Tribe's storied season ends in heartbreak By Bryan Hoch and Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | 3:24 AM ET + 1202 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- The Yankees believed they had the right blend of talent not only to force the American League Division Series presented by Doosan back to Progressive Field, but to win it all. Having made good on that promise by knocking off the defending AL champion Indians, New York's improbable and exhilarating run at a 28th World Series title will now run through Houston. Didi Gregorius homered twice, CC Sabathia rolled back the clock with nine strikeouts before turning it over to the bullpen in the fifth inning and the Yankees completed their historic comeback from a daunting deficit, advancing past the Indians with a 5-2 victory in Game 5 of the ALDS on Wednesday night. "For me to be here with these guys is just unbelievable," Gregorius said. "This amazing, young team that we've got, everybody helps each other out here. Everybody wants each other to be good. I think that's the motto since I got here." The Yanks will now face the Astros in the AL Championship Series presented by Camping World. Game 1 is scheduled for Friday at Minute Maid Park. "There's a ton of fight in this club," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "It's a great mixture of youth and veteran players that are leading the way, and it's hard to believe, because we just beat a really, really good team." Participating in their fourth elimination game in the past eight days, the Yanks never trailed in the final three ALDS games. They jumped in front early again on Wednesday thanks to Gregorius, who launched a solo home run in the first inning and a two-run shot in the third as Cleveland ace Corey Kluber was dispatched to his second early exit of the series. "You can't say enough of what Didi did," said Brett Gardner, who provided two big insurance runs with a single to end an epic 12-pitch at-bat against Cody Allen in the ninth inning. "Kluber is probably the Cy Young winner in the American League, for Didi to take him deep twice is pretty impressive." Winning pitcher David Robertson hurled 2 2/3 scoreless innings, and Aroldis Chapman converted a six-out save as the Yankees became the 10th team to advance after losing the first two games of a best-of-five postseason series. "We did what we were supposed to do, which is hold the lead," Robertson said. "It was tough tonight. They are a resilient team. You have to just try to not make mistakes against them." The Indians are the first team since the 2003 Athletics to win the first two games of a Division Series at home before being eliminated by dropping three straight. Dating back to last year's World Series, the Tribe has also lost six straight close-out games, and it is 2-8 in close-out games under manager Terry Francona. "Everybody in this locker room has the utmost respect for Tito, including myself," Cleveland outfielder Michael Brantley said. "He puts us in position to succeed every single day. [Losing the series] has nothing to do with him. Absolutely not. It's on us." Kluber lasted just 3 2/3 innings before Francona turned the game over to the bullpen. The AL Cy Young Award front-runner, who gave up homers to Gary Sanchez and Aaron Hicks in Game 2 on Friday, had never allowed multiple home runs in consecutive starts before this series. Kluber had also never gone fewer than four innings in back-to-back starts. "Two pitches, really. I made two mistakes to Didi," Kluber said. "I put two balls right into his bat path, and he's a good hitter. He hit two home runs. That's really what stands out. It ended up being the difference." • Kluber done in by two Gregorius homers After the loss, Francona said Kluber was "fighting a lot" to be on the mound for the Tribe. Kluber, who missed time with a back injury early in the season, declined to elaborate. "I don't think I need to get into details about it," said Kluber, who allowed nine runs in 6 1/3 innings in his two ALDS starts. "I was healthy enough to go out there and try to pitch." The all-time leader in starts and innings pitched at Progressive Field, Sabathia seemed to thoroughly enjoy the early stages of his trip down memory lane. The former Tribe ace grinned widely after he pounced off the mound to snare Roberto Perez's popped-up bunt in the third inning, leaving a divot in the infield turf, part of a string in which he retired the first nine Indians and 13 of the first 14. "It feels good. This is what you play for, a chance to win the championship here in New York, and we're on our way to do that," Sabathia said. Inside a quiet Cleveland clubhouse after the team's incredible season came to an abrupt halt, players shook hands and shared hugs. "You don't want it to end," Indians pitcher Josh Tomlin said. "When it finally does, it stings, especially the way it did. This is too good of a team to go home, and everybody in here knows it. That's why it's so tough for us." MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Yes Sir: Gregorius had been just 1-for-13 in the ALDS entering Game 5, but he produced his biggest swings when it counted the most. Gregorius gave the Yankees a quick lead when he pounced on a 94.1 mph 1-2 Kluber heater for a first-inning solo shot, then put New York up, 3-0, in the third when he cracked Kluber's 86.4 mph 0-1 curveball into the right-field seats. It was the third multihomer game by a Yanks player in a winner-take-all postseason contest, joining Yogi Berra (Game 7 of the 1956 World Series) and Jason Giambi (Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS). "You know, anybody can be the big hero for the game, from top to bottom," Gregorius said. "That's what it shows you." Great escape: Trailing, 3-0, the Indians peppered Sabathia with four straight hits to knock out the veteran and make it a one-run game in the fifth inning, with Perez flaring a run-scoring single to right and Giovanny Urshela picking up an RBI with a ground ball through the right side. The Yankees called upon Robertson, who needed just two pitches to induce Francisco Lindor to ground into an inning-ending double play. "It's such a great example for our young guys," Girardi said. "He's ready to pitch any time, and he got big, big outs today. He got eight big outs. And he gets the big double play." Must C: Robertson induces DP Must C: Robertson induces DP With two runs already in, the Yankees end the Indians' rally in the 5th inning by getting Francisco Lindor to ground into a 6-3 double play Caught looking, stealing: The Tribe ended a Yanks rally in emphatic fashion in the seventh inning, when Gardner reached on a single to bring Aaron Judge to the plate with one out. Setup man Bryan Shaw got a strike-three call on an outside cutter, and catcher Perez quickly fired to second, where Jose Ramirez applied a tag on Gardner for an inning-ending caught stealing. According to Statcast™, Perez's pop time was 2.01 seconds and his throw clocked in at 81.9 mph. QUOTABLE "There's a lot of fight. We fight, and we fight, and we fight. It's incredible to watch. A lot of these guys, I've gone through the Minor Leagues with. To see them develop and turn into what they have now, it's amazing." -- Judge • Yanks' ALDS comeback takes Girardi off hook "Very disappointing. It's a sad day for me, for the team, for the city of Cleveland and for our families. Hats off to the Yankees. They absolutely outplayed us the last three games and they deserve to win. -- Lindor • Indians: Yankees 'played their butts off' SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Judge struck out in each of his first four plate appearances, setting and extending the all-time single postseason series record with 16 ALDS strikeouts. The previous mark of 13 strikeouts had been shared by the A's Brandon Moss (2013 ALDS), the Tigers' Austin Jackson (2013 ALDS) and the Cubs' Javier Baez (2016 World Series). • Judge determined to get on track vs. Astros The 31 combined strikeouts in the game set a Major League record for the most in a nine-inning postseason game. The previous record had been 28, done by the Astros and Royals in Game 4 of the 2015 ALDS. • DYK? Facts, figures from wild Wednesday

Indians left to mull over questions after loss By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | @MLBastian | 3:12 AM ET + 33 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- As the Yankees celebrated at the Progressive Field mound on Wednesday night, forming a mob scene in front of a stunned crowd, Jay Bruce looked on from the Indians' dugout. After a few moments, the outfielder turned, tossed his batting gloves to a fan and disappeared into a somber locker room.

For the 69th season in a row, the last page to the Tribe's fairy-tale script went missing.

In the immediate wake of the Indians' 5-2 loss to the Yanks, a defeat that dealt the final blow to Cleveland in the American League Division Series presented by Doosan, plenty of questions still lingered. The main one is this: When Tribe fans look back on this series, what will they cite as the catalyst for the collapse after taking a 2-0 lead in the series? The bottom line is that the Indians did not play like the club that cruised to AL's best record. "I feel like it's an opportunity that's missed," Bruce said. "To be part of a team this talented with this much depth and this much ability to win games, there really wasn't a weak spot. Coming to the playoffs, you obviously want that. I think that our pitching is really what made us who we are. We just couldn't get the job done." It felt similar to last fall, when the Indians grabbed a 3-1 lead in the World Series only to fall in seven games to the Cubs. After that final loss, though, there was still a sense of accomplishment by a team that defied the odds in the face of adversity. The clubhouse atmosphere had a different feel to it this time around. This was a 102-win team during the regular season that rattled off an AL-record 22 wins in a row between August and September. A silver lining was hard to identify for the players. Down the hall in the manager's office, Terry Francona also had to live with the roster decisions that had a ripple effect throughout this best-of- five series. Cleveland has now lost six consecutive close-out games dating back to the World Series last year, and is 2-8 in such games under Francona since 2013. Prior to Game 3 of the ALDS in New York, where the Indians arrived at Yankee Stadium armed with a 2-0 series lead, Francona was asked about dealing with criticism. "You do your homework, and you're prepared, and you make your decisions," Francona said. "And then, you know, after the game, you have to answer for it, which you're supposed to. If you don't have an answer, shame on you. And then you're confident enough in what you're doing and you move on. You can't rush to wake up to see how you're being perceived, because it's just not helpful." Indians outfielder Michael Brantley, who has played under Francona for the past five seasons, reacted with a disgusted expression when asked if Francona was at fault at all for how this series unraveled. "Absolutely not," Brantley said. "Everybody in this locker room has the utmost respect for Tito, including myself. He puts us in position to succeed every single day. That has nothing to do with him. Absolutely not. It's on us." Bruce also responded angrily to such a notion. "That's outrageous," Bruce said. "This guy's one of the most respected and decorated managers in the game. For people to question his moves, they must have all the answers. I can't imagine questioning it. This guy's the most prepared. He's confident, at ease. He's the most prepared manager I've ever played for, probably." Francona was hit with public second-guessing when he named Trevor Bauer, not ace Corey Kluber, the starter for Game 1 of the ALDS. Bauer returned on short rest for Game 4, and while the Tribe's defense did him no favors, he lasted only 1 2/3 innings. Kluber came back on his normal schedule for Game 5, a key factor in the decision, and allowed three runs in 3 2/3 innings. Asked if Kluber was fighting an injury, Francona noted after the loss that Kluber was "fighting a lot" to be on the mound. For the ALDS roster, Francona opted to go with Giovanny Urshela as his starting third baseman over Yandy Diaz (inactive) due to his defensive upside. Urshela committed two of the Indians' four errors in Game 4, and Cleveland's typically-sound defense made nine errors in five games. And late in Game 5, the only right-handed bats available to pinch hit vs. left-hander Aroldis Chapman were Yan Gomes and Erik Gonzalez. Brantley, who had three at-bats in the final two regular-season games after missing nearly two months with a right ankle issue, made the roster as a pinch-hitter. That move was exposed when slugger Edwin Encarnacion (right ankle injury in Game 2) sat out both games in New York and a rusty Brantley was forced into service as the team's DH. The offense as a whole hit .171/.263/.287 with 18 runs (nine coming in Game 2) and 61 strikeouts. That included an 8-for-60 showing combined from Francisco Lindor, Jason Kipnis and Jose Ramirez. Beyond the rotation decisions, there was also the move to keep bullpen regulars Dan Otero, Nick Goody and Zach McAllister off the roster in favor of having starters Mike Clevinger, Danny Salazar and Josh Tomlin available as relievers. "He believes in what he does and there's a rhyme and a reason," Bruce said of Francona. "And he has personalities around him that challenge his thinking. It's not just him throwing stuff together." Had the Indians emerged victorious in any of the last three games, Francona's decisions probably would not be placed under the microscope. "It's easy to second-guess in hindsight," Kluber said. "If we would've won the series, people probably wouldn't question him. I don't think the guys in the clubhouse question him at all, and I think that's all he cares about." This is not how anyone inside Cleveland's clubhouse saw this conclusion coming. "Nobody wanted the season to be over," Francona said. "It doesn't wind down. It comes to a crashing halt. And nobody, myself included, was ready for it to be over."

For Tribe, too much change not a good thing By Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com | @castrovince | 9:41 AM ET + 0 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- The story of the 2016 Indians' postseason run was that the club rose above hardship -- the losses of Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar and Michael Brantley -- to reach extra innings of Game 7 of the World Series. And that story was mostly triumphant.

But in our rush to romanticize the adversity overcome, it was to overlook the benefits of those bad breaks. Terry Francona and the Indians were painted into a corner and forced to maximize what they had. It was all about aggressive hooks with a depleted rotation and trust in a deep and healthy bullpen. Devoid of choices, the Indians followed the only path by which they could prevail. And it darn near won them a title nearly 70 years in the making.

It was different this year. And in the wake of the Tribe's stunning collapse against the Yankees in the American League Division Series presented by Doosan, we can safely say the differences, well, made a difference. There's a U2 lyric that goes, "Freedom looks like too many choices." The name of that song is "New York," and perhaps that's appropriate given the location where it all began to fall apart for a Tribe team that had too many choices, and in the end, too few satisfying selections.

If Corey Kluber was beset by another back injury ("I think he's fighting a lot," Francona said after Game 5), that's obviously a major hurdle. But Kluber's situation wasn't devastating enough to keep him from taking the ball. That's your basic gray area where you can neither sit nor completely trust your ace. It's easier to understand now why Francona went with Roberto Perez behind the plate and not Kluber's more frequent batterymate, Yan Gomes, in Game 5 while touting Perez's ability to make in-game adjustments. There was never a confident expectation that Kluber was going to go deep into Game 5, and the Indians were counting on employing the 'pen early and often. Regarding that 'pen -- its makeup was unusual. The Indians deprived themselves of more traditional middlemen (Nick Goody, Dan Otero and Zach McAllister would have had no trouble cracking your average postseason roster) to look for length. They rostered starters Mike Clevinger and Salazar as relievers, but by Game 5, when Kluber was yanked in the fourth, it was clear that trust in those two was something south of implicit. Somehow, the team with "too many quality starters" still wound up pitching Trevor Bauer on short rest in the fourth game of the ALDS ... with a series lead, no less. Clevinger, remember, had been the Indians' best starter during The Streak -- that 22-game run of baseball brilliance that now, unfortunately, stands as a footnote of a feat. The fact that he wasn't even a starter at all by the time the postseason began speaks to a general trend of a team that metamorphosed quite a bit between September and October. How does a team win its 22nd consecutive ballgame one month, then squander a 2-0 lead in a best-of-five the next? Well, in part because this wasn't really the same team that won 22 straight. Bradley Zimmer got injured during The Streak, and that left the Indians without a steady presence in center field. So second baseman Jason Kipnis, who was injured for the entirety of The Streak, became a center fielder, in a scrambling effort to get his bat back in the lineup while retaining the awesome infield defense that took place in his injury absence. But in the ALDS, Kipnis went 4-for-22 and the defense fell apart with nine errors, two of which were critical ones committed by the formerly fantastic young third baseman (and easy out at the plate) Giovanny Urshela. Speaking of Urshela, the Indians spent the latter part of the season preparing him for a postseason super utility role, only to upgrade him to starting third baseman just as October arrived. Yandy Diaz, who had established himself as the primary third baseman during The Streak, wasn't even on the roster. The Indians had various Spring Training elements sprinkled into the postseason, which is not ideal. Brantley was working on his timing at the plate after so much time lost to an ankle injury; likewise Lonnie Chisenhall after a calf issue. Andrew Miller was outstanding in Game 5, but his last few weeks were obviously an uphill climb toward his usual standard because of patellar tendinitis in his plant leg. So there was a lot of this strange stuff going on, and maybe none of it affected the bottom line, because the truth is that even the Indians, who didn't have a lead after Game 2, were outplayed and were fortunate to have a phantom hit-by-pitch in Game 2 go their way. Furthermore, losing Edwin Encarnacion for two full games only amped up the pressure on Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor, both of whom were mostly AWOL (save Lindor's gargantuan game-changing grand slam in Game 2, of course) at the plate. But the point here is that little on this club was clear cut. In 2016, it was all pretty matter-of-fact: without its two best starters, the Tribe was left to pick up the pieces. This time, the pieces were scattered all over the place. There were too many injuries and issues that kept the Indians from attaining traction when it mattered most. None of this absolves the Indians of fault from their ALDS disaster, because that is undoubtedly what this was. It just helps explain why a team that made history one month can become history the next.

