. Not the old Major League. There should be a movie.’ Kluber in a clinch game would just make too much sense. That’s why we lost yesterday. Having a guy in his second career start would be perfect for the movie. That’s why this was going to work out in our favor. That literally was talked about before the game. Guys had a lot of support for Merritt. He had a good start under his belt. He had the mystery of the unknown playing in his favor. He did an unbelievable job.” 21. Who would play Kipnis in that movie? Kipnis: “Someone really good-looking. … Channing Tatum.” 22. It’s not how the Indians envisioned they might get to the World Series. It’s not how anyone envisioned the Indians might get to the World Series. 23. But here they are, the last American League team standing and the one most thought would be done in by the Red Sox a couple weeks ago. 24. Said Chris Antonetti, “I think our guys, from the start of the year really, focused on who was here and how do we find a way to win that night’s game. They’ve overcome a lot of adversity. It’s certainly not the script we would have written at the start of the year, but to be here standing here took a collective effort by a great team with a great leader in Tito, the coaching staff, and everyone throughout the organization, our player development group, our scouting group, our coaches, our trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, everyone.” 25. The Cavaliers’ title run was unbelievable because so many in Cleveland still thought the city’s sports teams were cursed, and they were destined to lose. This Indians’ run has been unbelievable, but it’s because of the circumstances of their run and the crucial pieces they’re currently missing. 26. On Tuesday night, the Cavaliers unveil their World Championship banner and the Indians will take the field for Game 1 of the World Series in neighboring buildings. Being a Cleveland sports fan certainly feels different in 2016. 27. The Indians have held champagne celebrations in Detroit, Boston and Toronto. And they just keep beating the odds. Carlos Santana makes final out and prediction come true for Cleveland Indians Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com TORONTO -- First baseman Carlos Santana fell to his knees after grabbing the final out in the game that sent the Indians to the World Series on Wednesday at Rogers Centre. "I said thank you God for giving me the opportunity to be here and play in the World Series," said Santana. Closer Cody Allen was on the mound in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the American League Championship Series. He needed three outs to eliminate Toronto, win the AL pennant and put the Indians in the World Series for the first time since 1997. After giving up a leadoff double to Jose Bautista, Allen struck out Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion. Troy Tulowitzki was next and he fouled off a pitch in front of the Indians' dugout. Santana raced over, made and dropped to his knees before being mobbed by teammates. "I'm going to keep that ball," said Santana. "Cody Allen told me, "That ball means something special to you." But there was something more going at work on Wednesday. Santana talked to Mike Napoli before the game. Santana and Napoli have grown close this year as they've shared the DH and first base spots. In fact, Santana made his first start of the postseason at first base Wednesday. Mike Napoli on what makes Indians tick. "I saw Napoli this morning and told him, 'the team needs me. I have to do something special,'" said Santana. "Napoli told me, 'I believe you. You have the right talent and you've helped this team a lot." In the first inning Napoli gave the Indians and rookie lefty Ryan Merritt a 1-0 lead with a double off the fence in left field. Santana stretched it to 2-0 with a homer in the third off Marco Estrada. "After I hit the home run, Napoli said, "I told you. I told you,'" said Santana. "He told me he was very proud of me." Santana hit .167 (3-for-18) with two homers and two RBI in the ALCS. As a team, the Indians hit only .166 (25-for-149), but outscored Toronto, 12-8. Indians pitchers threw two shutouts in the series. Cleveland Plain Dealer LOADED: 10.20.2016 Epicenter of the sports world: Cleveland to host NBA championship ring night, World Series Game 1 on Tuesday Zack Meisel, cleveland.com By Zack Meisel, cleveland.com TORONTO -- For more than a half-century, Cleveland suffered a cruel athletic fate. Octobers passed without a Fall Classic celebration. Mother Nature dumped loads of snow on the city each winter, but never a Lombardi Trophy. Summers brought a welcome, warm reprieve from winter's cruel ways, but never an NBA title. Then, the Cavaliers broke the 52-year hex, with a roaring comeback against the Golden State Warriors. Hundreds of thousands of fans showered the team with praise as it paraded through the streets of downtown. And now, the Indians have advanced to the final stage of Major League Baseball's grueling grind of a season. On Tuesday night, the Cavs will receive their long-awaited championship rings at Quicken Loans Arena. Next door, the Indians will host Game 1 of the World Series at Progressive Field. The potential for such a scheduling conflict -- perhaps more appropriately termed an athletic impracticality, especially given Cleveland's less- than-stellar track record in the sports realm -- first arose in August, when MLB revealed the World Series slate. When the Indians dispatched the Blue Jays on Wednesday evening at Rogers Centre, they secured the franchise's first appearance in the Fall Classic in 19 years. Thanks to the American League's triumph in the All-Star Game -- in which Tribe hurler Corey Kluber earned the win -- the Indians hold home- field advantage in the World Series. Cleveland will host Games 1 and 2 and, if necessary, Games 6 and 7 at Progressive Field. Either the Dodgers or the Cubs, who are duking it out in the National League Championship Series, will venture to Cleveland next week. The Cavs welcome the for their series opener, which will have an 8 p.m. tipoff. Official first-pitch times for the World Series have not been released, but they typically have a similar start time. The Indians have won seven of their eight postseason affairs, despite having an injury-ravaged starting rotation. The Cavs wrapped up their preseason slate with an exhibition game in Columbus against the Wizards on Wednesday. "It's been a good year for Cleveland sports," said Indians reliever Dan Otero. "The Cavs won the championship. We were along for that ride. We had a game on their parade day and it was crazy that day. Some of their team members have been at our games. It's unbelievable to have that support and we hope to bring another championship to Cleveland." Cleveland Plain Dealer LOADED: 10.20.2016 Andrew Miller named ALCS MVP for Cleveland Indians, but says he doesn't deserve it Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com TORONTO – Andrew Miller was named MVP of the American League Championship Series, but he said he didn't deserve the award. The Indians advanced to the World Series on Wednesday with a 3-0 victory over Toronto in Game 5 of the ALCS. Miller helped secure the win with 2 2/3 scoreless innings, which was not surprising. In the ALCS, Miller didn't allow a run in four appearances, covering 7 2/3 innings. He struck out 14 and didn't walk a batter. "I don't deserve this recognition," said Miller. "I don't think anybody does. I don't think anybody should be singled out after this series. "It's such a special team. It's a special organization. The way they treat us from top to bottom, it's paid off. It's not because of one person or one thing. It's neat to be recognized, but that doesn't matter. What matters is we won a game today and we're going to the World Series and it doesn't get any better than that." The Indians went 7-1 in the postseason in beating AL East powers Boston and Toronto. Miller appeared in six games, striking out 21 and walking two in 11 2/3 innings. He went 1-0 with one save. This will be Miller's first trip to the World Series and he's still coming to grips with it. "I don't know," said Miller when asked what it feels like. "It's such a fun mix of emotions. We've got a chance to celebrate. These are the times of your life, but we've got our work cut out for us. We've got to beat the National League champion to achieve our real goals." The Dodgers and Cubs are playing in the NLCS. "It's going to be a lot of fun," said Miller. "Cleveland is going to be rocking. The AL won the All-Star Game so we've got our chance to play in front of our fans. And Corey Kluber was the winning pitcher in the All-Star Game, so that's even better." Game 1 of the World Series will be Tuesday at Progressive Field. It means four days of rest for Miller and the Tribe's busy bullpen. They can use it. No