Indians' exit shouldn't overshadow the journey By Jason Beck / MLB.com | @beckjason | 2:53 AM ET + 3 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- The Indians made history with a 102-win regular season that included a 22-game winning streak. They needed a third win against the Yankees in October to keep their postseason hopes alive. They couldn't stop the momentum the Yanks had built in the Bronx, and their hopes of another chance at the World Series ended early as a result. It was tough to find solace in the silence of a stunned clubhouse Wednesday night, but Andrew Miller thinks they'll find it soon. "I think there are a lot of things that happened this year that are a lot of fun, things that we'll remember and things that pop up, what this team accomplished that is going to mean a lot down the road," Miller said after the 5-2 loss in Game 5 of the American League Division Series presented by Doosan. "But right now, we just wanted to keep playing. We're not." It's a reminder that nothing is guaranteed. Just because a team fell a run short, an inning shy of a World Series championship one year doesn't mean they'll be back in a World Series with a chance at redemption the next. To say the Indians needed just one more win doesn't account for how difficult those first 10 wins are to repeat. At the same time, it shouldn't discount the journey to get there, something Miller hopes is appreciated when the pain eases. "We'd love to win a World Series and do a parade through Cleveland," Miller said. "We saw that with the Cavs, the way they were embraced through their success. But I'd like to think that the team we've put out on the field since I've been here and even prior to that, since Tito has been here, that it's hopefully been a fun product to watch and people have enjoyed it." Or as manager Terry Francona put it, "It was an honor to go through this year with these guys. There's times it hurt, like tonight. But it's quite a group, and I feel like a better person for going through the year with these guys." Not just the product, but the individuals behind it, provided memories in 2017. The Indians could find themselves with a two-time AL Cy Young Award winner in Corey Kluber when results are announced next month, thanks to one of the most dominant second-half stretches in recent history. His 1.62 ERA since returning from the disabled list on June 1 was the lowest in the Majors by nearly a run, topping Max Scherzer's 2.48 ERA in that same stretch. Kluber went 10-2 with a 1.81 ERA at Progressive Field for the season, the lowest home ERA by a Tribe starter since Gaylord Perry in 1972. Behind Kluber, Jose Ramirez continued his meteoric rise, this time jumping from an underrated cog on a contending team to an All-Star who will likely receive AL MVP Award votes. His 91 extra-base hits rank second-most ever by a switch-hitter, including a league-best total of 56 doubles that just 18 other Major League players have reached in a season. Ramirez posted nine consecutive multihit games in June, the longest such streak by a Cleveland player since Roy Hughes in 1936. Ramirez's offense was the standard for third basemen. Then, once Jason Kipnis went on the disabled list, he moved to second and kept it up. Ramirez's .957 OPS is the highest in Major League history for a player with at least 60 games at second and third base in the same season. "We did things during the regular season that nobody can take away from us -- the 22 games, the way our staff pitched or the team played, everything we've done this year leading up to this point," reliever Bryan Shaw said. "Nobody can take that away from us. Obviously, it's going to take a little while to get over. Everything that we did, there's nothing to be upset about. We had a good season, 102 wins. Everybody played well. Everybody did their jobs. It was a lot of fun to go through it all." It makes the early exit all the more painful, but the exit doesn't erase the journey. "We love our team," Miller said. "The fact that guys in this clubhouse were able to win 22 in a row and win 102 for the regular season says a lot about the ability of this team. We think the ability of this team is to win the World Series. But there's no guarantees."

Tribe: Yankees 'played their butts off' By William Kosileski / MLB.com | 2:14 AM ET + 6 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- For the Indians -- who finished the regular season as the American League's top seed, rattled off an AL-record 22-game winning streak and looked to avenge their World Series loss to the Cubs last season -- their loss in the first round of the postseason was clearly devastating. Despite their heartbreak after a 5-2 defeat in Game 5 of the AL Division Series presented by Doosan on Wednesday night, the Indians tipped their hats to the victorious Yankees.

"They played better than us, honestly," Cleveland right fielder Jay Bruce said. "There's really not much to say. They're a very good team. I think, really, the whole deal is they got to get to their bullpen with a lead before we did. That's just how it worked out [tonight]."

The Indians held a 2-0 series lead after Friday's thrilling, 13-inning, walk-off victory over New York at Progressive Field, and they appeared to have the momentum heading to the Bronx. But that's where things changed for both teams. In a matter of five days, the Tribe saw its commanding lead over the Yanks disappear before it was eliminated from the postseason Wednesday. "We just got beat," Indians right-hander Josh Tomlin said. "They played better than us. That's all it came down to. We didn't make the plays. We didn't make the pitch. We didn't have the good at-bats. We got into a little bit of a rut at the wrong time. You never want to go into that rut, and if it does, you definitely don't want it to happen in the ALDS. Unfortunately, it did. They played better. Tip your caps. That's a pretty good team over there." After the Indians outscored the Yankees 13-8 in the first two games of the series, the Yanks responded by outscoring the Tribe 13-5 over the final three games. Cleveland did not hold a lead at any point in Games 3, 4 or 5, as New York's starting pitching and bullpen held the AL Central champs in check. "That's what baseball is," Indians reliever Bryan Shaw said. "They came out and played their butts off the last three games. We made some mistakes here and there that cost us. That's what baseball is." Indians ace Corey Kluber allowed three runs, all of which came on home runs off the bat of Didi Gregorius, and took the loss. The Yankees added two more runs in the ninth on Brett Gardner's RBI single, which preceded an error from Bruce that allowed a second run to score. "I could probably sum up how they approached this series in my [12-pitch] at-bat against Gardner," Indians closer Cody Allen said. "They grinded it out. Hats off to them. They played really good baseball with their backs against the wall. So all the credit in the world to those guys. We had seven errors in the last two games. Unfortunately, 2017 is a wrap for us." With the loss, the Indians are now 3-17 in their past 20 chances to close out a postseason series. "Very disappointing," shortstop Francisco Lindor said. "It's a sad day for me, for the team, for the city of Cleveland and for our families. Hats off to the Yankees. They absolutely outplayed us the last three games and they deserve to win."

Indians not ready to tackle uncertain future By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | @MLBastian | 12:27 AM ET + 10 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- They stood together talking quietly in a hallway outside the Indians' clubhouse. Josh Tomlin, the longest-tenured player in the organization, leaned against a wall. Michael Brantley, often described as the heart and soul of the team, kept his hands inside the pockets of his sweatshirt.

There will undoubtedly be more conversations in the days and weeks to come, but the realization that this could be the end of the line for several members of Cleveland's core was sinking in. After a 5-2 loss to the Yankees on Wednesday night, sealing the Tribe's defeat in Game 5 of the American League Division Series presented by Doosan, players like Brantley, Carlos Santana and Jay Bruce were faced with uncertain futures sooner than anticipated.

"I started a quest back in 2009. I want to finish it the right way," Brantley said. "I don't want to go out like this if it's my choice. It's not. I just look forward to hopefully being back here with this group of guys. I have amazing relationships with everybody in this locker room. Great teammates. Great team. I just look forward to being part of it for a long time."

Chris Antonetti, the Indians' president of baseball operations, made his way around the home clubhouse after Wednesday's loss, shaking the hands of his players. Antonetti, general manager Mike Chernoff and manager Terry Francona were hoping to avoid discussions about the 2018 roster until after the World Series. Instead, the Yanks are moving on and the offseason came early in Cleveland. There will be a lot on the front office's plate. Relievers Bryan Shaw and Joe Smith will be free agents, along with veteran outfielder Austin Jackson. Tomlin also has a $3 million team option for 2018. The biggest decisions, though, will revolve around Brantley ($11 million team option or $1 million buyout), Santana (free agent) and Bruce (free agent). "Oh boy," Francona said. "I don't know if I'm ready to even think about guys moving on. ... The game's still a little too raw to go into that, yet." That did not stop such thoughts from seeping into the minds of the impacted players. For the players with options, Cleveland will need to make a decision by three days after the conclusion of the World Series. For the free agents, if the Indians want to net Draft compensation, they will need to extend a one-year Qualifying Offer, which will be in the range of $18 million for next season. The player would then need to reject the offer and sign a contract of at least $50 million in order for the Tribe to get a pick between the first round and Competitive Balance Round A in next summer's MLB Draft. While Bruce was surrounded by a large pack of reporters, Santana sat alone at his locker, scrolling through messages on his phone. Santana came to the Indians as a Minor Leaguer via a trade with the Dodgers in 2008. The switch-hitter began as a catcher and eventually became a reliable first baseman. He has logged at least 600 plate appearances in seven straight years with the Tribe and ranks fourth in club history in walks (726) and 11th in home runs (174). "I don't know if I'll sleep tonight," Santana said. "I don't know. I don't know what's in my future. I'm hopeful that I can come back. This is my house. This is my family. I know everybody. Everybody knows me. So, we'll see. We'll see. Me and my family, we'll have to wait." Bruce -- acquired from the Mets in an August trade -- ended this season with 36 home runs, 101 RBIs and an .832 OPS. He is coming off a seven-year, $63 million contract, which included a $13 million salary this season. The right fielder made a big impact on the Indians over the final two months, immediately fit into the clubhouse's culture and quickly emerged as a veteran leader on and off the field for the club. After the loss, Bruce was not ready to think about his future. "I'm going to take some time," Bruce said. "There's not really any rush for me. Nothing really starts happening until after the World Series anyway. I've got a family that I need to be there for, internalize this and just get some rest. We'll see what happens." Brantley's situation may be the most complicated of the three. The two-time All-Star was an AL Most Valuable Player Award candidate as recently as 2014, but a variety of injuries cost him a significant amount of time over the past two seasons (101 games combined). Brantley has spent nine years with the Indians after being acquired as the player to be named later that completed the July 2008 trade that sent CC Sabathia to the Brewers. In a cruel twist of fate, Sabathia helped the Yankees defeat the Indians on Wednesday night. Brantley said it is hard to head into the offseason with so much uncertainty surrounding the team. "Absolutely. They're your teammates. They're your brothers," Brantley said. "We have so many good baseball players, teammates and people in this locker room. It's going to be tough, but I love every one of these guys in here." Tomlin, fighting back tears, agreed. "This could be the last game you play with a group of guys you care about, that you enjoy, that you love," Tomlin said. "That's probably the hardest part of everything. You don't want it to end."

Shaw grateful for Cleveland fans' support By William Kosileski / MLB.com | 3:10 AM ET + 0 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- As Bryan Shaw walked off the mound and toward the dugout in the eighth inning of Wednesday night's 5-2 loss to the Yankees at Progressive Field, the Indians reliever received an uncharacteristic strong ovation from the home crowd.

"I heard cheers," Shaw quipped after the game. "I wasn't sure if it was for [closer Cody Allen] coming in or me leaving." In what could have been his final appearance in an Indians uniform, Shaw -- who will be a free agent this offseason -- delivered two strong innings of relief to keep the Tribe's hopes alive in Game 5 of the American League Division Series presented by Doosan. Although the Indians were unable to break through to pull out a series win in their home ballpark, Shaw was appreciative of the ovation he received from the Cleveland faithful. "It was definitely nice to see that," Shaw said. "The fans that come to the games are behind us and cheer for us all game. Unfortunately, we couldn't get it done for them." With the Indians trailing by a run, Shaw entered in the sixth inning in relief of Andrew Miller. With a runner on first, Shaw struck out pinch-hitter Chase Headley to end the minor threat. Shaw then went on to pitch 1 2/3 more scoreless frames in the loss, yielding one hit and striking out three before he was replaced by Allen. Despite being one of baseball's top relief pitchers over the past five seasons with the Indians, Shaw has often gone underappreciated and has been criticized by Tribe fans and pundits alike. So much so, in fact, that Shaw has been booed on numerous occasions by Cleveland fans when he entered a game. Shaw said he has never let that affect him while on the mound, though. "The fans that come to the game," he said, "[they] know the team and like baseball. They love this organization and they love each and every player that's out there. The fans are awesome here. They stand behind us." In the eyes of manager Terry Francona, pitching coach Mickey Callaway and several of Shaw's teammates, the vitriol thrown at Shaw has been unwarranted over the years. Since he joined the Indians in 2013, Shaw has appeared in at least 70 games in every season. In his five seasons in Cleveland, he has posted a 3.11 ERA in 358 2/3 innings. Shaw finished this season tied with Royals reliever Peter Moylan for most appearances in the Majors (79). The right-hander also led the AL in games in 2016 (75) and the Majors in '14 (80). When asked if the postgame scene in the Indians' clubhouse was awkward for him given his expiring contract, Shaw chuckled before responding. "No, not at all," he said. "I'm still here with this team until three days after the World Series ends, technically. I'm here with these guys. Obviously, we're going to come into the clubhouse tomorrow and hang out, talk with each other and stuff like that. I'm an Indian until they tell me I'm not." After the heartbreaking loss to the Yanks, Shaw said his upcoming free agency is not on his mind. However, he noted that Cleveland is the place he wants to be nest season. "I would obviously love to stay here in this 'pen," Shaw said. "We have a lot of great guys down here. We have a lot of good arms. The last five years that I've been here, we've had a great bullpen down there. So I would definitely love to stay here with this group of guys." "Everyone we have on this team is fantastic," Shaw added. "They're going to be good for a while. So there's no reason why I wouldn't come back."

Kluber done in by two Gregorius homers By Jason Beck / MLB.com | @beckjason | 2:14 AM ET + 17 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- The Indians had a deciding Game 5 of the American League Division Series presented by Doosan on their home field with their best starter, the AL Cy Young Award favorite, on the mound. They couldn't have asked for a much better scenario.

Whether Corey Kluber was at his best health was a subject for discussion in the moments after Wednesday's 5-2 loss to the Yankees ended the Tribe's postseason dream earlier than expected. But even at less than full strength, they wouldn't take anybody else with a World Series run on the line.

"You know what, I think he's fighting a lot," manager Terry Francona said, "and I think you also have to respect the fact that guy wants to go out there, and he's our horse. And sometimes it doesn't work."

Against most of the Yanks' lineup, it seemed to work. Against Didi Gregorius, it was trouble. After allowing six runs over 2 2/3 innings in Game 2 on Friday, Kluber hinted he might have found a mechanical issue. But like Game 2, he suffered from a pair of home runs. This time, they came from one hitter. "I made two mistakes to Didi," Kluber said. "I put two balls right into his bat path, and he's a good hitter. He hit two home runs. That's really what stands out. It ended up being the difference." Kluber was a strike away from retiring the Yankees in order in the opening inning when he paid dearly for missing his spot on a 1-2 fastball. Though catcher Roberto Perez put his mitt high and outside, Kluber left the pitch middle-in. "Not taking anything away from the possible Cy Young winner, but I'm always looking for a fastball," Gregorius said. "He threw me a really nasty cutter, swing and miss. Then after that, he tried to come in with another fastball with two strikes, and I ended up putting a really good swing on it." Gregorius sent it a Statcast-projected 375 feet down the right-field line for a 1-0 lead. Kluber thwarted a two-out rally in the second inning by retiring Todd Frazier, but he faced Gregorius again in the third with a runner on first following Brett Gardner's leadoff single. Gregorius fouled off a pitch and got a curveball -- a pitch Kluber struggled with in Game 2 but used heavily early in Game 5 -- over the plate. "I tried to backdoor one," Kluber said, "and he did a good job of going out there and getting it before it broke down." To Perez, it didn't have the same break as it had earlier in the game, let alone during the regular season. "Early innings, it was," Perez said. "But then it got flatter a little bit, and his stuff wasn't [the same] as his first two innings." Kluber retired Gary Sanchez and Greg Bird to end the rally there, but manager Terry Francona already had Andrew Miller warming. Once Jacoby Ellsbury drew a two-out walk in the fourth, Francona made the switch. It marked the first time in Kluber's career, postseason included, that he didn't complete four innings in consecutive starts. "I just thought quickly, his stuff was starting to trend down," Francona said. "Even the last inning, he got a strikeout on a hanging breaking ball. Just wasn't the normal, crisp -- especially the movement. A lot of pitches were flat." The two starts also marked the first time Kluber had yielded multiple home runs in consecutive outings. Gregorius became just the fourth player with a multihomer game off Kluber, joining Oakland's Matt Chapman (July 15 of this year), Texas' Rougned Odor (April 3) and then-Tiger Justin Upton (Sept. 16, 2016). "I felt like I threw the ball better than I did the other day," Kluber said. "Ultimately, it wasn't good enough. Aside from those two pitches, I think things were closer to where they needed to be." Whatever Kluber was fighting, he wasn't getting into it. "I don't think I need to get into details about it," Kluber said. "I was healthy enough to go out there and try to pitch." Considering what Kluber did since his return from an early-season back issue that forced him onto the disabled list, if he's healthy enough to try to pitch, the Indians are willing to take their chances. "He's a warrior, man. I'll take Corey any day over everybody," Perez said. "We just gotta turn the page and get ready in the offseason and come back stronger."

Yankees complete comeback, beat Indians 5-2 in Game 5

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HIDE CAPTION The Cleveland Indians watch during the ninth inning against the New York Yankees in Game 5 of a baseball American League Division Series, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017, in Cleveland. The Yankees won 5-2 and advanced to the ALCS. (AP Photo/David Dermer) By TOM WITHERS , AP Sports Writer Posted Oct 11, 2017 at 11:01 PM Updated Oct 11, 2017 at 11:56 PM

CLEVELAND (AP) — Didi Gregorius, following in the October footprints left by Derek Jeter, homered twice off Corey Kluber as the New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians 5-2 in Game 5 on Wednesday night to complete their comeback from a 2-0 deficit in the Division Series and dethrone the AL champions.

These bend-but-don’t-break Yankees staved off elimination for the fourth time in this postseason and advanced to play the Houston Astros in the AL Championship Series starting Friday at Minute Maid Park.

The AL West champion Astros, led by 5-foot-6 second-base dynamo and MVP candidate Jose Altuve, went 5-2 against the wild-card winners this season.

After winning twice in New York, the Yankees — with little offensive help from rookie star Aaron Judge — came into Progressive Field and finished off the Indians, who won 102 games during the regular season, ripped off a historic 22-game streak and were favored to get back to the World Series after losing in seven games a year ago to the Chicago Cubs.

Cleveland’s Series drought turns 70 next year — baseball’s longest dry spell. The Indians closed to 3-2 in the fifth against starter CC Sabathia before David Robertson pitched 2 2/3 hitless innings for the win. Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman, who faced Cleveland in last year’s spine-tingling World Series and signed an $86 million free agent contract in December, worked two innings for the save.

Chapman went to the mound with a three-run lead in the ninth after Brett Gardner battled Cody Allen for 12 pitches before hitting an RBI single, with New York’s fifth run scoring when Todd Frazier raced home on right fielder Jay Bruce’s throwing error.

Gardner’s gritty at-bat was symbolic of these Yankees. They wouldn’t give in.

When Austin Jackson was called out on strikes to end it, the Yankees rushed to the mound to celebrate with a wide-eyed Chapman. These baby Bronx Bombers became the 10th team to overcome a 2-0 deficit to win a best-of-five playoff series. New York also did it in 2001, rallying to beat Oakland — a series remembered for Jeter’s backhand flip to home plate.

Gregorius, who took over at shortstop following Jeter’s retirement after the 2014 season, hit a solo homer in the first off Kluber and added a two-run shot in the third off Cleveland’s ace, who didn’t look like himself during either start in this series.

One win shy of a Series title last year, the Indians had only one goal in mind in 2017.

They came up short again, and have now lost six consecutive games with a chance to clinch a postseason series dating to last year’s World Series, when they squandered a 3-1 lead to the Chicago Cubs.

Cleveland is the first team in history to blow a two-game series lead in consecutive postseasons.

Everything was set up for the Indians: Kluber on the mound, Game 5 at home, sensational setup man Andrew Miller rested.

The Yankees, though, wouldn’t be denied. They battled back from a 3-0 deficit in the first inning of their wild-card game against Minnesota and then had to overcome a crushing loss in Game 2, when manager Joe Girardi’s decision not to challenge a hit batter, drew heavy criticism and possibly cost New York during in a 9-8 loss in 13 innings. But these young Yankees, who are ahead of schedule to be contenders, displayed pinstriped pride.

“This team has never stopped fighting and never stopped believing,” Girardi said before Game 5. “That’s the mark of a very good team. They know how to persevere and continue to grind out everything, whether it’s an at-bat or it’s on the other side, you’re facing a batter, how you grind it out.”

The Yankees did it without much help from Judge, who struck out four times in Game 5, and went 1 for 20 (.050) in the series with 16 strikeouts.

But the 6-foot-7 rookie might have saved New York’s season in Game 3, when he reached above the right-field wall to rob Francisco Lindor of a two-run homer in a 1-0 win.

Kluber was one of baseball’s most consistent pitchers all season, winning 18 games and leading the AL with a 2.25 ERA. He’s a favorite to win his second Cy Young Award.

However, October has been cruel to the right-hander. He allowed nine runs, including four homers, over 6 1/3 innings in two postseason starts, hardly what he or the Indians expected.

Gregorius came in batting just .077 (1 for 13) in the series and only .133 (2 of 15) in his career against Kluber before tagging the right-hander for two homers in the first three innings. The 27-year-old with the easy smile and sweet swing gave the Yankees a 3-0 lead in the third, pulling an 0-1 pitch into the lower deck in right. Gregorius set a franchise record for home runs in a season by a shortstop with 25, one more than Jeter hit in 1999 when No. 2 led the Yankees to a second straight World Series title.

Just as in Game 2, Kluber didn’t get out of the first unscathed.

Gregorius got New York off to an ideal start, homering with two outs in the first when Kluber grooved a fastball. The shot deep into the seats in right raised the anxiety level to an already jittery Cleveland crowd fearing the worst.

A few hours later, those fears were realized.