bullpen in the postseason has pitched more innings than the Indians. In eight postseason games, they're 3-0 with a 1.67 ERA and six saves in 32 1/3 innings. They've struck out 41, walked seven and allowed six earned runs. Asked how he felt physically, Miller said, "Right now? Honestly, I don't feel a whole lot. I don't feel tired. I feel I could keep pitching. There's just such a positive feeling right now. "The reality is that a little bit of a break is going to be nice. We'll all get a chance to take care of ourselves and heal up. That's a good place to be." Cleveland Plain Dealer LOADED: 10.20.2016 Behind the scenes of another Cleveland Indians postseason celebration, as the club celebrates World Series berth Zack Meisel, cleveland.com By Zack Meisel, cleveland.com TORONTO -- On one end of the clubhouse, the team owner held a black and gold trophy, tucked under his left arm. On the other end, the team interpreter clenched the baseball from the final out, which plunged into Carlos Santana's glove not too far from the ALCS logo a few paces from the Indians' dugout. In between, a high-flying horde of players, coaches and front-office executives popped the corks off champagne bottles, lit cigars and engaged in a celebration that is starting to become somewhat familiar. "Winning never gets old," said outfielder Rajai Davis, his goggles resting on his forehead. This is the Indians' third bash of bubbly and Budweiser in the last month. They doused the visitor's clubhouse at Comerica Park upon their clinch of the on Sept. 26. Two weeks later, they duplicated that scene in the cramped residence inside Fenway Park. On Tuesday night, following a 3-0 triumph in Toronto, they saluted each other for capturing the franchise's first AL pennant in 19 years. Moments before the corks ricocheted off of the ceiling, the team gathered in the center of the clubhouse. "[Ryan] Merritt, speech!" one player yelled. "He's shaking in his boots!" another player replied. "Sign them and send them to [Jose] Bautista!" another player shouted. Then, the spraying commenced. A small, small part of the damage. pic.twitter.com/H1Ayt159Tz — Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) October 19, 2016 Mark Shapiro, the Blue Jays' president and CEO who left the Indians last year after 24 years with the organization, made the rounds in the clubhouse. He shared an embrace with Chris Antonetti, who replaced him as team president. Tribe players and personnel sported navy shirts that displayed the phrase "Raise The Flag" and a pennant that said "2016 American League Champions." Shapiro and Chris Antonetti, mentor and pupil pic.twitter.com/v3drmEtFSC — Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) October 19, 2016 Trevor Bauer wearing a plastic cover over his right arm and hand and a Go-Pro camera on his head, circled the room to pour beer on the head and down the shirt of anyone he deemed worthy. As Corey Kluber spoke to reporters, catcher dumped champagne on the pitcher's head. Strength and conditioning coach Joe Kessler emptied a bottle of Bud Light on Kluber's head and then left the blue can tucked inside his shirt. Tyler Naquin wore a blue "Finding Dory" mask over his goggles. The Indians will have plenty of time to recover from this shindig. They'll host Game 1 of the World Series at Progressive Field on Tuesday. The baseball from the last out that secured the Indians a spot in the World Series. pic.twitter.com/IqLw812wWN — Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) October 19, 2016 Cleveland Plain Dealer LOADED: 10.20.2016 Cleveland Indians' defenders, pitchers key advance to World Series: Bill Livingston Bill Livingston, By Bill Livingston, The Plain Dealer CLEVELAND, Ohio – The man with the golden arm, Andrew Miller, didn't put the Cleveland Indians in the World Series all by himself. Which is OK because there's some doubt about the identity of that man anyway. Many analysts say the golden arm belonged to the mid-to-late-inning reliever Miller, but he and closer Cody Allen might be to the bullpen what and were to starting rotations decades ago. And no worries about praying for rain either. Behind every Indians' starter is a bullpen in which every relief pitcher, as Miller said after the Tribe took a commanding 3-0 series lead, "is ready to strap it on." Miller and Allen are simply the strapping-est. An utterly unknown rookie pitcher named Ryan Merritt disrupted the Toronto hitters' timing for 4 1/3 innings as completely as off-speed master would do to the slam-bang Indians of the early years of this century in the clinching fifth game Wednesday. The score was 3-0 as the bullpen again finished the job. Clearly, there is gold in those veins along with an altogether unsightly amount of blood from Trevor Bauer's injured right pinky. Infield and outfield of dreams In the 1990s, the best athlete on the Indians team was center fielder , the sixth man on an NCAA Final Four team at Arizona. Lofton outran his mistakes in misreading fly ball trajectories and injected some around-the-rim explosiveness to the age-old drama of a ball, a wall and a soaring player giving his all. Because so much of baseball is predicated on learned skills and micrometer-fine differences between success and failure in a game played without a clock that can move slowly, it is easy to underestimate baseball athleticism. It is a game of sudden, explosive movements and startllng reflexes. This Indians team has several players who are excellent athletes. The third game against Toronto was immediately hailed as the ultimate team victory because six relief pitchers took over for Bauer and suppressed the bats of a Blue Jays team that was out-homered in the regular season by only two other AL teams, Baltimore and Seattle. Defense goes hand in glove with great pitching. Athleticism allows the hand in the glove to grasp what seems beyond reach. All the way around the horn, the Indians' infield is where hits go to die. ALCS Game 3: Crisp The Indians' charging left fielder Coco Crisp's inning-ending, diving catch of Josh Donaldson's sinking line drive with a runner in scoring position allowed the Indians to get out of the seventh with their 4-2 lead intact. It was a game-saver too, for had the ball eluded Crisp, who hugged it to his chest as he fell, it would have rolled to the wall. Two by Lindor Kevin Pillar was on second in that inning after singling off Bryan Shaw and stealing second off the next reliever, Allen. Shortstop Francisco Lindor went diving toward the right side of the infield to glove catcher Roberto Perez's throw on the steal, then dived back to the bag and barely missed catching Pillar with his foot off the base. Javier Baez of the Chicago Cubs is supposed to be the best tagger in baseball. Lindor makes it a tag team in high honors, though. Another Lindor gem started as a mistake on the double play he turned in the second inning. Dan Otero, the first of the bullpen parade after Bauer was forced to leave the game, had already given up a leadoff home run to Michael Saunders to tie it, 1-1, followed by a Ezdquiel Carrera's line drive single. grounded to the left side of the second base bag for what appeared to be a routine double play. Lindor muffed the catch as he knelt to play the suddenly skidding ball, but grabbed it with his bare hand with his knee on the bag to nip Carrera on the force-out. Then Lindor snapped a bulls' eye on a submarine delivery inches off the ground to Mike Napoli at first to beat Goins. Kipnis The last out of the game came when second baseman Jason Kipnis raced behind the bag to backhand Darwin Barney's chop that cleared the leaping, 6-7 Miller. With his momentum carrying him away from first base, Kipnis leaped and threw across his body. The ball clearly beat Barney as Kipnis landed and lurched toward third. Disclaimers Circumstances elevated Crisp's catch. Aesthetically, it was was probably no better than 's leaping, backhanded catch of Ezequiel Carrera's rocket just before crashing into the wall in Game 4, the Indians' lone loss. 's diving backhanded catch of a Kevin Pillar smash later in Game 4 was lifted from a highlight video of Jim Edmonds, baseball's real angel in the outfield with and other teams. The victory anthem The Indians scored only 12 runs in their five-game ALCS win over Toronto. They gave up only eight. They won four times. And at 6:46 p.m. Wednesday evening, the heavenly host sang. Cleveland Indians are more than American League champs, they're Cleveland's kind of team! -- Terry Pluto Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer By Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer TORONTO -- There was Carlos Santana, catching the pop up in foul territory -- then the first baseman went down on his hands and knees and screamed. Not sure what he said... But I know what I said... Can you believe it: THE CLEVELAND INDIANS ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES! Those words not only belong in capital letters, they should be in neon lights after their 3-0 victory Wednesday over the Toronto Blue Jays to win the 2016 American League Championship Series in five games. The Indians are going to the World Series in a season where so much seemed to go so wrong. The Indians are going to the World Series because there is so much so right about this team. In this age of endless analytics and the theory that the team with the biggest payroll wins, the Indians defy the odds. They should be the favorite of anyone with a drop of underdog blood flowing through their veins. I don't care if it sounds like a cliche, this is a team with enormous heart and a real sense of mission. TALENT IS REAL To call the bullpen "dominating" is an understatement. Andrew Miller threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings Tuesday. That's 11 2/3 scoreless innings in the playoffs. Cody Allen pitched the ninth to pick up his fifth playoff save. He sometimes is lost in all the raving about Miller. Bryan Shaw pitches every day. Dan Otero came out of a baseball rummage sale to become a valuable arm in relief. Corey Kluber has been awesome in the postseason. Josh Tomlin lost his starting job in August, then looked like the 1997 version of after Sept. 1. To label Francisco Lindor a sensational shortstop is to sell him short. He is so much more than that, a true superstar at age 22 for a franchise that has been longing for one for years. To pretend the Indians swing bats of balsa is to ignore the 34 homers each clubbed by Mike Napoli and Santana. And in this game -- the biggest of the season -- Napoli doubled in a run with a shot that nearly knocked over the left field wall. Santana pole- axed a majestic homer to right. WHAT HEROES! But in the name of Ryan Merritt and Coco Crisp, the Indians are going to the World Series because those guys also were heroes. Merritt -- with 11 career big-league innings before this game -- looked as if he were facing some minor-league buddies in a simulated game in Goodyear, Arizona. During the playoffs, the Indians have kept several players working out at their Arizona baseball facility. When you're in the desert about 2,000 miles away from the big league team it's hard to imagine that suddenly you'd appear in the playoffs. "We tell everybody that you're a hamstring, an elbow or something away from being on Field 4 in Goodyear to being on TV," said manager Terry Francona. "And it's true." Just ask Merritt. Just ask the Blue Jays, who could manage only two hits off him in 4 1/3 scoreless innings. Trevor Bauer suffers a drone accident, and Merritt suddenly is called into action. First, he's on the roster. Next, he's starting Game 5. You can't make this stuff up. The smooth, long, lean lefty's quickest pitch was 87 mph. His slowest curve was 71 mph. Scouts would say he has excellent control, but "fringe" stuff. That's why he was the 488th pick in the 2011 draft. Before the game, Jose Bautista said Merritt would be "shaking in his boots" pitching against his team in the playoffs -- and in the loud Rogers Centre. Bautista and the rest of his teammates spent more time whining about umpires' calls than giving Merritt any reason to worry. Only Matt Moore -- 9 innings in 2011 for Tampa Bay -- started a playoff game with less experience than Merritt. It's a stunning performance for the rookie. Then add in the homer by Crisp. He arrived in the big leagues with the Tribe in 2003. At that point, Merritt was an 11-year-old kid in McKinney, Texas. Crisp was a late-season pickup by Chris Antonetti's front office. He has hit homers in the Division Series clinching game in Boston -- and in the ALCS finale in Toronto. THINK ABOUT THIS TEAM Napoli came to the Tribe on a one-year deal because most teams thought he was done at 34. He led the Indians with 101 RBI and is the spiritual center of the team. Rajai Davis was rejected by most teams because he was 35. Then he went out and won the title after signing with the Tribe. Jose Ramirez was supposed to be an utility infielder, instead he was their Mr. Clutch. A strong case can be made that Ramirez is the team's MVP. This from a guy who hit .219 last season and was sent to the minors at one point. Jason Kipnis had the best year of his career, and is perhaps the most underrated Indian. He came up in 2011 and has grown up with this team. The Indians went from a team with a deep, superb starting rotation to Kluber, Tomlin and now Merritt. Francona went from a manager who could count on his starters to the master of the bullpen. Pitching coach Mickey Callaway deserves at least a share of the Manager of the Year award that should be handed to Francona. Antonetti should be Executive of the Year for his acquisitions of Miller, Crisp and Brandon Geyer during the season. But most of all, the fans should celebrate. The Indians have been counted out and written off time and time again. Only they bounce back ... again and again and again. And now, welcome to the World Series Tribe fans. This is your kind of team. Cleveland Plain Dealer LOADED: 10.20.2016 Rookie Ryan Merritt, Cleveland Indians beat Toronto Blue Jays to reach first World Series since 1997 Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com TORONTO – They had no one else. No one. Danny Salazar's right forearm still hurts. Carlos Carrasco's right hand is still broken. Trevor Bauer's right pinkie may be still bleeding. and are in the bullpen and Bob Feller is dead and buried. So the Indians handed the ball to a rookie named Ryan Merritt and the skinny left-hander from McKinney, Texas pitched them into the World Series. Remember the name, people are going to be talking about him for a while. Merritt threw 4 1/3 innings and the Indians jumped Marco Estrada early as they beat Toronto, 3-0, to win the American League pennant and advance to the Fall Classic for the sixth time in franchise history and the first time since 1997. They won the best-of-seven ALCS, 4-1, against the wild-card Blue Jays. "What a story," said owner Paul Dolan, in the champagne-soaked visitor's locker room at Rogers Centre. "But there's another story coming out of this team and it's going to be great one." The Indians have not won the World Series since 1948. Could this injury-ravaged team end the drought? Well, they're 7-1 this postseason and their manager, Terry Francona, knows a thing or two about drought busting. He also knows something about the World Series. He is 8-0 in the World Series, leading the Red Sox to four-game sweeps in 2004 and 2007. Merritt's last start was in Goodyear, Arizona earlier this month when he faced the Tribe's Arizona Instructional League team. The Indians sent him to Goodyear to stay sharp just in case they needed him for the postseason. When Bauer ran afoul of one of his drones the night before the start of the ALCS, the Indians took reliever Joe Colon off the roster and added Merritt. World Series bound Indians celebrate "We know what he's going to give us," said pitching coach Mickey Callaway before the game. "He's going to fill up the strike zone." Merritt threw 67 percent of his 49 pitches for strikes. He retired 10 straight before Josh Donaldson singled with one out in the fourth. Merritt responded by inducing a double-play grounder from Edwin Encarnacion after being down in the count 3-0. Rarely throwing harder than 87 mph, Merritt worked into the fifth. When Russell Martin singled with one out, Francona went to the bullpen. Bryan Shaw, ALCS MVP Andrew Miller and Cody Allen took it from there. Shaw, working in his third straight game, finished the fifth with two strikeouts. Miller entered to end the sixth on a one-pitch double-play grounder by Donaldson. He then pitched two more scoreless innings to run his total to 11 in six games this postseason. Allen allowed a leadoff double to Jose Bautista, but struck out Donaldson and Encarnacion and retired Troy Tulowitzki on a foul pop to first baseman Carlos Santana to end it. Santana fell to his knees after making the final out. "I said thank you God," said Santana, making his lone start at first base in the postseason. It was Allen's fifth playoff save and the Indians' second shutout in the ALCS and third in the postseason. "When I saw the ball go up I just hoping Carlos would catch it," said Allen. "I was about 30 yards away and wanted no part of it." Merritt came into the game with 11 innings of big-league time. He made one start in those 11 innings, beating the on Sept. 30 with five innings of three-hit, one-run ball. He finished that game with 14 straight outs. Against Toronto, Merritt pitched pretty much the same way. He struck out two, allowed two hits and didn't allow a run. Just two of the 14 batters he faced reached base. On Tuesday, Merritt said he was going to treat this game like it was just another game. Like one