Yankees 5, Indians 2: 18 Walk-Off Thoughts on a sudden halt to a postseason run, a disappointing end, a different feel to this bad- tasting ending and a lot of upcoming decisions Here are 18 Walk-Off Thoughts after the Indians fell to the New York Yankees 5-2 in Game 5 of the ALDS Wednesday night, putting a sudden end to their postseason hopes. 1. The overriding feel from the Indians’ clubhouse after Game 5: This one feels different than a year ago. This loss is not viewed, nor will it be received, like Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. This one will leave a worse taste heading into the offseason with a bevy of questions around the roster. This one will be laced with more disappointment. 2. After Game 7 of last year’s World Series, the central emotion was still of pride. The Indians had done something they weren’t supposed to do. They were expected to lose to Boston and regroup with a healthy roster after the winter. Instead, they pushed their luck into November, to extra innings of Game 7, challenging every person who picked them to lose weeks prior. It was, in a way, still a feeling of elation, that they came that close with a beat-up roster and had basically everyone coming back the next spring. The Indians showed everyone wrong. It was an accomplishment just to put up a fight, and they did much, much more than that. 3. This October will go down as a disappointment. The Indians proved in 2016 that they were contenders. They entered 2017 as favorites. And, again, they lost three straight games to close out their postseason hopes. The Indians (Francisco Lindor, namely) refused to acknowledge that they were no longer viewed as underdogs, but it was true. They had the best pitching staff in history in the regular season by fWAR, they had one of the AL’s best lineups and perhaps the best manager in the game. They were healthier, they were rolling, they were atop most of the power rankings as baseball’s best. 4. Cody Allen: “Last year it was a little bit different. This year, we didn’t play that great of baseball. We had a two-nothing advantage against a really good team. I could probably sum up how they approached this series in my at-bat against Gardner. They grinded it out. Hats off to them. They played really good baseball with their backs against the wall. So all the credit in the world to those guys. We had seven errors in the last two games. Unfortunately, 2017 is a wrap for us. It’s not how we wanted it to go. We didn’t make the big pitch, didn’t get the big hit, but there’s a lot of belief in this clubhouse, a lot of talent in this clubhouse. We won 102 games. THat’s not fake. So, we just group in the offseason, get a little break, get back to work and show up in spring training ready to go. But hats off t those guys, they did what they had to. They flat out just played better than we did the last three games.” 5. They powered through Game 1 and then pulled off a wild comeback in Game 2. Then, it all fell apart. Instead of cruising to the ALCS, the Indians are stunningly done and packing up their bags to go home for the winter. There was no great accomplishment this postseason. There was no “We showed them” attitude from the clubhouse afterward. Players, like Cody Allen, weren’t saying that all they wanted to do was go to Arizona right then and start spring camp. 6. Last year was a fun ride that ended with a pat on the back. This year will feel more like getting punched in the stomach. The expectations were high. The Indians had graduated from being the underdogs. This was a golden opportunity. And yet, they fell short. 7. Josh Tomlin: “Probably a while. Probably a while. I’m not really sure how you get over something like this. I’m not really sure I’m over last year, either. The only way to get over something like this is to go out there and win, and that’s not what happened. So, it’s going to take a little while.” 8. The Indians seemed primed for a run back to the World Series for some unfinished business. They finished the regular season on a ridiculous 33-4 run. Their pitching was much healthier than a year ago. They had postseason They were rolling, and then they won the first two games of the ALDS. Three games later, it’s over. 9. Francisco Lindor: “I didn’t think we’d be doing it this early. I was thinking I was going to do it all the way on Nov. 1 with the champagne. I wasn’t thinking I’d be doing it here early in October. It hurts. But you learn from it.” 10. Allen” It absolutely stinks. It’s like you’re a kid and you go to the amusement park and you stay for 10 minutes and you have to leave. But these games are a lot of fun. They’re a lot of fun. It’s an honor and a privilege to play with these guys, to play October baseball, to earn the right to be able of the postseason. It’s a ton of fun. But no matter who it is, Wild Card team or not, those teams earned the right too and they just flat out played better than we did. Those guys grinded, they made big pitches when they had to. CC did an unbelievable job, their bullpen came in and did an unreal job. We just weren’t as good as they were.” 11. This offseason could have a different feel, too. The Indians entered last winter with nearly the entire roster coming back. They made two major free-agent signings and added some complementary pieces. This year, they have a number of scenarios to consider. 12. The Indians have club options on Michael Brantley ($11 million) and Josh Tomlin ($3 million) for the 2018 season. And Carlos Santana, Jay Bruce, Joe Smith, Bryan Shaw and Austin Jackson will all become free agents and can test the open market. They also have a number of things to consider for several players entering another year of arbitration, such as Lonnie Chisenhall (last year, do they pay what could be a higher salary number?) and Cody Allen (do they look for a long-term deal?). There will also be the question of if they can sign Francisco Lindor to a mega-deal, which doesn’t seem likely. And a number of players the Indians could try to sign to long-term deals, including Trevor Bauer, Danny Salazar and others. A final question is if there could be a major trade to shake up the roster, something that perhaps could involve Jason Kipns, who is owed a base salary of $13.5 million in 2018 and $14.5 million in 2019, or one of the catchers, both of whom are making starter- level salaries with top prospect Francisco Mejia nearing his major-league debut. 13. It seemed easy for the Indians to just bring nearly everyone back from the 2016 team that nearly won the World Series with much of it on the disabled list. This offseason, they’ll have to ask themselves about what route is best on a number of fronts. And, if several players find long- term deals with other teams how to potentially replace names like Santana, Bruce, Smith and Shaw. 14. Michael Brantley, who was in a walking boot after the game, said he wants to come back. If healthy, his $11 million team option would be a no-brainer. But he’s battled a multiple of injuries, bringing a larger element of risk into the equation. Santana and Tomlin, as well, have been parts of this team’s nucleus for several years. 15. Brantley: “I guess it means the world to me. I started a quest back in 2009. I want to finish it the right way. I don’t want to go out like this if it’s my choice. It’s not. I just look forward to hopefully being back here with this group of guys. I have amazing relationships with everybody in this locker room. Great teammates. Great team. I just look forward to being part of it for a long time.” 16. Santana, on his future: “The front office does a good job. But, right now, especially me, I don’t know. I don’t know what’s in my future. I’m hopeful that I can come back. This is my house. This is my family. I know everybody. Everybody knows me. So, we’ll see. We’ll see. Me and my family, we’ll have to wait.” 17. Tomlin: “Yeah, I’m in the same boat. It’s one of those things where it’s like, this could be the last game you play with a group of guys you care about, that you enjoy, that you love. That’s probably the hardest part of everything, is you don’t want it to end. When it finally does, it stings, especially the way it did. This is too good of a team to go home and everybody in here knows it. That’s why it’s so tough for us.” 18. Brantley went around the room, giving everyone a silent bear hug. Bruce and Jackson did the same. As Jackson gave Smith a hug, he put his head on Smith’s shoulder. Yan Gomes sat at his locker, head down and hands folded. Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff were both talking with several players, as they did after Game 7 last year. It was a quiet clubhouse. It was a disappointed clubhouse. And it’ll be going dark much sooner than anyone in it had anticipated, a season-long quest dashed in three games and a mission failed. Akron Beacon Journal LOADED: 10.12.2017 After early exit, Indians don’t struggle for answers on what went wrong CLEVELAND: Cody Allen felt like a kid who went to an amusement park and was told he had to leave after 10 minutes. When they opened the American League Division Series against the New York Yankees, the Indians were ready for a return to the World Series. Instead for the second consecutive year they lost their last three games. Their season ended prematurely Wednesday night with a 5-2 loss in Game 5 at Progressive Field as the Indians saw their 2-0 lead in the best- of-five series go for naught. But as they said their goodbyes, they had a good handle on what went wrong. “Unfortunately 2017 is a wrap for us. It’s not how we wanted it to go,” closer Allen said. “Didn’t make the big pitch, didn’t get the big hit, but there’s a lot of belief in this clubhouse. There’s a lot of talent in this clubhouse. We won 102 games, that’s not fake. “Hats off to those guys, they flat out played better than we did the last three days.” Center fielder Jason Kipnis was taking his cap off, too, but with a caveat. “We didn’t come up with big hits, guys weren’t hitting as well as we did in the season,” Kipnis said. “We picked a bad time to do it. “I’m not going to tell you the better team is going on, I still think we’re the better team. But I think they played better the last three days and they deserved to go on.” Kipnis had backers in his belief on who is the better team. “We didn’t make the plays. We didn’t make the pitch. We didn’t have the good at-bats. We got into a little bit of a rut at the wrong time,” right- hander Josh Tomlin said. “You never want to go into that rut and if it does, you definitely don’t want it to happen in the ALDS. Unfortunately, it did. “They played better. Tip your caps. That’s a pretty good team over there. We obviously feel like we’re better, but it didn’t happen that way. I guess we’re not at this point.” The Indians, who batted .263 in winning an AL-high 102 games in the regular season, hit .171 as a team against the Yankees. Their two MVP candidates, shortstop Francisco Lindor and second baseman Jose Ramirez, went 2 for 18 (.111) and 2 for 20, respectively. Their leading hitters were catchers Yan Gomes (.333) and Roberto Perez (.300). “They shut down one of the best hitters in the league, Jose Ramirez, he’s one of our top guys. They shut Frankie down also,” Perez said. “They make it tough for them. What else can I say?” Lindor said he didn’t make the needed adjustments during the series. “I had five games to make adjustments and I made adjustments here and there. I hit a couple balls hard, but none of them went through,” Lindor said. “When I had people on base, I didn’t come through. You work and you understand that you’ve got to make adjustments a lot faster than what you are making adjustments.” In Game 5, the Indians got five hits, all off CC Sabathia. Yet ex-Indian Sabathia, 37, finished the series with a 3.72 ERA in 92/3 innings. In Game 3, Masahiro Tanaka shut them out on a three-hitter. Luis Severino, who made a disastrous start in the AL Wild Card Game, allowed four hits and three earned runs in seven innings. “They’re the same guys we’ve hit before,” Kipnis said. “They pitched their asses off, they’ve got an outstanding bullpen, CC did a great job again. But we didn’t help ourselves in any way at the plate. We chased a lot of pitches, I know I did. Just picked a bad time to kind of cool off. “It was a series-long thing, we couldn’t come up with the hits or string anything together. Guys were just in a little funk. It’s tough.” The Indians, whose 76 errors in the regular season were the fewest in the AL and the second-fewest in the majors behind Miami, committed seven in the final two games and nine for the series. “Baseball. I really don’t have an explanation for it,” right fielder Jay Bruce said. “It’s just ill-timed. Errors that never really happen. We’d rather it didn’t happen, but we just got beat.” There is also the question of what happened with AL Cy Young favorite Corey Kluber, who gave up nine earned runs in 61/3 innings of two starts after allowing four earned runs in five September appearances. There is speculation that the lower back strain that kept Kluber out nearly all of May flared up again. “None of us in this clubhouse are looking back thinking ‘What if?’ They beat our best guy,” Allen said of Kluber, who took the Game 5 loss. “He’s far and away our best guy. He’s the one who starts this whole thing, he drives the ship.” Setup man Andrew Miller would like another chance at the Yankees. Instead he was left to think about next year. “In the playoffs anything can happen,” Miller said. “We threw it all out there. Wasn’t good enough this series. I’d like our chances [in playing again]. That’s not the way it works. “It feels soon. I feel like this was team capable of winning a World Series. You don’t get too many opportunities like that. We didn’t capitalize on this one. I like our chances next year.” Akron Beacon Journal LOADED: 10.12.2017 Corey Kluber struggles on mound in Game 5 as Yankees eliminate Indians 5-2 in ALDS By Michael Beaven CLEVELAND: The dominance that Corey Kluber displayed in the regular season in 2017 did not transfer over to the postseason. Indians fans grew accustomed to watching Kluber baffle hitters as the team won 102 games, but the ace right-hander looked ordinary in this five-game American League Division Series with the New York Yankees. The Indians built a 2-0 lead in the series, but the Yankees rallied back to advance to meet the Houston Astros after earning a 5-2 win in a Game 5 on Wednesday that Kluber started before a sellout crowd of 37,802 at Progressive Field. Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius hit two home runs off of Kluber over the fence in right field on Wednesday and finished the evening 3-for-4 at bat with three runs batted in. “Two pitches, really,” Kluber said. “I made two mistakes to Didi [in the first and third innings]. I put two balls right into his bat path and he’s a good hitter. He hit two home runs. That’s really what stands out. It ended up being the difference.” Kluber, a front-runner for the American League Cy Young Award, wasn’t the only Indians player who faltered in this series. Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez and Michael Brantley struggled, and Edwin Encarnacion missed time due to an ankle injury. Many observers wondered if Kluber’s back was bothering him Wednesday as he battled through 3 2/3 innings, struck out six and allowed three hits, three earned runs and two walks. His start in Game 2 against the Yankees was also un-Kluber-like when he worked 2 2/3 innings, struck out four and allowed seven hits, six earned runs and one walk. “Obviously, we did a great job battling back in Game 2 and winning that game [9-8], but I gave up three today and we only scored two,” Kluber said. “So, it wasn’t good enough.” A back injury landed Kluber on the disabled list for most of May. He returned on June 1 and posted a 15-2 record over his final 23 starts of the regular season. He finished the season 18-4 with a 2.25 ERA and 265 strikeouts and 36 walks in 203 2/3 innings. Indians manager Terry Francona was asked if Kluber’s back was bothering him Wednesday, and he responded by saying: “You know what? I think he’s fighting a lot, and I think you also have to respect the fact that guy wants to go out there and he’s our horse. And sometimes it doesn’t work.” Kluber was also asked about his health after the game, and said: “I don’t think I need to get into details about it. I was healthy enough to go out there and try to pitch.” Kluber admitted that he was “not good enough” during his playoff starts, but his teammates remain supportive. Closer Cody Allen praised Kluber for being the Indians “best guy” and the man who “drives the ship.” “He’s a warrior,” catcher Roberto Perez said. “I take Corey any day over everybody.” Said outfielder Jay Bruce: “Coming back here with Corey on the mound, you write that up every single time and I’ll take my chances. We trust him.” When asked specifically, what was wrong with Kluber, Perez said: “I really don’t know. You can talk to [pitching coach] Mickey [Callaway] or Tito about it. . . . He’s our ace. I’d take him any day. We’ve just got to turn the page and get ready for the offseason.” Perez said Kluber’s breaking ball “got flatter” as the game progressed. “He didn’t locate the first home run to Didi,” Francona said. “He yanked it all the way across the plate, but then he gathered himself and went back out and looked good. “I just thought quickly, his stuff was starting to trend down. Even the last inning, he got a strikeout on a hanging breaking ball. Just wasn’t the normal, crisp – especially the movement. A lot of pitches were flat.” Gregorius said he approaches every at bat “always looking for a fastball.” “So I’m trying to stay ready for the fastball and off-speed pitches,” Gregorius said. “If you see it in the first at-bat, he threw me a really nasty cutter, swing and miss. “Then after that, he tried to come in with another fastball with two strikes, and I ended up putting a really good swing on it. It put us up in the first inning. “Then my next at-bat, I was like if they threw me the nasty cutter the first pitch, I might swing. Then he threw it actually and I fouled it off. I said, all right, get back to fastball away, and then I think he threw me a curveball or slider or cutter inside again, and I ended up putting a good swing on it and it went out.” Yankees manager Joe Girardi lauded Gregorius for his offensive and defensive skills. “Didi’s at-bats have been great all year,” Girardi said. “He drove in almost 90 runs and missed a month of the season. It’s pretty remarkable the season that he’s had for us. “And the double play that he turned on [Francisco] Lindor [in the fifth inning] is not an easy play. Without his arm strength, he doesn’t do that, and that could change the game.” Akron Beacon Journal LOADED: 10.12.2017 ALDS Game 5/Yankees 5, Indians 2: Corey Kluber, offense falter; season ends By Ryan Lewis CLEVELAND: The hopes of a dominant run through the postseason. The potential, glorious return to the World Series. The climb up the proverbial mountain that just barely eluded them a year ago. All of those dreams were severed at the hands of the Evil Empire. The Indians had their dream scenario set up for a win-or-go-home Game 5 situation. They had ace Corey Kluber on the mound. They were at home. The bullpen was rested. Didi Gregorius, CC Sabathia and the New York Yankees laid waste to that plan, beating the Indians 5-2 in Game 5 of the American League Division Series on Wednesday night at Progressive Field. It ends the Indians’ postseason run. The Yankees will advance to the American League Championship Series to face the Houston Astros on Friday. The Indians will pack up their bags and head home for the winter, falling well short of fans’ hopes and expectations for a return to the World Series, as this time they entered October as the favorites. After holding a 2-0 series lead, the Indians failed to close out the Yankees three times. Kluber will likely win the American League Cy Young Award as the most dominant pitcher in the AL this season, and particularly since June 1. His ALDS, though, was anything but stellar. After struggling in Game 1, Kluber was hit hard again Wednesday night. The energy at Progressive Field built before the first pitch and through the first two outs, but Gregorius quieted it, belting a solo home run on a 1-2 pitch to quickly put the Yankees ahead 1-0. Two innings later, Gregorius did it again, driving a two-run home run to right field to extend the Yankees’ lead to 3-0. The Yankees dugout erupted, and the sellout crowd fell silent. Kluber’s night ended in the fourth inning. In his two starts in the ALDS combined, he threw 6 ⅓ innings and gave up nine earned runs on 10 hits. Gregorius tormented Kluber, and Sabathia cruised through the first four innings, only allowing one hit. The Indians finally broke through in the fifth with the bottom of the lineup. Austin Jackson and Jay Bruce both singled to put two runners on. Roberto Perez followed with a bloop single to right field to score Jackson. Giovanny Urshela, the No. 9 hitter, then shot a single to right field to cut the Yankees’ lead to 3-2. After the 8-9 hitters came through with one out, Francisco Lindor couldn’t follow suit, grounding into a 6-3 double play to end the inning. Lindor and Jose Ramirez struggled throughout the series, combining for just four hits in 38 at-bats. The Yankees survived the threat in the fifth with their lead intact and then delivered the haymaker in the top of the ninth. Facing Cody Allen, Aaron Hicks singled and Todd Frazier walked to put two runners on. With two outs, and Allen one pitch away from sending it to the bottom of the ninth still a one-run game, Brett Gardner sent the 12th pitch of the at-bat into right field, scoring Hicks. Bruce’s routine throw into the infield got away from Lindor, which also allowed Frazier to score. That was effectively it for the 2017 Indians, a frustrating, somewhat sudden end to a 102-win season. Marla Ridenour: After euphoric season, Indians turn fragile as postseason hopes end CLEVELAND: For the Indians and their fans, it was a summer of magic, of euphoria, of history. An American League-record 22-game winning streak, second-longest in the majors behind only the 1916 New York Giants. One hundred and two victories, the team’s second-most. The best record in the AL, which brought home-field advantage in the playoffs. The Tribe looked to have the pitching, the defense, the lineup, the bullpen and the manager to get back to the World Series and end the franchise’s 69-year championship drought. But once the Indians took a 2-0 lead over the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series, everything changed. Everything seemed fragile, vulnerable. Especially Cy Young candidate Corey Kluber, who morphed into a human for two consecutive outings, prompting speculation that he was experiencing a recurrence of the lower back strain that kept him out for most of the month of May. Kluber went just 3 ⅔ innings Wednesday as the Indians’ postseason ended much sooner than expected with a 5-2 loss to the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the ALDS at Progressive Field. In his first five postseason games, Kluber pitched 30 ⅓ innings and gave up three earned runs for a 0.89 ERA. In his last three, including Game 7 of the 2016 World Series, he surrendered 13 earned runs in 10 ⅓ innings for an 11.32 ERA. But Kluber, done in by two home runs and three RBI by shortstop Didi Gregorius, wasn’t the only one who crumbled against the Yankees. The Indians’ bats went silent and they struggled to produce runs, just as they had before the streak began on Aug. 22. The defense, reminiscent of the Omar Vizquel-led Indians, suddenly wasn’t sharp, committing seven errors in the final two games. The Tribe’s emotional leaders, Francisco Lindor (who batted .111 in the series) and Jose Ramirez (.100) went a combined 4-for-38, and that included Lindor’s heart-stopping grand slam in Game 2 that started the Indians’ rally from an 8-3 deficit. Edwin Encarnacion sprained his right ankle in the first inning of Game 2 and missed the next two games. He stunningly returned to the lineup for Game 5, but went hitless in four at-bats with three strikeouts. Michael Brantley, activated in the final week of the regular season after missing 72 games with a right ankle injury, wasn’t up to the task of replacing him, going 0-for-11 in Games 2-4 and 0-for-15 for the series. Kluber and Brantley weren’t the only ones seemingly not the same, perhaps because of injuries. Jason Kipnis, plagued by a right hamstring strain, batted .232 in the regular season and .182 in this series. Lonnie Chisenhall (right calf) hit .305 in the first half and .224 in the second. Brandon Guyer, a key part of the right field platoon last season, played only 70 games and is slated for wrist surgery. The lineup Tribe manager Terry Francona sent out for Game 5 boasted catcher Roberto Perez (.286) as its leading hitter and only three players (Perez, Carlos Santana and Jay Bruce) at .250 or better. It felt as if all the pieces were falling apart. “There’s a lot of things that aren’t perfect, but the game’s going to start, and we need to try to be one run better when it’s all said and done,” Francona said before the game. With the Indians blowing a 3-1 lead to the Chicago Cubs in last year’s World Series and a 2-0 advantage against the Yankees, fans may want scapegoats. Calls for the firing of hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo and his assistant Matt Quatraro started after Game 3. Francona was second-guessed for his non-traditional approach of starting Trevor Bauer, third in the rotation, over ace Kluber in Game 1, then for coming back with Bauer on three days rest in Game 4. But the best manager in baseball had more information on the health of his staff than those questioning him. Does how his players hit fall on Francona? How they handled the pressure of the big stage? I can’t go there, especially not after the 2016 World Series, when the Indians were reduced to a three-man rotation. Francona is among the best in the business at keeping his players loose, as him trying on Lindor’s diamond-encrusted necklace during Tuesday’s workout showed. But Francona knew all was not perfect this October. He counted on the Indians’ faith in each other, their never-say-die attitude, the way they’d handled past adversity. For three consecutive games, as their bats failed and their strength turned to fragility, none of the intangibles that made the season so special could be summoned. Indians players and fans look to rituals for a win over New York By Craig Webb Baseball is full of superstitions and rituals. And when it is a deciding Game 5, all these quirks — from Edwin Encarnacion sniffing his bat after a foul ball to Francisco Lindor incessantly chewing his beaded necklace during a game — rise to a whole new level. Some fans wear lucky stinky socks. Others don jerseys of bygone Indians greats. And some will steadfastly refuse to go to the bathroom until the final out — no matter what. Fred Gloor, associate artistic and marketing director at Weathervane Playhouse in Akron, is no stranger to the role superstitions and rituals can play in life. The world of theater has a cast of such things, from never uttering MacBeth — instead calling it that “Scottish play” — to refraining from whistling, to always leaving a lone light bulb lit on an empty stage. Gloor wore his bright red Indians jersey at Friday night’s win over the Yankees and then didn’t wear it while watching the Tribe lose the next two in New York. “I didn’t wear it and they lost,” he said Wednesday night at Progressive Field while sporting the red jersey. “So I guess I’m a little bit superstitious.” Columbus resident Bob Skinner wasn’t going to take any chances either. He wore the exact same clothes to the final game against the Yankees he wore to deciding Game 5 last year in Toronto. He dug out his tried and true Indians T-shirt and old throwback Indians ball cap that once hung on the wall of the family’s barn in Avon. “This served us well last year so why not this year, too?” he said, taking a swig from his game-day drink — a cold can of Budweiser. Some rituals are physical. Pitcher Trevor Bauer can be spotted in the outfield two or three times a week throwing fly balls as far as he can to bullpen catchers who have been known to have to stand more than 400 feet away. Some of the Indians’ rituals are rooted in fiction. It is not uncommon for a statue of Jobu from the movie Major League to show up in the clubhouse or on the lap of a fan or two in the stands. Pedro Cerrano turned to Jobu to break the curse of the curveball in the movie on the way to a division title. Last season, the real Indians played out the ritual in the clubhouse, sacrificing a chicken bought at Target to Jobu and the baseball gods to get catcher Yan Gomes out of a particularly long hitting slump. Akron’s Rick Morehouse turned to his vanity Morehouse No. 88 jersey for some last-ditch luck in this series. The shirt was a gift from his wife, and the number comes from his high school football days at Hillsdale High School in Wayne County. He wore the shirt to the 15 games he attended this season, and the Indians only lost twice. “I feel like the shirt has a pretty good record,” he said. Craig Webb, who out of love of his mother will never step on a sidewalk crack, can be reached at [email protected] or 330-996- 3547. Akron Beacon Journal LOADED: 10.12.2017 ALDS Game 5: Didi Gregorius’ two home runs down Indians as Corey Kluber falters, offense comes up short in 5-2 loss to Yankees to end postseason run By Ryan Lewis CLEVELAND: The hopes of a dominant run through the postseason. The potential, glorious return to the World Series. The climb up the proverbial mountain that just barely eluded them a year ago. All of those dreams severed, much sooner than many hoped or even expected, at the hands of the Evil Empire. The Indians had their dream scenario set up for a win-or-go-home Game 5 situation. They had ace Corey Kluber on the mound. They were at home. The bullpen was rested. Didi Gregorius, CC Sabathia and the New York Yankees laid waste to that plan, as the Indians fell 5-2 in Game 5 of the American League Division Series Wednesday night at Progressive Field. It ends the Indians’ postseason run. The Yankees will advance to the American League Championship Series to face the Houston Astros. The Indians will pack up their bags and head home for the winter, falling well short of many fans’ hopes and expectations for a return to the World Series, as this time they entered October as the favorites. After holding a 2-0 series lead, the Indians failed to close out the Yankees three times. Kluber will likely win the American League Cy Young Award as the most dominant pitcher in the AL this season, and particularly since June 1. His ALDS, though, was anything but stellar. After struggling in Game 1, Kluber was hit hard again Wednesday night. As the energy at Progressive Field built prior to first pitch, Gregorius quieted it, belting a solo home run in the first inning to quickly put the Indians down 1-0. Two innings later, Gregorius did it again, driving a two-run home run to right field to extend the Yankees’ lead to 3-0, the Yankees’ dugout erupting amid a silenced sellout crowd. Kluber’s night was ended in the fourth inning. In his two starts in the ALDS combined, he threw 6 1/3 innings and gave up nine earned runs on 10 hits. As Gregorius tormented Kluber, Sabathia cruised through the first four innings, only allowing one hit. The Indians finally broke through in the fifth with the bottom of the lineup. Austin Jackson and Jay Bruce both singled to put two runners on. Roberto Perez followed with a bloop single to right field to score Jackson. Giovanny Urshela, the No. 9 hitter, then shot a single to right field to cut the Yankees’ lead to 3-2. After the 8-9 hitters came through with one out, Francisco Lindor couldn’t follow suit, grounding into a 6-3 double play to end the inning. The Yankees survived that threat with their lead intact and then delivered the haymaker in the top of the ninth. Facing Cody Allen, Aaron Hicks singled and Todd Frazier walked to put two runners on. With two outs, and Allen one pitch away from sending it to the bottom of the ninth still a one-run game, Brett Gardner sent the 12th pitch of the at-bat in a classic duel into right field, scoring Hicks. Bruce’s routine throw into the infield got away from Lindor, which also allowed Frazier to score. That was effectively it for the 2017 Indians, a frustrating, somewhat sudden end to a 102-win season that came to a close well short of the expectations in the clubhouse and the hopes of the fan base. Akron Beacon Journal LOADED: 10.12.2017 Indians settle on Roberto Perez for Game 5; Edwin Encarnacion, Giovanny Urshela make starting lineup By Ryan Lewis CLEVELAND: The decision that had Indians manager Terry Francona up Tuesday night—aside from watching the 2003 movie Daredevil—was a question of who starts the decisive Game 5 at catcher. Yan Gomes and Roberto Perez had each played well dating back several weeks. Both had handled the pitching staff well. Both had started to find their swings in late August and September, leading into the American League Division Series. Gomes was Kluber’s normal battery mate, but in 20 innings in which Perez caught Kluber, he hadn’t allowed an earned run in 20 innings this year. Eventually, Francona settled on Perez to start Game 5. Though it was that decision, and not the quandaries at designated hitter and third base, that gave the Indians the most trouble. “That was the hardest decision of all,” Francona said. “In fact, then they went home [Tuesday] night, I toll [bench coach Brad Mills] to tell them we’d—because I didn’t really know. … And I don’t know that there was a wrong choice. We just decided we would start ‘Berto and we told Gomer that he would probably have an influence in this game before it’s over.” Edwin Encarnacion, somewhat surprisingly based off the video of his sprained ankle from Game 2, was able to pass the tests from Tuesday’s workout in which he ran sprints and hit off pitcher Ryan Merritt. Francona didn’t care as much about the running, since, “It’s not like he’s a base stealer.” It was Encarnacion’s swing that had Francona convinced he was ready. “I wanted to see him hit. If he really can’t hit, being out there in name doesn’t help,” Francona said. “I watched him in the cage and I really came away thinking, ‘Damn, if I really wasn’t looking for it I wouldn’t have known.’ Which is really uplifting.” Giovanny Urshela committed two costly errors in Monday night’s Game 4 loss, which included his taking a liner off the shin. He came to the ballpark Tuesday feeling sore but was OK to start with the extra day of rest. “He’ll be ok. He’s a really good defender,” Francona said. “It shows you when you don’t defend how it can get. But I’d put my money that he’s a good defender.” Francona certainly had a number of potential lineup configurations. He said on Tuesday he had four made out already. He even had fans emailing him to hit Tyler Naquin—who was sent home before Game 1—to hit leadoff. “It was all I could do not to answer them,” Francona joked. The Boston Red Sox fired manger John Farrell, a close friend of Francona’s, on Wednesday. The Red Sox were ousted of this year’s postseason by the Houston Astros in the ALDS. Farrell went 432-378 in five seasons at the helm of the Red Sox, which included a World Series title in 2013. The Red Sox also won 93 games each of the past two seasons, but in Boston, it wasn’t enough. “I talked to him today a little bit. It’s one of those things where it’s your friend,” Francona said. “He’s got too good a reputation. He’s too good a guy. He’ll be just fine. I think on a day like today, he knows he has a lot of people that care about him.” Akron Beacon Journal LOADED: 10.12.2017 Ray Chapman's grave site remains testament to Cleveland fans as well as player By Marc Bona, cleveland.com CLEVELAND, Ohio - It's more like an altar than a tombstone. Ray Chapman's grave stands as more than the official remembrance of the only Major Leaguer to have been killed from an injury suffered on the diamond. It's a testament to Cleveland fans who still feel, after 97 years, a pull to make their way through the narrow roads in Lake View Cemetery to pay tribute. The fall colors aren't totally here yet. Tree roots snake their way round the pedestal, natural protection for this grave that sits near a patch of ivy, hovering over assorted, smaller headstones. Green mossy streaks line the back of the stone, which stands about five feet off the ground. They bring their memories and their mementos, old and new, eras intertwined. A dozen baseballs balance along the top, along with batting helmets - something that wouldn't be worn regularly in the Majors for decades after Chapman's death. Wahoo-insignia caps, coins and a Block C decal share space. A yellow softball is inscribed "For Chappy Tribe 2017." An "I was there' pin from 1993 commemorating another final moment, that of Cleveland Municipal Stadium. A mini foam finger, an "I Promise" bracelet and a soggy rally towel sit amid leaves and pine needles and the occasional ant. A rosary, reminding us of the solemn connection to this likeable man felled by a fastball from New York Yankees pitcher Carl Mays. A grimy, seamless, battered old baseball also is perched on the stone. On this day, in a steady drizzle before the Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees meet in a deciding playoff game, it's the one thing that conjures the past. Much has been written about what happened on that August day at the Polo Grounds in New York, how fate conspired for just a moment against Ray Chapman. How Mays, not as likeable, wound up from his submarine delivery and threw with Chapman in the batter's box. It was not unlike today, rainy. It was dark, the ball was dirty, and Chapman, from the right side of the plate, never saw it as it hit him in the head. Mays even fielded the ball and threw to first. Ray Chapman died the next day. He was 29. What happened on the field that moment ignited more tragedy for the Chapman family. Chapman's wife, Kathleen, was pregnant. She hurried to New York to be with her husband, but he died the following day. She gave birth to a daughter, Rae-Marie, six months later. The Chapmans were a popular and likeable couple, says local author Scott Longert, who has written three books on Indians history, including "The Best They Could Be," about the 1916-1920 Indians teams. She was a socialite whose father ran East Ohio Gas Co. He was a popular ballplayer. "They were the couple in Cleveland, they had it all," Longert said Wednesday. "The future was unlimited for them." But the harbinger of that one pitch changed everything. Kathleen killed herself in 1928. A year later, the Chapmans' daughter died from the measles. Religious mores being what they were, they are buried in another cemetery. Chapman is not forgotten. The fans still come. A worker at the cemetery said it's one of the most popular graves people visit. It's not just the baseball season calling them; it's year-round pilgrImages. And the treks this year take on a bit more meaning. A hundred years ago, Chapman played some of his best baseball. In 1917, he hit .302 and collected a career-high 170 hits in a league-leading 693 plate appearances. He also had 67 sacrifices that year, a record that still stands. Less than two months after his death, the Indians would win the World Series. In his post-playing career, Mays would become a scout for several teams, including the Cleveland Indians. Wednesday afternoon, the World Series loomed again for Cleveland as we approach first pitch of the American League Division Series Game 5. No matter what happens, though, one thing is certain: Fans will continue to make their pilgrimage to Lake View, to leave something and maybe say a prayer for the player taken from the game all those years ago. It's nice to think Ray Chapman is looking down on it all, with grace.