of the 24 starts he made at Class AAA Columbus this year. "You've got to do that to perform well," said Merritt. "You have to relax. You've got to trust in yourself that you're good enough to be out here." Mike Napoli helped ease Merritt into the game with a run-scoring double in the first inning off Marco Estrada, who went 0-2 in the ALCS. Francisco Lindor singled with two outs and scored on Napoli's double off the fence in left. Napoli didn't receive credit for the RBI because Ezequiel Carrera misplayed the ball off the fence, but Lindor was going to score anyway. Merritt, supported by the run, needed just 10 pitches to retire the side in order in the first. The second inning went the same way for Merritt and more help was on the way. Santana made it 2-0 with a homer in the third. It was his second of the ALCS and came on a 1-0 pitch from Estrada. Coco Crisp made it 3-0 with a two-out homer in fourth. The veteran Crisp, acquired at the Aug. 31 deadline from Oakland, hit the deciding home run in the ALDS clincher against Boston. His blast on Wednesday was just as important. What it means The World Series starts Tuesday at Progressive Field. The Indians, who have home field advantage thanks to the AL's victory in the All-Star Game, will face the winner of the NLCS between the Dodgers and Cubs. Tribe ace Corey Kluber earned the win for the AL in the All-Star Game. "I want to thank Corey Kluber and the American League for giving us home field advantage," said Miller. The pitches Merritt threw 49 pitches, 33 (67 percent) for strikes. Estrada threw 92 pitches, 62 (67 percent) for strikes. Thanks for coming The Indians and Blue Jays drew a crowd of 48,800 to Rogers Centre. First pitch was at 4:09 p.m. and the temperature was 68 degrees with the roof closed for the third straight game. What's next? The Indians are expected to get Thursday off and begin workouts Friday in preparation for the World Series on Tuesday at Progressive Field. Cleveland Plain Dealer LOADED: 10.20.2016 'I don't think anyone could've written this script': It took blood, sweat and teeth, but Cleveland Indians off to World Series Zack Meisel, cleveland.com By Zack Meisel, cleveland.com TORONTO -- When Chris Antonetti sat at his desk on the fourth floor of the Progressive Field offices in early February, this is not what he had in mind. Executives from every wannabe contender envision a trip to the World Series. In those daydreams, the path to the promised land is rather straightforward, not too hilly. It never unfolds like that. The baseball journey takes teams through a 162-game gauntlet. The attrition took its toll on the Indians, who limped into the postseason without Michael Brantley or Carlos Carrasco or Danny Salazar. A pesky piece of technology carved up Trevor Bauer's right pinkie and had the hurler leaking blood on the hill. Heck, even manager Terry Francona lost a tooth covering moments before Game 3 of the ALCS. Suffice it to say, this isn't how Antonetti drew it up eight months ago. He couldn't have pegged Ryan Merritt, who threw no pitch faster than 87.4 mph on Wednesday, as the team's starting pitcher on the day it captured the American League pennant. He couldn't have projected these gaudy October numbers for Andrew Miller, a trade-deadline acquisition who has logged 11 2/3 scoreless innings in the playoffs. The southpaw cyborg struck out 14 in 7 2/3 frames in the ALCS. He couldn't have imagined Coco Crisp, a last-minute summer addition meant to provide insurance behind Abraham Almonte, would provide such a timely knack for power. Crisp's last three home runs have come on Sept. 26 (the day the Indians clinched the AL Central), Oct. 10 (the day the Indians clinched an ALCS berth) and on Wednesday, when they clinched their first trip to the Fall Classic in 19 years. He couldn't have pictured a shirtless fan would sprint out onto the field as Cody Allen prepared to toss his first pitch of the bottom of the ninth. "I don't think anyone could've written this script," Antonetti said. It defies conventional logic. How the Indians have cleared so many hurdles en route to a date on Tuesday with a to-be-determined National League club remains stupefying. It also speaks to the wizardry put on display by Francona and the resiliency of an ever-changing 25-man roster. Less than five weeks ago, Carrasco suffered a broken hand two pitches into his outing against the Tigers. Eight relievers patched together the 10 innings it required for the Tribe to top Detroit by a 1-0 margin. The blueprint was hatched that evening at Progressive Field. The Indians had to play to their strengths. They had to adapt. They had to adopt a new style. The bullpen has carried Cleveland to this point. The few remaining starting pitchers, when not covered in bubble wrap and tiptoeing around the clubhouse, have contributed just enough. The lineup hasn't lit up opposing pitchers, but it has delivered when necessary. These Indians aren't built to bludgeon the opposition. They won four of five against the Blue Jays, despite scoring only 12 runs in the series. Plan A has given way to Plan B and C and D. The Indians are on about Plan W by now. At least, that's an appropriate letter given how they have fared this month. This is far from what Antonetti and Co. pictured prior to spring training. The train has strayed from that narrow path, but the Indians continue to chug along. "In February or March of many years, we foresee a team that can win," said team owner Paul Dolan. "And then the story develops and something happens and we don't. This has been that year where everything goes right. Even when something goes wrong, it turns into something right."

Cleveland Indians' hair debate: Tito frowns, but Jose Ramirez is going to keep his 'do Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com TORONTO – Manager Terry Francona loves Jose Ramirez as a baseball player. About his shock of orange hair, well, he doesn't feel so warm and fuzzy. "It's atrocious," said Francona with a laugh, Tuesday before Game 4 of the American League Championship Series. Ramirez was in the interview room before Game 5 of the ALCS on Wednesday. When told that his manager didn't like his hair, Ramirez said, through interpreter Anna Bolton, "That's so weird. I really like my hair. And this series (has) brought me lots of blessings, and we're going to keep it like this." When asked what he thought of Francona's hair – Francona is bald – Ramirez said, "That's his hair, he can't do anything about it, that's his hair." Ramirez hit .500 (5-for-10) in the American League Division Series, but he went into Game 5 of the ALCS in a 1-for-13 skid. The Indians, as a team, entered Game 5 against Toronto hitting .165 (19-for-116) with nine runs and four homers. They held a 3-1 lead despite outscoring the Blue Jays by the thinnest of margins, 9-8. "It's a game and you can't always have the best results you want every single time," said Ramirez. "But even though we're not batting that well, I feel good and we're winning games and that's what's important." Who is Jose Ramirez? Ramirez finished the regular season hitting .312 (176-for-565) with 84 runs, 46 doubles, 11 homers and 76 RBI. When he came to spring training, it looked like he'd be a bench player, but when Michael Brantley was slow to recover from right shoulder surgery Ramirez stepped into the lineup and never looked back. "I'm probably the last person to comment about hair," said Francona, "but from as far as baseball goes, I mean, he has saved our butt, there's no way around it. When Brantley wasn't playing early, you kind of look at our team, you're like, 'Man, how are we going to score runs consistently?' "Jose stepped into Michael's at-bats. He's hit in every spot in the batting order. He's driven in runs. He's hit with runners in scoring position. He's used the whole field, he hasn't struck out. He's hit for occasional power. And he's done that playing left field, third base, shortstop and second. We know we have an everyday player that can hit the middle of the order at multiple positions." Ramirez's teammates have been wearing red, "Yes way, Jose' T-shirts during the ALCS. Here's the deal: Rookie lefty Ryan Merritt throws a fastball, curve, change-up and cutter. "The standard starter's repertoire," said pitching coach Mickey Callaway. "And he fills up the strike zone." Merritt, of course, started Game 5 of the ALCS against Toronto on Wednesday afternoon. He is just the second pitcher in history, according to Elias, to make his postseason debut with just one big-league start in the regular season. Indians had no choice but Merritt Matt Moore started Game 1 of the ALDS in 2011 for Tampa Bay with just one start during the regular season. Merritt entered Wednesday's start with 11 innings of big-league experience. Moore had 9 1/3 during the 2011 regular season. Testing, testing: The Indians were