Cleveland Indians season ends with sounds of silence -- Terry Pluto By Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer [email protected] CLEVELAND, Ohio -- This is how it ends, the New York Yankees dancing around the pitchers mound at Progressive Field. Final score: New York Yankees 5, Cleveland Indians 2. The Indians had three chances to win one game, three opportunities to keep what was once such a wonderful season alive. The last chance was at home with ace Corey Kluber on the mound. And they failed ... again. For the Tribe and their fans, this is so painful. The Indians were this easy-to-love, record-setting baseball team that played the game with joy and confidence. They were the team with the 22-game winning streak, the team that won an American League best 102 games. It's a team that made Cleveland feel like a baseball town, an Indians team that drew 2 million fans for the first time in 10 years. Then came October. The playoffs. And there was more winning ... the first two games of the American League Division Series. The Indians had won 35-of-39 games heading in the third game of this best-of-five series with the Yankees. Talk about Tribe Time Now. One more win, the Yankees were gone. History. World Series dreams still alive. Then it stopped. 'A CRASHING HALT' The team that couldn't lose suddenly forgot how to win. For the Indians, three games in four days ended seven sensational months of baseball. "Nobody wanted the season to be over," said Tribe manager Terry Francona. "It doesn't wind down. It comes to a crashing halt." Then comes a winter of wondering, an off-season of regret. It's one thing to be upset by the Yankees ... and this was an upset. It's another to score only five runs in the last three games. And to strike out 40 times in their last 27 innings. And to make seven errors in the last two games. This from a team that made the fewest errors in the American League this season. "Sometimes you don't swing the bat," said Francona. "That's part of it. But we did some things in this series that I don't think were characteristic of our team. We made some errors, kicked the ball around a little bit." The truth is the Tribe ... this terrific regular season team ... unraveled under the bright lights of the playoffs when it meant the most. There are several reasons for the Tribe's playoff collapse, losing three consecutive closeout games. But the main culprit was this: The bats went silent. Francisco Lindor? The All-Star shortstop was 2-for-18 ... six strikeouts. Jason Kipnis? He was 4-for-22 ... eight strikeouts. Jose Ramirez? He was 2-for-20 ... seven strikeouts. Edwin Encarnacion? He was 0-for-7 ... and missed three games with an ankle injury. Michael Brantley? Coming back from an ankle injury, he was 1-for-11. Tribe designated hitters were designated outs ... a combined 1-for-18, Brantley's single was the only hit. The weight of great expectations combined with a fear of a postseason flop seemed to infect nearly ever Cleveland player swinging a bat. The Indians batted .171 for the five games. Were they pressing? Kipnis would not quite agree to that. But he added: "When it means so much to you, when you want to get it done ... you just want it so bad." And that seemed to make everything worse for the Tribe. From the moment the Tribe announced Corey Kluber as the Game 2 starter, I wondered if the Tribe ace had physical problems. He did have a back injury early in the season. But after June 1, he was 16-2 with a 1.64 ERA. Consider that Kluber didn't allow more than two runs in a game for his last nine starts of the regular season. Let's repeat that: From August 13 to the end of the regular season, Kluber held every opponent to two or fewer runs. NINE starts like that. Then came the playoffs. There was his dismal start in Game 2 (six earned runs, 2 2/3 innings). In this game, he gave up three runs in 3 2/3 innings. Didi Gregorius accounted for them all, blasting homers to right field in his first two at bats. Now think about this: 1. Gregorious came into the game batting 2-for-15 (.133) against Kluber. 2. This season, it was 0-for-9 against the Tribe. 3. In their first playoff matchup where Kluber had so many problems with the Yankees, Gregorius struck out and grounded out in his two at bats vs. Kluber. 4. Kluber had allowed only two homers on his curveball all season. The second homer by Gregorius was on a low, inside curveball. 5. It was as if the rockets launched by Gregorius came out of nowhere. The Yankee shortstop is an All-Star and hit 25 homers this season. But until this night, he had never done a thing against Kluber. After the game, Francona didn't want to go into detail about Kluber's condition, but there was something wrong with the 31-year-old right- hander. "He's fighting a lot," said Francona. "You have to respect the fact that the guy wants to go out there ... he's our horse." Kluber had a 12.79 ERA in two playoff starts, allowing 10 hits, 9 runs, 4 homers in 6 1/3 innings. "I don't want to get into details right now," Kluber said. "I was healthy enough to go out and pitch." He pitched, but that was not the real Corey Kluber. WINNING TOO MANY GAMES? There are several stats about teams winning at least 100 regular season games, but not winning the World Series. Some were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs. That includes the 2001 Oakland A's. The Indians broke their regular season winning streak of 20 in a row. How about this? Those A's finished 102-60 (same as the Tribe). They had a 2-0 lead on the Yankees in the playoffs, then lost the next three games (same as the Tribe). They lost Game 3 (1-0) and scored only five total runs in the last three games (same as the Tribe). Tribe reliever Andrew Miller was dealing with questions about winning more than 100 games, but losing in the playoffs. "What are you supposed to do, stop at 99?" he asked. He sadly shook his head. "You work so hard to put yourself in this position," he said. "It's such a grind to get here ... Look, they outplayed us." The Yankees had a 91-71 regular season record. They won a wild card game for the right to face the Indians. "I'm not saying they are the better team," said Kipnis. "But they played better than us. They deserved to go on." Yes, they did. The Yankees won it the hard way, won it on the road. The Indians can talk about injuries, Kluber wasn't right. Encarnacion and Brantley had ankle problems. But all they needed was one more win and they couldn't do it. "This is disheartening," said Kipnis. "You win over 100 games. We had such high hopes..." His voice trailed off. After all, there was nothing else left to say. Cleveland Plain Dealer LOADED: 10.12.2017 What happen to Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez and the Cleveland Indians' offense in the ALDS? By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com [email protected] CLEVELAND, Ohio - For the second straight postseason, the Indians couldn't close the deal. They lost three straight to the Cubs in the World Series last year after having a 3-1 lead. On Wednesday night, they lost their third straight game to the Yankees after having a 2-0 lead in the AL Division Series. A lot of things had to go wrong in the ALDS for the Indians to waste a 2-0 lead. Corey Kluber was apparently pitching hurt. The defense made seven errors in Games 4 and 5 and somebody with the Indians felt it was a good idea to pitch Trevor Bauer on short rest in Game 4. But perhaps the most glaring shortcoming was the disappearance of the offense. Among the hitters who went AWOL were MVP candidates Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor. In the regular season, they combined to hit 62 homers and drive in 172 runs. In the five-game ALDS, they were a combined 4-for-38 with one homer and four RBI. Ramirez, who led the AL in extra base hits, had two singles and didn't drive in a run. Lindor's only moment came in the sixth inning of Game 2 when his grand slam rallied the Indians to a 13-inning victory after trailing the Yankees, 8-3. He hit .111 (2-for-18) for the ALDS. "They executed," said Lindor, referring to New York's pitchers. "They made adjustments and I didn't. I had five games to make adjustments here and there. I hit a couple of balls, but none of them went through. "When I had people on base, I didn't come through. I didn't help my team. You work and you understand that you've got to make adjustments a lot faster." Yankee manager Joe Girardi, before Wednesday's game, said the they had scouts following the Indians for a month late in the regular season. Those scouts should get a raise. The Indians hit .171 as a team and scored 18 runs. Half of those runs came in Game 2. In the last three games of the series, the Indians went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and scored five runs. "You have to give the Yankees credit," said Matt Quatraro, Indians assistant hitting coach. "David Robertson's curveball is filthy. You know it's coming, but he can change the shape of it and it's hard to lay off of. They've got Luis Severino throwing 100 mph for seven innings in Game 4. That's not easy to hit. You've got to make decisions quickly. "Then there's Aroldis Chapman who throws 100 mph on command and tonight he had a good slider. When we faced him in Game 3 it was all heaters. "That's what you run into at this time of the season - power bullpens and the Yankees have power starters. (Masahiro) Tanaka was on in Game 3 and CC (Sabathia) pitched well in both his starts. I thought we had a good game plan tonight against CC. I thought we were all on the same page and that shows you CC was executing." The Yankees neutralized Ramirez, the Indians most dangerous hitter during the regular season. "They pitched Josie really, really tough," said Quatraro. "In the first game, he laid off of some of Sonny Gray's breaking balls. In the second game, he had trouble laying off the breaking ball and that can snowball. Then you combine that with the power stuff they have, and you start looking inside for something, it's hard to recover. "But I would hate to have five games dictate what people thins of those guys because we're not here without them. They're tremendous players." The confident Ramirez, who hit .100 (2-for-20) in the ALDS, took his no-show in stride. "These are things that happen in your life," said Ramirez, through team interpreter Anna Bolton. "But these are things you can't control. We all put our best effort out there, but the Yankees were the ones who had success." This was a series dominated by pitching. The Yankees, who will face the Astros on Friday in the ALCS, hit .201 as a team. Indians pitchers set a set a franchise record with 16 strikeouts in the nine-inning game. For the series, Yankee pitchers struck out 61 in 47 innings, while Indians pitchers struck out 64 in 47 innings. Cleveland Plain Dealer LOADED: 10.12.2017 Brett Gardner's 12-pitch at-bat provided the fatal blow to the Indians By Scott Patsko, cleveland.com CLEVELAND, Ohio - With two outs in the top of the ninth inning, the Indians and their fans still had hope. They trailed the Yankees 3-2 in Game 5 of the ALDS. Cody Allen had two runners to deal with, but one more out and the Indians could go to the bottom of the inning with some hope. But Brett Gardner wouldn't go quietly. The Yankees left fielder battled Allen through a 12-pitch at-bat, finally singling to right, driving in Aaron Hicks from second base. A throwing error by Jay Bruce allowed Todd Frazier to also score from third on the play. By the time Allen got Aaron Judge to ground out to end the inning, fans were leaving Progressive Field. Twelve pitches. Six fouled off. Indians manager Terry Francona said he never felt the urge to walk Garner to get to Judge, who had 52 home runs during the regular season, but struck out four times on Wednesday and set a record for most strikeouts in a postseason series (16). "I mean, it was an unbelievable at-bat," said Francona. "I mean, you can't foresee him fouling that many balls off. If we walk him and Judge hits the ball 500 feet, I would have a hard time living with that. You're going to walk a guy to get to a guy who drove in a hundred? No. That would be hard to do." Gardner faced a 2-2 count before fouling off a 95-mph fastball from Allen. He took another ball high before fouling off five straight pitches. All but one was at least 94 mph. The last pitch, another 94-mph fastball, was smacked past Jose Ramirez and into right field. Bruce's throw from right field bounced in front of Francisco Lindor, causing Lindor to misplay it. As the ball rolled away, Frazier ran from third for home plate. Giovanny Urshela's throw home wasn't in time. "To be able to add those runs," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi. "For me, I start to worry when you have a long inning and you don't score. It affects your pitcher going back out there. (Aroldis Chapman) ended up walking the first guy. I was like, if we're going to have long at-bats and this really long inning, we need to score some runs. Just a great at-bat by Gardy, a heads-up play by Frazier. To be able to tack on two runs was really important."

Cleveland Plain Dealer LOADED: 10.12.2017 Cleveland Indians eliminated by wild-card Yankees, 5-2, in Game 5 of ALDS By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com [email protected] CLEVELAND, Ohio - In February, the Indians held a team meeting in Goodyear, Ariz. They talked about all the things teams talk about at the start of the season. Most of all they talked about being the last team standing at the end of the season. That would be last team standing as in winning the World Series. A lofty goal, to be sure, but not so lofty for a team that reached Game 7 of the World Series last year. The goal will not be reached. The Indians were eliminated from that quest Wednesday night when the wild-card Yankees beat them, 5-2, in a winner-take-all Game 5 of the AL Division Series at Progressive Field. It is the second time in less than a year that the Indians have been eliminated from the postseason on their home ground. The Indians won the first two games of the ALDS before losing three straight. It is the first time they've lost three straight since July 30 through Aug. 1. Corey Kluber, who won 18 games as the ace of the top rotation in the AL during the regular season, struggled for his second start in the ALDS. He allowed homers in consecutive at-bats to shortstop Didi Gregorius to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead they never relinquished. Gregorius came into Game 5 with one hit in the series. He had three hits in his first three at-bats on Wednesday night. He homered with two out in the first off Kluber's 1-2 pitch for a 1-0 lead. In the third, Gregorius hit a 0-1 pitch from Kluber into the right field seats for a 3-0 lead. Brett Gardner opened the inning with a single. Gregorius didn't hit them a long way, 375 and 378 feet, but he hit them far enough. He had 25 homers during the regular season, but had been rendered mute by Tribe pitching in the postseason until Game 5. Corey Kluber on injuries and Game 5 loss to Yankees in ALDS The Indians had no answer for CC Sabathia through the first four innings. He retired six straight and 12 of 13 batters. Eight of those outs came on strikeouts. The Tribe's offense, held to three runs in losing Games 3 and 4 at Yankee Stadium, finally reached Sabathia in the fifth to make it, 3-2. Austin Jackson and Jay Bruce started the one-out rally with singles to left center and right field. Roberto Perez singled down the right field line to score Jackson and send Bruce to third. Giovanny Urshela followed with a single through the right side of the infield to make it 3-2 as Bruce scored. David Robertson (1-0) relieved and induced an inning-ending double play from Francisco Lindor. It was just what the Yankees needed and the Indians didn't. Lindor and Jose Ramirez, the Tribe's MVP candidates, went 2-for-18 and 2-for-20, respectively, in the ALDS. The Yankees added two insurance runs in the eighth as the Tribe's defense broke down for the second straight game as outfielders Jackson and Bruce were charged with errors. The Indians, who committed the fewest errors in the AL during the regular, made seven in Games 4 and 5. Aaron Hicks singled to left with one out and continued to second when the ball squirted past Jackson. Cody Allen issued a two-out walk to Todd Frazier and then engaged in a 12-pitch duel with Gardner that ended in a single to right. Hicks scored and when Bruce's errant relay throw short-hopped Lindor, Frazier scored. Aroldis Chapman, who helped apply the dagger to the Indians in Game 7 of the World Series last year with the Cubs, pitched the final two innings for his second save of the series. Kluber (0-1) and the Indians have said he's healthy, but in his two ALDS starts, he has not looked the part. He allowed three runs on three hits in 3 2/3 innings on Wednesday. In Game 2, Kluber allowed six runs on seven hits in 2 2/3 innings. "I think he was fighting a lot," manager Terry Francona said when asked if Kluber's back was a problem."I think you also have to respect that the guy wants to go out there. He's our horse ... and sometimes it doesn't work." He added that he thought Kluber was good in the first inning, but "his stuff was trending down" by the third and fourth innings. Kluber said there was no problem with his back, but when told of Francona's statement, he said, "I was healthy enough to go out there and try to pitch." As for losing three straight, Kluber was asked if he was stunned. "I wouldn't say stunned," he said. "Disappointed, sure. But I think if you say stunned you're not giving much respect to the Yankees. They have a real good ballclub and they showed that. They won the series." In his last three postseason starts, Kluber has allowed a homer in the first inning. Derek Fowler got him in Game 7 of the World Series, Gary Sanchez hit a two-run homer in Game 1 and Gregorius went deep in Game 5. Kluber made two starts against the Yankees in the regular season, going 2-0 in two starts with a 1.59 ERA. He allowed three runs on six hits with 18 strikeouts in those two games. In his two ALDS starts, Kluber allowed nine earned runs on 12 hits, including four homers, or a 12.79 ERA. There's a wide gap between those four games. Sabathia allowed two runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out nine and walked one. The Indians entered the postseason as the AL's top seed after winning 102 games. They finished the season by winning 34 of their last 37 games. But after the first two games of the ALDS, their offense went cold. The Yankees finished second in the AL East to secure the top wild card spot. They advanced to the AL Championship series by winning four elimination games. They beat the Twins in the wild-card game and took three straight in the ALDS after falliing behind the Indians, 2-0. The Indians, under manager Terry Francona, are 2-8 in postseason games when they have a chance to clinch. In the last two years, they've lost six straight games in which they've had a chance to clinch. Jacoby Ellsbury reached first on a catcher's inference call in the second inning when his bat hit Perez's glove. Chances are it was not an accident on Ellsbury's part. He holds major league record for catcher's interference with 31. He passed Pete Rose during the regular season. Kluber threw 67 pitches, 40 (60 percent) for strikes. Sabathia threw 69 pitches, 51 (74 percent) for strikes. The Yankees and Indians drew a sellout crowd of 37,802 to Progressive Field for Game 5 on Wednesday night. First pitch was at 8:09 p.m. with a temperature of 61 degrees. Cleveland Plain Dealer LOADED: 10.12.2017 Corey Kluber falls flat (again), Indians fall short in stunning ALDS loss to the Yankees -- Bud Shaw By Bud Shaw, cleveland.com CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Reminder: Corey Kluber was the AL Pitcher of the Month in September. Thought you might've forgotten. In October, he looked more like the struggling minor leaguer they traded for in 2010. In a series full of crushing contradiction, Kluber was the biggest head scratcher. He'll be the main talking point - once Indians fans can actually talk about this -- until the memory of what happened in this series, won by the Yankees in five games, is pushed into the background by a World Series parade. No regular season excellence can do that now. Not even a 103-win season. Not even a 23-game winning streak. This was too shocking to get over anytime soon and certainly not between April and September. It will take a World Series (for the sake of heart patients everywhere, preferably one the Indians don't lead 3-1) to do that. That was the endgame in 2017. The World Series title that slipped away last season. The Indians were over-achievers then. They were favorites this time. They were 102-game winners who established an AL record for consecutive wins. They were favorites, in part because a deep pitching staff featuring Kluber on full rest. Then Kluber fell flat twice. The benefit of the doubt in Game 2 was rust. Scratch that now. Because in Game 5 when the Indians needed him to be his September self, he was outpitched by C.C. Sabathia, an Indians Cy Young Class of 2007 graybeard. Somehow, the Indians overcame one bad Kluber outing in Game 2. All that took was the franchise's first postseason grand slam since 1999 and a walk-off hit in the 13th inning. They couldn't overcome the second, losing 5-2. Kluber lasted one more inning than he did in Game 2, allowing two home runs and three runs to Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius. Was there something wrong with Kluber? The Indians never said. That's not surprising. Maybe we'll hear more in the next few days. Something tells me the sports talk lines will be open for discussion regardless. Baseball is agonizingly random. So a 102-win team losing in the first round? That's happened before. Coincidentally it happened to the 2002 A's whose consecutive game win streak the Indians erased this season. But how it happened? With Kluber losing Game 5, not getting out of the fourth inning after failing to survive the third in Game 2? If you saw that coming here's the deal. Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway might get a manager's job. If he does, get your application in to Terry Francona. Kluber didn't lose this series by himself. The other contradictions: the best defensive team in the league made four errors to lose Game 4, then had three more in Game 5. A deep and talented rotation suddenly turned up flawed with Kluber not himself and with Trevor Bauer forced to pitch on three days' rest. "It's disappointing," manager Terry Francona said after the game. "We felt good about ourselves, and we came down the stretch playing very good baseball. We did some things that weren't characteristic of our team. We kicked the ball around a bit." A 102-win team lost in the division round; Jose Ramirez, MVP candidate, was 2-for-20 in the series. Frankie Lindor matched those two hits with two of his own. Nothing, though, was more stunning than the presumptive Cy Young winner counted on for so much heavy lifting leaving the series lugging a 12.79 ERA. Jason Kipnis and Bryan Shaw gave out tickets to ALDS Game 5: Meet the fans who got them By Emily Bamforth, cleveland.com [email protected] CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Jason Kipnis, second baseman and center fielder for the Cleveland Indians, handed out tickets to Game 5 of the ALDS, a crucial evening game that would determine the team's postseason fate. With the Indians tied 2-2 in the series against the New York Yankees, Kipnis tweeted out that he had two tickets to the game up for grabs on Wednesday afternoon. Right after, pitcher Bryan Shaw donated two more. The first pair of tickets went to a dad who took his seven-year-old son to his first playoff game. The second went to a life-long Indians fan who moved from San Diego in part because of his love of the Indians. Brandon and Benjamin Baxter When Brandon saw the tweet go up from Kipnis, he tweeted a picture of him and his son back. Ben is a huge Kipnis fan. Brandon said Ben bats left-handed, like Kipnis. There's more to it though, dating back to when Ben was six months old. "His first game was the home opener that year," Brandon said. "My dad got him a baseball that year and Kipnis signed it for him a year later." The Baxters have a long history with Cleveland baseball. The family spread Brandon's grandparents ashes outside Gate D at Progressive Field. Ben has been to every home opener -- except this year when they couldn't get tickets. This will be Ben's first playoff game and Brandon's first since 2007. "We were so lucky that he actually picked us and we have an opportunity to root not just for Kipnis but for Kluber, Lindor, the whole Tribe," Brandon said. Mendoza originally tweeted a picture of himself when he was a kid to try and win the tickets. When he didn't get the tickets initially, Mendoza tweeted congratulations to the pair that did. Then Kipnis let him know he won Shaw's tickets and Mendoza rushed home to paint his face for the game. He's been a fan since birth, he said. Mendoza's grandfather lived in Cleveland, growing up on W. 54 St. before he moved to San Diego. "(My grandparents) were like in tears happy when I texted them I got the tickets," he said. Mendoza's family would go to about two games a year while he was growing up - once when they visited Ohio and once when the Indians played in Anaheim. Mendoza moved back to Cleveland about a year ago from San Diego. He chose to come back in part due to his love for the Indians, he said. "I needed a change, but Cleveland was the choice because I love the Indians and why not come watch them play for part of my life." Mendoza works for Force Baseball, a youth baseball program. He also is an assistant coach at John Carroll University. He said he loves the Indians not only because of his family, but because the Indians are underdogs and somehow always fight their way to the top -- or in previous years, at least the middle of the pack. Mendoza brought his friend Kevin to the game, who works with him at John Carroll. This is Mendoza's third playoff game since he's been back, but the first one where the Indians needed to clinch the series. "It means everything," he said. Cleveland Plain Dealer LOADED: 10.12.2017

ALDS Game 5: The Indians were better than the Yankees, until they weren't Tim Brown CLEVELAND – So many of them stood for all of it. They gathered at the rails in the right-field corner and over the bullpens and down in the corner where Rajai Davis’ ball landed that night going on a year ago. They stood and believed and begged and pleaded, and bounced lightly on the concrete, and puffed warm breath into their hands, because then it couldn’t happen again. It couldn’t possibly happen again.

They’d arrived early and raced through the gates when the whistle blew, like a train whistle over the city, and they bunched in their usual places, their lucky places, and they measured the vibe in Kluber’s sodden gait, the sturdiness in Encarnacion’s right ankle.

They were better than the New York Yankees. Everybody knew it. They’d won all those games, and they’d done this before, and this time they’d make the last pitch, and they’d be the lucky ones. Their guys would be the lucky ones. They were delightfully nervous and perfectly certain and just the right amount of afraid, and they leaned over those rails, still beaded from an afternoon rain shower, and shouted away the last of their doubt. It’s terrible to lose sometimes. It’s terrible to watch. And the baseball kept landing in the bleachers beyond right field. The innings fell away. The sky grew so dark.