confident Trevor Bauer's right little finger would not bleed for Game 3 of the ALCS. He went through his long toss program before the game – making throws up to 400 feet. Then he went through his entire bullpen session without a problem. Tribe's Drone Boy explains how he injured finger "He probably had about 100 throws before he went into the game," said Callaway. "But about 16 pitches into the game, it started bleeding. I'm sure it was from extra effort. He went from throwing 88 mph in the bullpen to 94 mph in the game." Francona and Callaway think Bauer will be able to pitch again this postseason. Whether it's out of the pen in the ALCS or in the World Series should the Indians advance remains to seen. Dr. Thomas Graham, a hand specialist, was supposed to check on Bauer's finger against Wednesday. The concern, according to Francona, is that Bauer has to keep throwing to stay ready, but in doing so he runs the risk aggravating the cut. Bauer needed 10 stitches to close a gash on the finger after he cut it while repairing one of his drones the night before the ALCS started. Finally: Congratulations to Court and Becca Berry-Trip on the birth of their daughter James Elizabeth at 12:18 p.m. Wednesday. Court is the assistant director of baseball information for the Indians. James Elizabeth weighed in at 6 pounds and 14 ounces. ...Indians' starting pitchers aren't the only members of the organization falling prey to injuries. Dr. Mark Schickendantz, head of the Tribe's medical team, is currently recovering from rotator cuff surgery. Cleveland Plain Dealer LOADED: 10.20.2016 For Cleveland Indians, starting a lefty is not the worst idea -- Terry Pluto Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer By Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer TORONTO -- Toronto manager John Gibbons said he has a good feeling about facing Cleveland Indians rookie Ryan Merritt. The main reason? He's a lefty. "We always feel good when a lefty is pitching because we're so right-handed heavy," Gibbons said. "We've got some lefties in our lineup who have dominated lefties over their careers, so we'll see." As Game 5 loomed, the Blue Jays were down 3-1 in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series to the Tribe. So Gibbons has every reason to preach confidence, even if it's not totally factual. Actually, the Blue Jays batted .247 vs. lefties this season, that ranked 13th in the American League. Their OPS vs. lefties was .747, ranking No. 9. The Indians actually were better vs. lefty pitchers: hitting .268 (.748 OPS). Toronto vs. lefty starters: .708 OPS, batting .234. It should be a lot better. Some of their right-handed sluggers have had mixed results vs. lefties: Edwin Encarnacion: .242, 9 HR Josh Donaldson: .279, 7 HR Troy Tulowitzki: .266, 5 HR Jose Bautista: .220, 5 HR Russell Martin: .219, 5 HR The Blue Jays traded for Melvin Upton Jr. at midseason. He hit nine HR vs. lefties with San Diego, and had two HR with the Blue Jays. Overall, he hit 11 HR vs. lefties, batting .226. It's still a very dangerous lineup, but I'm actually more concerned about how Merritt will handle the playoff pressure. And the dome will be loud. So we'll see. Cleveland Plain Dealer LOADED: 10.20.2016 Cleveland Indians hope Trevor Bauer can soon raise four fingers, pinkie included, to the crowd Zack Meisel, cleveland.com By Zack Meisel, cleveland.com TORONTO -- Trevor Bauer stood in the Indians' dugout and turned toward the sea of blue. He raised his left pinkie, ring finger and middle finger as he looked out at the crowd. Then, he reconfigured his fingers into a circle. Three. Zero. The fans knew the status of the series. Bauer provided the reminder anyway. The guy who exited Game 3 after four batters because of a leaky right pinkie stuck around to watch his bullpen stop the bleeding and then he made sure the Toronto crowd had its counting correct. Sometimes, Bauer's trolling tactics are subtle. Other times, they're blatant. Just because he's temporarily sidelined doesn't mean any of it will cease. A drone-induced finger injury has relegated Bauer to the role jester rather than pitcher. He gave it a whirl for four batters on Monday night before a steady stream of blood seeped from his pinkie and forced him from the game. The Indians bullpen remarkably secured the remaining 25 outs. By the final one, Bauer was flashing his healthy fingers to the crowd to stress the series tally. "I don't think anybody's ever questioned his ability to want to pitch," said Tribe manager Terry Francona. "We know that. That's one of the things I think we love about it. He wants to pitch. He gave it everything he had. It wasn't his fault it started bleeding. "The other stuff -- the Twitter, all that -- I could do without all that. But, when you get him to the mound, we trust him and we trust his ability and his wanting to compete. That's never in question." Bauer has welcomed battles with Blue Jays fans on social media since the Indians ventured north of the border for a hard-fought, four-game set at the start of July. He has called out members of the media on Twitter. He lugged his drone to his press conference on Sunday afternoon at Rogers Centre. Tried to order blue jay for my protein of choice tonight but the restaurant said its not available until Friday. In other news, tbs sucks. — Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) October 12, 2016 He isn't afraid to speak his mind or to provoke the opposition. After Game 3, he offered a subtle dig at Toronto's Jose Bautista, who had griped that umpires -- masked with the term "circumstances" -- were favoring the Indians. "Sometimes the circumstances aren't in your favor," Bauer said Monday night. "Good teams overcome them and find a way to win." The Indians don't have the time to deal with Bauer's off-the-field antics at the moment. They exhausted enough energy wondering whether he'd be able to contribute in the ALCS after his mishap. Now, they're left to put the pitching pieces together into this best-of-seven puzzle. Bauer's injury has left the team with an untested rookie to start Game 5. This isn't the ideal situation. It isn't what the team mapped out. Convention went out the window long ago, but the Indians' desperation reached new heights when Bauer's scab cracked in the first inning of Game 3. "I did everything I could to go out there and pitch," Bauer said. "We treated it, did everything we could. It started bleeding on me. I'm a competitor. I wanted to be out there." The Indians wanted him out there, too. Reliever Andrew Miller said Bauer "showed [him] something by trying to pitch." Pitching coach Mickey Callaway came away impressed as well, despite the result. "I'm really proud of him," Callaway said. "I had to witness everything he had to go through to try and go out there and pitch last night. And not too many people would have done that." Trevor Bauer letting Blue Jays fans know it's 3-0 pic.twitter.com/eJfFJN0VzZ — CJ Fogler (@cjzero) October 18, 2016 The sideshow notwithstanding, it's hard to dispute Bauer's willingness to sacrifice for his team. He tossed five innings of relief on short rest in the Tribe's 19-inning triumph in Toronto on July 1. He pitched as long as he could, attempting to conceal the blood on his navy uniform, on Monday night. "I know in his mind he feels like he's let the team down in some respects," said Chris Antonetti, the Indians' president of baseball operations. "He was dead-set on going out and pitching deep into the game and giving us a chance to win. To leave it early, and have to turn it over to the bullpen so early in the game, he was frustrated by that, but in the end, he was elated that we won. I think ultimately, that's been part of Trevor's maturation as a pitcher." The drone-related injury -- another one of those "Only Bauer" episodes -- didn't cost the Indians a win in Game 3, but it threatened the team's standing. Now the team just hopes Bauer can raise four fingers to the crowd before his drone or the Blue Jays inflict any further damage. Cleveland Plain Dealer LOADED: 10.20.2016 Even Hollywood would reject this script: Cleveland Indians' dream season reaches World Series Zack Meisel, cleveland.com TORONTO -- Josh Tomlin carefully stalked his prey. There stood Mickey Callaway, treating reporters to a plethora of platitudes about Ryan Merritt, 's newly adopted icon. Callaway's navy "2016 American League Champions" shirt and gray World Series cap had evaded the first eruption of Bottega Prosecco and Budweiser. Tomlin dumped his champagne on Callaway's head, derailing the pitching coach's train of thought. "Continue," Tomlin yelled. "You have to overcome! Come on! Anybody else got a question?" Callaway continued, just as his team has resisted the temptation to accept its shortcomings and commence winter vacation. The script has yet to reach its conclusion. One final act remains. The Indians have secured a spot in the World Series for the first time in 19 years. Back then,the average ticket to a movie cost $4.59. It's nearly twice that amount today. The Indians have feverishly pounded away at their 2016 script for months. Many on the roster and in the front office can't fathom the plot twists they have jotted down. Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese would reject this script. Too implausible. Too heavy on the underdog narrative. Not enough star power. That's just fine. For the Indians, nonsense has made the most sense. Daunting tasks have presented no dead end. And now the team absent two of its starting pitchers, another one of its starting pitchers' fingers and its top hitter has a chance at a championship. Maybe the best movie script is the one only fit for reality, not the big screen. "This has been that year where everything goes right," said team owner Paul Dolan, with the black and gold AL championship trophy tucked under his left shoulder. "Even when something goes wrong, it turns into something right." It defies conventional logic. How the Indians have cleared so many hurdles en route to a date on Tuesday with a to-be-determined National League club remains stupefying. Francisco Lindor first had the dream 28 months ago, when he was a spunky, 20-year-old shortstop at Double-A Akron. He envisioned a primary role on a team bound for the World Series. Now, he's here. Last night I dreamed that I was playing shortstop 4 the @Indians in the World Series and we won #cantwait #WinningisEverything#Lindor12BC — Francisco Lindor (@Lindor12BC) June 15, 2014

Chris Gimenez had a premonition while snoozing last week. He pictured an ALCS triumph, and his subconscious projected it would require five games. Now, his team is there. This is no dream, though. Players can pinch themselves. Each bash with bountiful bubbly and Budweiser offers a reminder that this is real. This is an authentic experience, a journey no one inside the visitor's clubhouse at Rogers Centre on Wednesday night will ever forget, because no one could have imagined the route in which it required. Indians celebrate first AL pennant in 19 years "Winning like this is fun under any circumstances," Dolan said, "but to do it when we were written off left and right -- frankly, I had that reaction myself at times. 'We've lost somebody.' 'We can't possibly recover from that.' Or, 'maybe it'll work in a five-game series, but not in a seven- game series." Somehow, the Indians have surmounted every snag sent their way. Terry Francona deserves tireless commendation for that. If the 2016 campaign is a movie, Francona's actor must serve as the cast's linchpin. This couldn't be some indie performer short on training. "At the center of the storm has been Tito," Dolan said. "He anchors this team and this organization." The storm could have turned severe had the Indians not put the kibosh on Toronto's comeback plans on Wednesday. Merritt, a rookie with about as much experience on a big-league field as the shirtless dolt who sprinted toward second base before the bottom of the ninth, delivered an award-worthy effort. "[Corey] Kluber in a clinch game would just make too much sense," said second baseman Jason Kipnis. "That's why we lost [Game 4]. Having a guy in his second career start would be perfect for the movie." A high-flying horde of players, coaches and front-office executives popped the corks off champagne bottles, lit cigars and engaged in a celebration that is starting to become somewhat familiar. The movie reached one of its most dramatic arcs at 6:46 p.m. ET on Wednesday. When Troy Tulowitzki's towering pop-up nestled into Carlos Santana's glove and the first baseman dropped to his knees, Tribe players leapt over the dugout railing and gathered between the mound and second base. The team's coaches and trainers congratulated each other in the dugout. The relievers made sure they didn't trip down the stairs while exiting the bullpen. Kipnis kept repeating how the team's odyssey should merit a movie. The Indians will host Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday night. The whole world will receive a glimpse into this unparalleled script. "This team," Kipnis said. "Not the old MAJOR LEAGUE." Who would play Kipnis' part? "Someone REALLY good-looking," he said, before he started to walk away. Then he stopped, and turned back around. "Channing Tatum." Kipnis can dream. So can his teammates. This postseason run has been nothing short of stupefying. It's real, though. Too real to be scripted. Said Dolan: "You can't even imagine it's possible."

Ryan Merritt might not be a household name, but the Cleveland Indians pitcher is the talk of the town Zack Meisel, cleveland.com TORONTO -- Cigar smoke started to fill the room, making it even more challenging to identify every drenched, goggles-wearing individual in a navy American League Champions shirt. Paul Dolan just wanted to get acquainted with the guy who lifted the Indians to a World Series berth. "I'm spending this time trying to find him," the team owner said. "I've never met him." The "him" is Ryan Merritt, and for eternity, his moniker will satisfy trivia questions and trigger fond memories for those in Cleveland. For the Blue Jays, who barely recognized his name prior to his astonishing performance in Game 5 of the ALCS, Merritt will be hard to forget. "He's kind of unflappable," said pitching coach Mickey Callaway. "He's the unflappable Ryan Merritt. He probably doesn't even know their names." They knew his, though. With the Indians absent two of their starting pitchers -- and one of their starting pitcher's fingers -- it's the 24-year-old with 11 career major- league innings under his belt who secured the club's World Series spot. It was Merritt, the kid targeted by Toronto's Jose Bautista, who claimed Merritt would be "shaking in his boots" when he took the hill at Rogers Centre. "I heard it," Merritt said. "But I didn't let it affect me or get to me." Those boots, brown Cowboy boots worn to the park by the native Texan, sat on the clubhouse floor with a bottle of champagne tucked inside. One teammate shouted that Merritt ought to sign them and send them to Bautista. Indians celebrate first AL pennant in 19 years Merritt felt jitters in the first inning, but who could tell? He painted the corners with his mid-80s heater and his tantalizing slow stuff and he retired the first 10 batters he encountered. Not too shabby for a guy who most recently was pitching to instructional league hitters in Goodyear, Arizona. The Indians haven't gone according to script this postseason, though. At least, not a script anyone would believe. Only Corey Kluber in Game 1 of the ALCS started a game he was supposed to this October. "Everybody else kind of pitched whenever," Callaway said. "Like, 'Surprise! Tomlin, you're throwing tomorrow.' It's been unbelievable." For the Indians, nonsense has made the most sense. Daunting tasks have presented no dead end. Maybe the best movie script is the one only fit for reality, not the big screen. So it figures that Merritt's second career start came in the contest that clinched Cleveland its first AL pennant in 19 years. Tribe manager Terry Francona met with Merritt a few hours before Game 5. He told him the start wasn't "life or death." Merritt proceeded to sit at his locker and play "Clash of Clans" on his iPad. Then, he shut down a powerful, pompous lineup for 4 1/3 innings. "It is absolutely fitting, because it just demonstrates this was an organizational win," Dolan said. "We've built a system, so when we needed somebody to step up in a crucial moment, we have people behind them." The plan was for Merritt to get through Toronto's order once. Anything else was playing with house money. Jeff Manship warmed up in the early innings. Bryan Shaw finally took over in the fifth. "I loved it," said fellow starting pitcher Josh Tomlin. "I loved every second of it. ... I realize how tough it is for guys like us to do what he just did." A high-flying horde of players, coaches and front-office executives popped the corks off champagne bottles, lit cigars and engaged in a celebration that is starting to become somewhat familiar. When the Indians gathered to pop champagne in the center of the clubhouse on Wednesday night, players yelled for Merritt to give a speech. Who could have imagined this scene? "It almost is an appropriate ending to the American League Championship Series, with a guy that nobody counted on being here coming in and doing his job," said team president Chris Antonetti. "I think that's really been the story of our season." Merritt is from Celina, Texas, a town known for its football. "He's the face of that damn town right now," Tomlin said. And he's the talk of the town in Cleveland, a town that will host Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday.