The universe, irony, cruelty, whatever it is, manages to find its own place on the rail, squeezes in, broadens its shoulders. The big stuffed figures that race each other between innings were done for the night, and they walked past the home clubhouse. Mustard held his head under his arm and did not smile. Ketchup and Onion trailed by a few steps, their heads secure, but looking no less displeased. The sad condiments passed, and when the clubhouse door opened, the clock on the wall read 11:59. A few seconds later and the day was done. The Cleveland Indians were done, too, gone from an October that wasn’t halfway done, gone from a postseason that wasn’t supposed to be the Yankees’, or the Astros’, or anyone’s but theirs. They’d won 102 games. They’d barely lost for two months. They’d scraped their baseball souls to practically nothing last October, and that was going to be the last ounce of character, of experience, of been-there-almost-done-that they’d require. The clock turned and they sat and stared into the backs of their lockers. Just like last October, when they’d won and won and won and then lost three, the final two right out there in front of those very people. So they’d won again and felt like it was all right to finish a division series and get on with it, to bury the past, only to lose three again, on Wednesday night to the Yankees, 5-2. They’d committed three more errors. They’d been hitless against a bullpen that took over in the fifth inning. For another postseason series, they’d done everything but throw the last spade full of dirt on it, and turned out it wasn’t their time at all.

Gosh, now the Indians had lost 17 times in their last 20 clinching games, going back to when the men in this clubhouse paid hardly any attention to the Indians, long before they’d actually become Indians. And now they’re a part of it too, the part of it that really hurts, because it’s so fresh. They didn’t finish. They can’t close. What could possibly be missing?

“It doesn’t wind down,” said their manager, Terry Francona. “It comes crashing to a halt. And nobody, myself included, was ready for it to be over.”

The story, maybe, was the Yankees. In their dramatic return from oh-two, from the indecision that would chase their manager into old age, from a clear inability to hang with the here-and-now Indians. They thrashed about in the other clubhouse into early Thursday morning, however, praising the men around them, hoisting the bottles that stood for their resilience. This was their win at least as much as it was the Indians’ defeat. They’d overcome the losses. They’d shown up for every inch of every game since, even while being told their energy would be wasted. Their MVP, Aaron Judge, batted .050 in the series. He struck out 16 times. Yet, here they were, maybe a bit amazed themselves, searching their brains for memories of the Houston Astros, what they did, who they’ll be. “Just win one game,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi had told them so many days ago, so many fights ago, and it seemed to work. That and the pitching.

Still, the Indians. Corey Kluber pitched barely more than six innings over two starts, and afterward there came suggestions he wasn’t quite healthy. One of the better offenses in the game hit .171 for five games. The defense, so adept, committed nine errors, three of them in the game they absolutely could not lose. The Yankees scored 21 runs across five games, seven of them, a third of them, because the Indians kicked, dropped, misfired and/or whiffed on plays they’d made for six months, that they’d promised themselves to make for a year.

“I wouldn’t say stunned,” Kluber said, and maybe he’d be alone in that.

They said they’d go home, find a gym, work this out of their system, start over in February, be better. They’d leave an empty ballpark behind. The rails empty. The streets getting there. Plenty of them will be back next season, fresh off another three-game losing streak that scraped their souls raw again.

“I just feel like it’s just baseball,” Francisco Lindor said. “You’re not going to win every game. Just so happens the last two years we’ve gone on a three-game losing streak to finish the season.”

He smiled and added, “We’ll be back next year.”

Next year. Already.

“I didn’t think this early,” he said. “It’s … it’s part of the game. You know? I was thinking I was going to do it all the way to Nov. 1. With Champagne.”

He shrugged. Like that, it was time to go. The Yankees packed for Houston and more baseball. The Indians hugged, said goodbye, tried for it to not be quite so awful. It’s terrible to lose.

Outside the clubhouse, in the hallway that leads to the parking lot, a man in a Yankees cap strolled past. It was quiet except for his voice, and he sang Sinatra, the song that chases Yankees wins. A handful of Indians passed and pretended not to notice. It’s not important. It’s not worth the energy. They were better than the Yankees. And they’re leaving today.

Indians learn September success rarely rolls over to October By Travis Sawchik Francisco Lindor knew it was over in the top of the ninth Wednesday night. He knew it was over when he failed to catch a one-hop throw from right fielder Jay Bruce, and the ball trickled away on the dirt of the Progressive Field infield skin. The error was awarded to Bruce, but Lindor was complicit. The catch was a routine one for the reigning Gold Glover winner. It allowed Todd Frazier to blur around third and score. Frazier met joyous Aaron Hicks at the plate, who scored ahead of Frazier on Brett Gardner’s single. The sequence allowed the Yankees to extend their lead from one run to three. With Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman heading back out for the bottom of the inning, the Indians’ chances of survival grew from unlikely to nonexistent. The visiting dugout was raucous. Seemingly not knowing what to do with himself, seemingly in shock, Lindor hung his head and drug each foot over the infield surface as if to smooth out some cleat marks, a purposeless act given the state of scoreboard and the club’s season. The smile was gone. After the 5-2 ALDS Game 5 loss to New York, to accommodate the crowd of media in the home clubhouse, Lindor moved away from his locker in the corner of the clubhouse and stood on a riser, an impromptu stage, from which to address the crowd. “I didn’t think we’d be doing it this early,” Lindor said of the season ending. “I was thinking I was going to do it all the way on Nov. 1 with the champagne. I wasn’t thinking I’d be doing it here early in October. It hurts. But you learn from it.” What the Indians learned from this abbreviated postseason is really something that is more of a reminder: that September performance — really, regular-season performance — is no guarantee of success in October. Baseball is perhaps the major pro sport most subject to the randomness and variance of the postseason, of a smaller sample of play. The Indians won 102 games, the best mark in the America League, and set an AL record with 22 consecutive wins. But those achievements, particularly the winning streak that stretched from late August to mid September and that captivated the baseball world, will now be relegated to footnote status in the history of 2017. What the Indians learned is September success often does not correlate and transfer to October. Jay Jaffe studied and wrote for Sports Illustrated that there is “virtually no correlation” in the Wild Card era between September success and that in the postseason. The best teams in September are not often the best teams in October. At The Athletic last month, this author wondered what the Indians would have to do to keep riding that incredible wave they enjoyed. The question was how do individuals, and then collectively as teams, sustain top performance? That task starts with health. Just minutes after Chapman struck out Austin Jackson to end the Indians’ season, Terry Francona was asked about the health of Corey Kluber, particularly his back. It was a legitimate question as the AL Young Cy Young favorite, who had been historically good in the second half of the season, had struggled in a second consecutive postseason start. “You know what? I think he's fighting a lot,” Francona told reporters. “I think you have to respect the fact that guy wants to go out there and he’s our horse.” While Kluber’s velocity did not suggest injury, while he generated a number of swings and misses, he again missed location with pitches and paid for the mistakes. He said he “yanked” a fastball that was intended to go up-and-away to Didi Gregorius in the first, which ended up middle- in. Gregorius sent the pitch down the line for the first of two home runs against Kluber. Kluber was asked about his health several times after his start. “I don’t feel like I need to get into details right now,” Kluber said. “I was healthy enough to go out there and try to pitch.”

Perhaps Kluber’s health explains why the Indians elected to push him back to Game 2, but if Kluber has been dealing with a health issue, why was he pushed so hard down the stretch? The staff ace threw at least 110 pitches five times in August and September. Despite missing a month of the season, Kluber finished with 203 innings. At a time when teams are paying more attention to player rest and efficiency, Lindor played in 159 games and finished second in the majors with 723 plate appearances. Ramirez played in 152 games. Lindor batted .111 in the series, Ramirez .100. Were they fatigued? The Indians had played starters regularly and deep into September as they chased team and personal accolades. Perhaps another reason why September rarely rolls over to October? Random variance. To sustain success, stars have to perform like stars. And it is difficult to maintain star-level performance. Even an MVP-caliber campaign has peaks and valleys, and the Indians were peaking in September. Sustaining a peak for months is difficult. The small-sample nature of a playoff series can be cruel. Lindor said he, and the team, struggled to make adjustments in the series — and noted their was only five games to do so, to search for answers. To sustain success, teams also have to enjoy good fortune — and matchups — which the Indians lacked. The Indians earned the No. 1 seed in the postseason, but their reward for owning the top win-mark in the AL was facing the Yankees, who had the second-best run differential in baseball this season — trailing only the Indians. The Indians would have arguably been better off capturing the No. 2 seed and playing the Red Sox. The Indians’ second-half schedule was favorable, playing a number of sub-.500 teams. The postseason was loaded with super teams, six teams with plus-140 run differentials, a volume of such teams that has not been reached since 1999. The Indians met a Yankees team that had the top strikeout-rate bullpen of all time, a staff that averaged 98 mph with their fastballs in Game 4 on Monday in New York, that was loaded with power threats (and strikeouts). The Yankees were the first team to win a nine-inning postseason game with 16 strikeouts Wednesday, but they also hit two home runs. In many ways, the Yankees represent the future of baseball in a sport becoming more extreme, more about velocity and power and strikeouts. Andrew Miller knows many of the Yankees, he knew their talent. As he stood near his locker after the game Wednesday, he did not speak as a player who felt his team had just been upset. He was less in shock and more in acceptance. The Athletic asked Miller what makes rolling over September success to October so difficult. “No matter who you play at this point, they are going to be a great team,” Miller said. “No matter who you play, they are going to be capable of beating you, even in seven games. The Yankees, there are a lot of ways to look at it, they were second in run differential — and they were the wild card. The AL East is always a gauntlet. They have the pieces. “You want to play your best baseball in September. You don’t want to take your foot off the gas … They said something on TV about how often 100-win teams win the World Series, and it’s not that [often]. It doesn’t mean you try to win 99 games. We love our team. The fact that guys in this clubhouse were able to win 22 in a row, and 102 in the regular season, it was says a lot about the ability of this team. I think the ability of this team was to win the World Series. … I’d like our chances [in playing again]. But that’s not the way it works.” This postseason field is deeper and more talented than it was a year ago. That doesn’t make the end any easier. In the somber postgame clubhouse, Indians players made rounds, shaking hands, embracing, saying goodbye particularly to free agents-to-be like Carlos Santana, players who might no longer share the same clubhouse space next spring. Players who have spent nearly eight months together prepared to go their separate ways for the winter, what will be a long winter. The conclusion of a season always feels so sudden, especially a season with such expectations. “[The season] doesn’t wind down,” Francona said. “It comes to a crashing halt. And nobody, myself included, was ready for it to be over.”

Disappointing playoff exit shifts focus to uncertain offseason for many Indians T.J. Zuppe 3 hours ago This was a night many hoped would end in champagne and cheers, not goodbyes and tears. But baseball cares naught for your plans. As a result of their 5-2 loss to the Yankees, a defeat which ended the Indians' playoff run slightly after it began, Michael Brantley was still taking the time to exchange heartfelt handshakes and hugs with each of his teammates when the doors to the locker room opened Wednesday night. Was this goodbye? Or just see you later? One of the unfortunate side effects of their early exit from the 2017 postseason picture — other than feeling like a pretty big opportunity was tragically missed — is how quickly it thrusts a number of players with uncertain futures into cloudy, unsure and nerve-wracking territory. Brantley is among those with much to potentially consider this winter. The Indians own an $11 million team option on the veteran left fielder, with a $1 million buyout. Picking that up once seemed like a formality, but with Brantley fighting through various injuries over the past two years, managing just 101 games played over that stretch, his option presents a difficult decision. Sporting a walking boot on his right leg after the game, Brantley indicated he is not ready for his Indians career to reach its conclusion. “I guess it means the world to me,” Brantley said of staying in Cleveland. “I started a quest back in 2009. I want to finish it the right way. I don’t want to go out like this if it’s my choice. It’s not. I just look forward to hopefully being back here with this group of guys.” Brantley isn't the only one with uncertainty hanging over his head. The Indians have several free agents, team options and arbitration deals to sift through this winter. The first stage of those decisions will be handled within three days of the conclusion of the World Series. Some might take until then to decompress and evaluate what happened in the three straight losses to the Yankees, blowing a 2-0 series lead in the ALDS. “I’m going to take some time,” said Jay Bruce, a free agent this offseason. “There’s not really any rush for me. Nothing really starts happening until after the World Series, anyway. I’ve got a family that I need to be there for, internalize this and just get some rest. We’ll see what happens.” Bruce, acquired in August from the Mets in a post-deadline deal, is one of several key Tribe free agents, a group that includes Austin Jackson, Carlos Santana, Joe Smith and Bryan Shaw. All five played pivotal roles in the club's success this season. But keeping them all? That seems improbable, even with the benefit of the largest payroll in franchise history. “I’m still here with this team until three days after the World Series ends,” Shaw said. “I’m an Indian until they tell me I’m not.” Shaw is an interesting case. His presence in the bullpen over the past five years has been critical to three playoff runs dating to 2013. His ability to chew up appearances, innings and opposing hitters hasn't gone unnoticed within the organization — even if it occasionally has within the fanbase — but that production may have priced the reliever out of the club's price range. In some ways, Shaw's current status feels like where Smith was at after the 2013 campaign. The side-winder earned a three-year pact with the Los Angeles Angels in 2014 for over $5 million per season. After inking a one-year deal prior to this season, he was traded back to the Indians from the Blue Jays at the deadline. Shaw might be in line to earn a similar multi-year deal this winter. “I would obviously love to stay here in this ‘pen, said Shaw, who tossed two scoreless innings in Game 5. “We have a lot of great guys down here. We have a lot of good arms the last five years that I’ve been here. We’ve had a great bullpen. I would definitely love to stay here with this group of guys. The position players, the hitters, the guys coming back next year, it’s going to be a good team for a while. I would definitely love to come back.” Santana has been vocal about wanting to stay, admitting that his impending free agency did play a role in some of his early-season offensive struggles. The switch-hitter, however, has certainly demonstrated more of his personality and has looked more comfortable over the past two seasons. That comfort will likely play a huge role in his desires this winter. “I'm hopeful that I can come back,” Santana said. “This is my house. This is my family. I know everybody. Everybody knows me. So, we'll see. We'll see. Me and my family, we'll have to wait. “I want to stay here, and I'll try to do all I can to stay here.” In addition to Brantley's option, the club also has a choice to make regarding the future of Josh Tomlin. The right-hander is under control next year through a $3 million team option, which is very little money compared to what other hurlers of his caliber can earn on the free-agent market. His status as a clubhouse favorite might clinch a return, but until it becomes official, he is also in limbo. “It’s one of those things where it’s like, this could be the last game you play with a group of guys you care about, that you enjoy, that you love,” Tomlin said. “That’s probably the hardest part of everything, is you don’t want it to end. When it finally does, it stings, especially the way it did. This is too good of a team to go home and everybody in here knows it. That’s why it’s so tough for us.” Overall, the clubhouse had a much different feel Wednesday compared to the mood after Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. Last year, just minutes after their season ended in heartbreak, you could sense guys were already anxious to get back to work. This year, there was a greater sense of displayed disappointment, an overwhelming belief that it would be tough to find silver linings in their unfortunate and unexpected early exit. Perhaps the uncertainty of the future roster contributed to that. “They’re your teammates,” Brantley said. “They’re your brothers. We have so many good baseball players, teammates and people in this locker room. It’s going to be tough, but I love every one of these guys in here.” And just before the lights went out, he made sure to let them know.