How the Indians' boot-wearin' rookie sent them to the World Series Jeff Passan TORONTO – A few hours before Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, a Texan walked into the Cleveland Indians’ clubhouse wearing a pair of size-10½ Dan Post Cowboy Certified boots with a brown instep, blood-red-and-tan design on the shaft and white piping on the sides. He was not trying to make a statement. They were the only pair of footwear he brought to Toronto. One thing was undeniable, though: He was not shaking in them. Ryan Merritt moseyed over to his locker, sat down, yanked off the boots and changed out of his civvies into his navy Indians jersey and New Balance spikes. He was not quivering in those, either. Actually, Merritt leaned back in his chair, pulled out his iPad and bore a wide grin. “He was sitting down playing Clash of Clans,” Indians catcher Roberto Perez said. “I swear. He was totally relaxed. He didn’t look scared. He was just sitting at his locker playing.” Merritt is 24 years old, left-handed, 6-foot on a good day and in possession of a fastball that hovers somewhere around 85 or 86 mph. Coming into Wednesday, he had logged 11 innings as a major league pitcher, and the Indians offered him the Game 5 start anyway, mainly because a line drive, a forearm and a drone propeller decimated their rotation but also because they understood something very simple: Short left-handers with fastballs that don’t break the speed limit in some parts of their home state don’t scare easy. It’s why they laughed when Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista opened his gullet Tuesday and said: “I’m pretty sure he’s gonna be shaking in his boots more than we are.” Over the previous few days, Indians manager Terry Francona had chatted up Merritt in the clubhouse, taken his temperature and saw 98.6. He pulled Merritt into his office before Game 5 and said: “Go out there and be Ryan Merritt.” Ryan Merritt, it turns out, is the sort of pitcher who could stare down the incendiary Blue Jays lineup and render it inert. He is 85 mph of straight fire. He is 4 1/3 innings of shutout ball in his second major league start, which happened to be the game the Indians clinched their first World Series appearance since 1997. He is the most beautiful damn country boy the city of Cleveland ever had seen, from inside the head that executed a plan to the arm that carved up the Blue Jays in a 3-0 victory at Rogers Centre all the way down to those Dan Post boots he raised in the middle of the cork-popping celebration. “These are going to be the most famous boots in America, Merritt,” Indians reliever Dan Otero said, and he didn’t even mention Canada, where they’d come to symbolize the Indians’ rise and Blue Jays’ tumble. Cleveland’s offense slumbered through most of the series. Toronto’s managed to disappear at all the wrong times, none worse than for 13 outs against the kid whose last outing came against some of the Indians’ youngest farmhands in the Arizona instructional league, where Merritt stayed fresh before he joined the Indians’ roster in a break-glass-in-case- of-emergency role. Once Trevor Bauer’s pinky fell prey to the drone blade, adding to the misfortune already of the liner that broke Carlos Carrasco’s hand and the twinge in Danny Salazar’s gifted right arm, the Indians’ just-in-case scenario came to life. The dire predictions – of Merritt folding, of the series heading back to Cleveland, of the Blue Jays becoming the second baseball team ever to escape a 3-0 series deficit – dissipated over 49 Merritt pitches and another 55 from The Circumstances: reliever Bryan Shaw, ALCS MVP Andrew Miller and closer Cody Allen, who secured the final out on a pop-up to first base caught by Carlos Santana, setting off a wild celebration that raged across the border. “I was nervous all day,” Cleveland pitching coach Mickey Callaway said. “Merritt calmed me down. He just goes and does his job. And that’s one of the reasons we put him on the roster. We knew if the situation called for it, he’d put the ball over the plate.” Not only was it over the plate, Merritt picked at the corners like a kid who insists on tearing the crust off his peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich. Of those 49 pitches, only seven were over the middle-third of the plate, and just four of those were in the strike zone. He gave Toronto nothing to hit, and the Blue Jays struck out more times (three) than they got on base against Merritt (two).

Merritt's strong start in TOR Highlight package of Ryan Merritt's performance in Game 5 of the ALCS as the Cleveland Indians advance to the World Series “He was just painting corners,” Perez said. “I don’t think he made one mistake. In when he had to. Down and away. Curveballs backdoor. He really pitches. Like, pitches. That’s his second start in the big leagues? I knew he wanted to go out and give all he has. But, man. Not like this.” Perez deserves plenty of credit. While Miller justifiably won plaudits, shortstop Francisco Lindor vaulted into the national consciousness, and Carlos Santana and Coco Crisp buoyed the Indians with solo home runs off Blue Jays starter Marco Estrada, Perez’s game plan again flummoxed Toronto. Before the series, he spoke with Indians pitchers and told them to pretend like every breaking ball they threw was coming on an 0-2 count. No get-me-over curveballs. The good stuff, sharp and devastating. “With this lineup, you’ve just got to think, man,” Perez said. “You’ve just got to know your pitchers’ strengths and the hitters’ weaknesses. They couldn’t hit breaking balls. And we just stuck with that. And when you see guys don’t make adjustments on those pitches, why not?” That may as well be the motto for the Indians’ pitching staff: Why not? They are like the denizens of baseball’s Island of Misfit Toys, castoffs and disappointments who found a home on a team whose payroll remains under $100 million and hunts for such bargains. Miller was a failed starter. Ace Corey Kluber almost went to the bullpen in Triple-A four years ago. Carrasco took years to develop. Arm issues nearly derailed Salazar. Arizona gave up on Bauer a year after drafting him. Otero was bought from Philadelphia for cash in the offseason. Allen was a 23rd- round pick. They don’t have a chip on their shoulder. They have a boulder. Merritt himself was a 16th-round pick out of McLennan Community College in Waco. His Dan Posts are about four years old and one of two pairs of boots he owns. The others are work boots, which he plans on using this offseason when he goes back home to North Texas and gets into some labor. “My dad raised cows, horses, had pigs, emus, chickens,” Merritt said. “I was definitely a redneck. I drove a tractor for my dad.” He drove the bus for the Indians on Wednesday, and toward the end of their celebration, Indians president Chris Antonetti stood toward the front of the clubhouse, shivering from the booze bath he’d taken, when first baseman Mike Napoli screamed to no one and everyone. “Let’s take a plane to Vegas!” Napoli said. “That’s the next one,” Antonetti said. “Seghi,” Napoli said, calling for Indians traveling secretary Mike Seghi. “[Expletive] this! Let’s go to Vegas!” “Hey!” Antonetti said. “That’s the next one. We already talked about this. We’re stopping on our way back after we win.” “Awwwww,” Napoli said. “You’re getting me excited.” Las Vegas is a natural stop on the way back from Los Angeles, should the Dodgers advance to the World Series, and it’s a bit out of the way from Chicago, though the Indians aren’t exactly a team that hews to convention, so an out-of-the-way charter flight to celebrate may well be in the offing. They’ve got four wins to go, four to bring the Indians their first championship since 1948 and the city its second in 2016. The Cavs’ title, though far from foregone, wasn’t farfetched, either, not with LeBron James doing LeBron James things. These Indians? The ones with all the injuries? The ones that rely so much on their bullpen? The ones with the soft-tossing short-stack on the mound? “This clan here,” Ryan Merritt said, looking around the clubhouse at the American League champions, “wins a lot more than my Clash of Clans.”

Pitcher's Merritt-orious service propels Indians to World Series Jim Ingraham | The Chronicle-Telegram Well of course it ended like this. How could it not? All that’s left to do now, before the start of the World Series, is for the Indians to sign Ryan Merritt to a contract extension that includes a “No Drones” clause. Ryan “Boots” Merritt. Go figure. “In a year that has been so improbable,” said 28 Octobers ago, when Kirk Gibson took Dennis Eckersley deep, “the impossible has happened.” It applied then, and it applies now. No, not that the Indians are going to the World Series, but that rookie Ryan Merritt, pitching in a hostile environment, in a foreign country, in only his second major league start, led the way. You don’t have to make this stuff up, because it actually happened, on Oct. 19, 2016, starting just after 4 p.m., Eastern Tito Time. Book it. Savor it. And send a copy to Jose “I’m pretty sure he’s going to be shaking in his boots” Bautista. Nice call, Joey Bats. So here we are, flying out of another turn on this wild Wahoo ride that began in April and has seen dame fortune throw everything, including the kitchen and bathroom sinks, at the Franconamen, who have weathered multiple storms, injuries and a drone attack to make it all the way to the World Series, where they will face either the Dodgers or the Cubs, who are still engaged in hostilities — go ahead, fellas, knock each other out. Ryan Merritt? He doesn’t look old enough to be working the drive-thru window at McDonalds, but he drove through Toronto’s powerful lineup for nearly five table-setting innings, before turning the pulse rates of Indians fans over to the team’s gorilla bullpen. He retired the first 10 men he faced. He faced 14 batters in all, and he got 13 of the 27 outs required for victory. I could have sworn I saw Terry Francona and pitching coach Mickey Callaway gleefully doing back flips in the dugout after the fourth inning. When Merritt threw his 49th and final pitch, the Indians were leading 3-0, and the Blue Jays were shaking in their boots. Merritt was starting this game, in this series, on this day, in this stadium, with all this on the line only because the Indians, in the middle of the American League Championship Series, had literally run out of starting pitchers. A week ago he was throwing in the bullpen in Goodyear, Ariz. So Merritt went from Goodyear to Good Grief, the very embodiment of the bad luck that resulted in the Indians, with the American League pennant on the line, having to start an unknown minor leaguer with a fastball that couldn’t break a pane of glass. “I think he’ll be fine,” said Francona, who in this postseason has managed like he invented managing. If Francona had never skippered the Red Sox to two World Series titles, his Hall of Fame ticket could still be punched by his remarkable work this season, and this postseason — his Mona Lisa. “This makes it more challenging, but it can still be done,” said Francona earlier this season. It was either the day Danny Salazar suffered a season-ending strained forearm, or after Carlos Carrasco’s hand was broken by a line drive. It was certainly implied at various other times: when it became obvious that the Indians would have to play the whole year without their best player, Michael Brantley, when starting catcher Yan Gomes suffered a separated shoulder and broken hand, and again when Trevor Bauer got attacked by his pet drone. Turns out it WAS more challenging, but the Indians, incredibly, got it done. They have gotten to the World Series for only the sixth time in franchise history. They are the last team standing in the American League. Despite missing their best player, their starting catcher and three of the five starters in their rotation, their record this year, counting the postseason, is 101-68. Since Sept. 30 they are 10-1, against the Royals, winners of the last two AL pennants, the Red Sox, AL East champs, and wild-card game winner Toronto. During the regular season, Toronto averaged 4.7 runs per game. Against the Indians in the ALCS they averaged 1.6. In going 7-1 in the postseason versus Boston and Toronto, the Indians only allowed 15 runs, 1.8 per game. In three of their last seven games, they haven’t allowed any runs at all. This is fantastic stuff, and a credit to every corner of the organization. Everyone contributed. Including “Boots” Merritt. “The only guy who got in his way was me,” said the famously self-deprecating Francona, on his decision to remove Merritt from the pennant- winning 3-0 victory after 4 1/3 innings. So now it’s on to the World Series, with Game 1 on Tuesday, the first time the first game of a World Series has ever been played in Cleveland. Goodnight , wherever you are.

TRIBE NOTES Indians 3, Blue Jays 0: Tribe beats Toronto to win ALCS and advance to World Series ByChris Assenheimer | The Chronicle-Telegram TORONTO -- The Indians’ magical postseason run will continue in the World Series. Cleveland, which has overcome countless obstacles and the longest of odds all year, did it again Wednesday, advancing to the biggest stage in baseball by taking down heavily-favored Toronto 3-0 to wrap up the American League Championship Series, four games to one. The Indians, underdogs in the Division Series and again in the ALCS, have won seven postseason games and lost only once on this inconceivable playoff journey. “It’s unreal, man. I was crying out there,” shortstop Francisco Lindor said on the field after the game. “You don’t understand how happy I am, how proud I am of everyone on my team, the work they put in, how they battled day in and day out. “I’m super proud, however, we’ve got four more to go.” The clinching game at Rogers Centre may have been the Indians’ best believe-it-or-not act of October. Rookie Ryan Merritt, a left-hander who had made only four appearances in the majors and one start, was forced to the mound for a high- pressured outing due to an injury to Trevor Bauer. Merritt rose above the occasion, tossing 4 1/3 shutout innings, while allowing only two hits and striking out three. “He was amazing. I mean, to go out there and just execute just pitch after pitch against that lineup, was terrific,” pitching coach Mickey Callaway said. “He executed his game plan perfectly. “Just watching him warm up, I came in and told Tito, I said, ‘He’s going to pitch good.’ He was keeping the ball down and throwing it exactly where he wanted to. The guy was unflappable, the unflappable Ryan Merritt. He probably didn’t even know (the Blue Jays’) names.” “He shocked the world, he shocked the world,” Lindor said of the 24-year-old Merritt. “That’s what I told him before the game, ‘Go out there and shock the world, baby.” With an enemy crowd of close to 50,000 fans at a fever pitch to start the game, Merritt retired the first 10 hitters he faced. “He didn’t let the noise get to him. He was phenomenal,” manager Terry Francona said. “And I’m sure when all is said and done a game like this will go light years in his development, in his maturity.” “It’s crazy,” Merritt said. “It’s awesome that I’m here. I’m glad they called me and that they showed that they had trust in me to come out here and give them a chance to win a game, especially at this point in the season. It’s tough for them to pick a guy and trust him to go out there that hasn’t had much experience to go out there and win for them. So it’s an honor, really, just to be able to have that opportunity to go out and try to win.” The Indians did their best to put Merritt at ease early, scoring in the opening inning off right-hander Marco Estrada, and plating all its runs within the first four innings -- two on solo home runs from Carlos Santana in the third and Coco Crisp in the fourth. Santana batted just .160 (4-for-25) over his first seven postseason games. “I told (Mike) Napoli (Wednesday) morning, I said, ‘Napoli, I know the team, they need me, and I have to do something special,’” he said. With the three-run cushion, Francona turned to his bullpen trio of Bryan Shaw, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen. Shaw relieved Merritt and wiggled out of a fifth-inning jam by striking out Ezequiel Carrera and Kevin Pillar with two on. After Shaw allowed a one-out single to Jose Bautista to start the sixth, Miller came on and needed only one pitch to get Josh Donaldson to bounce into an inning-ending double play. Miller pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth, with Allen coming in to close it out. Before he could, a shirtless male fan ran onto the field and had to be subdued and removed. Allen allowed a leadoff double to Bautista, but struck out MVP candidates Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion before getting Troy Tulowitzki to pop out in foul territory to Santana at first base. Miller was named ALCS MVP after making four scoreless appearances (7 2/3 innings) and striking out 14 of the 21 batters he faced. “There ain’t nobody better than them right now,” Lindor said of Cleveland’s bullpen. “I’m glad they’re on my team.” Indians pitching shut down the big-swinging Blue Jays for the majority of the series, limiting them to eight runs. “They pitched great,” Bautista said. “It was tough. They seemed to make the right pitches at the right time and got us out and they never let us string base hits together, and when we had men in scoring position, they seemed to turn it up a notch and go to another level of execution. My hat’s off to them.” After catching the final out in foul territory, Santana dropped to his knees and crossed himself as his teammates flooded out of the dugout to join the celebration on the field. “I said, ‘Thank you God,” Santana said. The Indians will be looking to end a championship title drought that has been in place since 1948 when the World Series opens Tuesday at Progressive Field. It will be Cleveland’s first World Series appearance since 1997, when the Indians lost in seven games to the Florida Marlins. Whoever the Indians wind up playing from the National League, odds are they won’t be favored. “Can we still be underdogs, I don’t know?” Miller said. “Maybe we have guys that aren’t on billboards across the country, maybe not yet. But there’s some valuable players on this team. We’ve got a good mix of veterans and young guys, but there’s some guys that are superstars. It’s fun to watch them every day, it’s fun to be a part of. The preparation and the position they put us in, it all makes sense.”

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