Meisel: Another October opportunity passes by, and the Indians are again left to wonder what could've been Zack Meisel 4 hours ago A creme-colored towel draped over his shoulders, Cody Allen leaned against the tile wall outside of the Indians’ clubhouse as he spoke with Michael Brantley and Josh Tomlin. The three boast 23 big-league seasons among them, all with the Indians. They know better than anyone the arduous journey the franchise has traveled to erase memories of empty winters and hollow summers. They know better than anyone the unsatisfying emotion weighing on their minds, the nausea stabilizing in their stomachs and the tension overwhelming their shoulders. Baseball’s postseason is cruel. The fast-paced tournament plays no favorites. It reeks of randomness and variance, especially in a best-of-five setting. And yet, the Indians, staked to a 2-0 advantage in the ALDS, squandered as ripe of a chance at a championship as they’ve had in the seven decades since Lou Boudreau’s bunch conquered the league. That’s the catalyst for the adrenaline-fueled, passion-enhanced agony experienced by every Tribe fan who sauntered out of Progressive Field on Wednesday night, by every remote-clenching ball of stress leaning forward on the edge of the living room couch and by every viewer at the bar who guzzled down one, final pain-relieving beverage after Aroldis Chapman pumped one, final 101-mph fastball past Austin Jackson. It’s the reason Tomlin appeared to be holding back tears when answering reporters’ questions about the ALDS letdown. It’s the reason Brantley moved from locker to locker, hugging every teammate in the room as the Yankees sprayed each other with champagne a few doors down the hall. Minutes after Game 7 of the World Series last season, Indians players expressed how they would have gladly boarded a bus bound for Goodyear, Arizona, at that moment. On Wednesday, they sat at their lockers, in their black leather chairs, and stared into oblivion, wondering whether they’ll ever be better positioned to snap that burdensome title drought. We’ve learned by now that regular-season feats don’t necessarily dictate the desired October outcome, but if 102 wins and a top seed can’t vault the club toward a trophy, what can? The Indians had a healthier roster than a year ago, when they nearly captured an implausible championship. They benefitted from the highest payroll in team history and from breakout offensive seasons by their middle infielders and from Jay Bruce falling into their laps. (Chris Antonetti thanked Bruce for his contributions after Game 5.) And that still wasn’t enough. Halloween isn’t October’s only wicked event. The Indians’ lumber lost its luster. The Cy Young favorite crumbled. The typically sound defense turned sloppy and self-destructive. The team that chewed up opponents like a buzzsaw in the summer wilted away like the colorful leaves in the fall. “It’s an opportunity that’s missed,” Bruce said. “To be a part of a team this talented with this much depth and this much ability to win games, there really wasn’t a weak spot. … We just couldn’t get the job done.” So, now what? The Indians should own the AL Central again next year, but sports rarely offer certainty. Unpredictability about regression and injuries and opponents’ improvements can temper even the brightest future. The Indians hosted a parade in downtown Cleveland after the 1995 World Series. Thousands of fans lined the streets near Public Square and showered the players with praise for the franchise’s first postseason run in 41 years. For once, the annual “Wait ’til next year” request seemed to carry an expiration date. In 1996, though, the Orioles dispatched the Indians in the ALDS. Progression toward a title isn’t always linear. This feels similar. The Indians’ front office has a series of pivotal decisions to make regarding Brantley, Tomlin, Bruce, Jackson, Bryan Shaw, Carlos Santana and Joe Smith. Andrew Miller and Cody Allen will be entering their finally years of team control. Jason Kipnis will be mighty expensive. Those are topics for later. For now, it’s a matter of dealing with the disappointment and the impending winter of discontent. “I’m not really sure how you get over something like this,” Tomlin said.

SPORTS Indians ace Corey Kluber struggles again, says he was 'healthy enough to try to pitch' Scott Petrak ByScott Petrak | The Chronicle-TelegramPublished on Oct. 12, 2017 | Updated 7:36 a. m. CLEVELAND — Something had to be wrong with Indians ace Corey Kluber.

Right?

Not just his command, which lacked its typical precision.

But physically.

The favorite to win his second Cy Young Award in four seasons doesn’t pitch like this.

He doesn’t get knocked out of two ALDS starts without seeing the fifth inning. He doesn’t allow nine earned runs in 6 1 ⁄3 inn ings of the series. He doesn’t create a pair of deficits for his teammates.

He doesn’t lose a decisive Game 5 to the New York Yankees on Wednesday while being outclassed by 300-pound, 37-year-old CC Sabathia in a 5-2 season-ending loss at Progressive Field.

“I think he’s fighting a lot, and I think you also have to respect the fact that guy wants to go out there and he’s our horse,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “And sometimes it doesn’t work.”

Kluber missed nearly all of May with a back injury. Francona gave the above answer when asked if the back bothered Kluber in October.

“I don’t think I need to get into details about anything,” Kluber said. “I was healthy enough to go out there and try to pitch.”

But even the stone-faced, don’t-concede anything Kluber admitted he wasn’t quite right.

“I don’t think anybody’s 100 percent at this point of the year,” he said. “But good enough to go out there and try to compete.”

Kluber was better Wednesday than he was in Game 2, when he allowed six runs in 22 ⁄3 innings of a remarkable 9 -8 victory in 13 innings. But he was still gone after 11 outs and two home runs by shortstop Didi Gregorius that accounted for three runs in the first three innings.

“Two pitches really,” said Kluber, who allowed three runs and struck out six. “Two mistakes to Didi and I put two balls right in his bat path and he’s a good hitter and he hit two home runs.”

Francona went to left-handed relief ace Andrew Miller in the fourth inning — about four innings before the ideal scenario. He had no choice because his starting ace wasn’t himself. Catcher Roberto Perez said Kluber started leaving the ball up and wasn’t as sharp as he normally is.

“But he’s a warrior, man, I’d take Corey any day over everybody,” he said.

Francona feels the same way. He didn’t start Kluber in Game 1 against the Yankees in part because he wanted him in case of a decisive Game 5.

The strategy didn’t work.

“It’s easy to second-guess in hindsight,” Kluber said. “If we would have won the series, people probably wouldn’t question it. I don’t think the guys in the clubhouse question him at all, and I think that’s all he cares about.”

The sample size of the postseason is so small and the microscope so large.

Kluber went 18-4 in the regular season with a league-leading 2.25 ERA and 265 strikeouts in 2032 ⁄3 innings. He allowed four earned runs in six September starts.

The lack of postseason success will be part of the lasting memories.

Kluber allowed a homer run for his third straight playoff start. The stretch began in Game 7 of the World Series last year.

Then Kluber was pitching on fumes, trying to give the Indians their first world title since 1948. He went only four innings in the extra-inning loss.

A lack of rest wasn’t the issue against the Yankees in either start.

Yet Kluber’s playoff numbers are trending in the wrong direction.

In his first five postseason starts — all last year — he pitched 30 1 ⁄3 innings and allowed three earned runs for a 0.89 ERA. In the last three, he’s gone 10 1 ⁄3 with 13 earned runs for an 11.32 ERA.

The Indians still trust in Kluber. But the version this October wasn’t the one they know and love.

Another classic fall: Indians lose third straight ALDS game to Yankees, see promising season end prematurely Chris Assenheimer ByChris Assenheimer | The Chronicle-TelegramPublished on Oct. 12, 2017 | Updated 7:25 a. m. CLEVELAND — Overcoming adversity has been part of the Indians’ pedigree since their surprising run all the way to Game 7 of the World Series last year.

Wednesday night at Progressive Field, the never-say-die Tribe’s postseason dreams were laid to rest.

Losing their third straight game after opening a commanding lead in the American League Division Series, the Indians dropped a 5-2 decision in Game 5 to the Yankees in front of a sellout crowd of 37,802 stunned fans at Progressive Field.

New York got a pair of early home runs from shortstop Didi Gregorius off Cleveland ace Corey Kluber and then hung on against a sagging Indians offense that managed only five hits.

It was a shocking development for the Indians, who entered the postseason as the AL’s top seed and the odds-on-favorite to capture their first World Series title since 1948 after a 102-win regular season that included the longest winning streak (22 games) in AL history.

“It’s disappointing,” manager Terry Francona said. “We felt good about ourselves. We came down the stretch playing very good baseball, and we did some things in this series that I don’t think were characteristic of our team. We made some errors, kicked the ball around a little bit.

“Sometimes you don’t swing the bat. That’s part of it. But we made it harder to win in some cases, especially the last two games.”

It continued a disturbing pattern for the Indians, who have failed to win in 14 of their last 17 chances to close out a postseason series, including six straight dating back to last year’s 3-1 World Series lead on the Cubs.

TRIBE NOTES Indians notes: Edwin Encarnacion returns to lineup for series-deciding Game 5 Chris Assenheimer ByChris Assenheimer | The Chronicle-TelegramPublished on Oct. 11, 2017 | Updated 6:22 a. m. CLEVELAND — The Indians got their cleanup hitter back for Game 5, with Edwin Encarnacion returning to the lineup Wednesday after missing the past two games of the ALDS with an ankle injury he sustained in the first inning of Game 2 on Friday.

Cleveland’s struggling offense — .173 team batting average through the first four games of the series — needed a spark.

“I mean, nobody has a crystal ball, but he’s been our 4-hole hitter all year and he drove in a hundred,” manager Terry Francona said before Game 5. “It’s nice to have him. His presence should be helpful.”

“We know how dangerous he is,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of Encarnacion before the game. “But the people in front of him are dangerous, the people behind him are dangerous, too. And we’ve seen him do it to us for a long time. Before, it was in our division for the last few years. We’re going to approach him the same way we did in Game 1 and Game 2, carefully. But you’ve got to make your pitches on him just like anybody else.”

Francona speculated Encarnacion would return for Game 5 after watching him during a workout at Progressive Field on Tuesday, but the slugger is clearly not 100 percent.

“I think it’s kind of stating the obvious. He doesn’t feel great,” Francona said. “I wouldn’t want to miss this game. You do what you can. He’s never been our best base stealing threat, even when fully healthy, but I thought he was moving around fine (during the workout).

“I was more concerned with him hitting. I watched him in the cage, I watched him on the field. If I wouldn’t have been looking for it, I wouldn’t have known that something was going on. So I thought that was really a good sign. I don’t think — again, there’s a lot of things that aren’t perfect, but the game’s going to start, and we need to try to be one run better when it’s all said and done.”

Encarnacion went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts during the Indians’ 5-2 loss in Game 5.

Staying the same

Despite speculation that Francona would tinker with his lineup, it remained relatively unchanged outside of Michael Brantley’s move to the bench.

Brantley, who filled in for Encarnacion at designated hitter the past two games, was replaced by Austin Jackson in left field. Brantley struggled to find his stroke after missing nearly two months at the end of the regular season with an ankle injury — 1-for-11 in three ALDS games — and was just 1-for-15 with seven strikeouts lifetime against New York’s Game 5 starter, CC Sabathia.

Outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall, who struck out four times in five at-bats over the first four games, was also on the bench.

One move that may have been considered was bringing center fielder Jason Kipnis back to second base, while moving Jose Ramirez to third in place of Giovanny Urshela, a defensive specialist who committed two errors in the Game 4 loss Monday at Yankee Stadium. But Francona stuck with Urshela.

Catching on

Roberto Perez started in front of Yan Gomes at catcher for the fourth time in five ALDS games, with Francona saying the decision was a hard one.

“When the guys went home (Tuesday) night, (bench coach Brad Mills) told them that we’d get ahold of them because we actually didn’t know (who was going to start),” Francona said. “I took some time and talked to the coaches, and as always I talked to Millsy just about everything. We finally decided that’s what we were going to do.

“I don’t think there was a wrong decision there, and I think before it’s all said and done — and we told Gomer that he’d have something to say about the outcome of the game.”

Gomes entered the night batting .333 (2-for-6) with a double and an RBI — walk-off single in a 9-8, 13-inning Game 2 win — while Perez was at .286 (2-for-7) with a solo home run. Perez went 1-for-3 with an RBI in Wednesday night’s game, while Gomes failed to make an appearance.

Farrell’s friends

Francona said he spoke to John Farrell on Wednesday after Farrell was fired as manager of the Boston Red Sox.

Farrell, a former Indians pitcher and front office member, was Francona’s pitching coach in Boston (2007-10), taking over as Red Sox manager in 2013 and winning the World Series in his first season.

“I talked to Johnny today. He’s one of my dear friends,” Francona said. “And I think on a day like this, I think John knows that he has a lot of people that — a lot of special people that care about him. It happens, unfortunately, in our industry. People get let go. And it’s hard because you care about people. But knowing John the way I do, he’ll land on his feet and he’ll be in a better position than he was before.”

Farrell won the talented AL East Division in three of his five years as manager, but the Red Sox have been eliminated in the first round of the postseason in back-to-back years.

“I feel for him. I’ve been there,” Girardi said. “My heart goes out to him, because I know how much he puts into the job and how much you put your heart and soul into a job. I don’t care what level it is, where you’re at in your life, when you don’t get retained or fired, it’s no fun. And it hurts, because of — you know, in your mind, you’ve put your heart and soul into something, and it’s someone saying that we think someone else can do a better job or we’re going to go a different direction. And it hurts, and I feel for him.”

Roundin’ third

Progressive Field has hosted more postseason games (46) than any other MLB park since 1994 — one more than Boston’s Fenway Park. The Indians, who were planning to start right-hander Carlos Carrasco in Game 1 of the ALCS had they advanced, will clean out their lockers at Progressive Field today. The Indians announced they had sold all available tickets for potential ALCS games at Progressive Field before Wednesday night’s game.

JIM INGRAHAM Commentary: Unhappy endings for Indians becoming sad tradition Jim Ingraham | The Chronicle-TelegramPublished on Oct. 12, 2017 | Updated 7:16 a. m. That’s it? That’s it. There ain’t no more. Just like that, the postseason is over for the winningest team in the American League. It vanished quickly. Five days in October.

Up 2-0, then three straight losses, and it’s welcome to golf season for the best Indians team to not win the World Series. Or even reach the World Series — or the American League Championship Series, for that matter.

All of it faded to black on Black Wednesday for the Indians, who lost their third consecutive game to the Yankees, this one a see-you-in- Goodyear-next-spring 5-2 loss.

In getting swept in the last three games of the series, the Indians fell apart in all phases. They scored just five runs and hit .152 as a team. After leading the American League in fewest errors this year the Indians made a shocking seven errors in the last two games against the Yankees.

“We did things in this series that were out of character for our team,” manager Terry Francona said.

For those scoring at home, that makes it 3-17.

What is it about the Indians and cinching games in the postseason? Over the last 18 years they have played 20 games in which, if they won, they would clinch a postseason series. They are 3-17 in those games.

That includes Game 7 of the 1997 World Series against the Marlins, Games 5, 6 and 7 of the 2007 American League Championship Series against Terry Francona’s Boston Red Sox, Games 5, 6 and 7 in the 2016 World Series against the Cubs and now Games 3, 4 and 5 of the 2017 Division Series against the Yankees.

That’s not the full list, but it’s the most painful portion of it.

Leading the best-of-five series 2-0 after their rousing, historic, hysterical 13-inning 9-8 walk-off win in Game 2 at Progressive Field, the Indians, once again, couldn’t close the deal. They only needed one more win do to do so, but they couldn’t get one in three tries.

Forget winning a game, the Indians couldn’t even win an inning. In the last three games, the Yankees held the lead in all 27 innings.

The team that won 22 games in a row couldn’t, after Game 2, win one in a row.

It’s a kick in the stomach that may linger longer than losing the World Series to the Cubs last year after leading the series 3-1. Because this Indians team is better and healthier than that Indians team.

That Indians team won 94 games, this one won 102, the second most in franchise history. This one won an American League-record 22 games in a row, the longest winning streak in the majors in more than 100 years. This Indians team finished the regular season on — go ahead, pick your favorite — runs of 33-4 (.892), 42-8 (.840) and 54-15 (.783).

But today the Indians are no better off than the 98-loss Tigers.

They are both done playing baseball in 2017.

The Indians are done because in their last three games against New York, their record was 0-3 (.000).

Instead of expunging the sour taste and heartbreak of that 10-inning loss to the Cubs in Game 7 last year, the Indians have added to it.

So the Yankees move on, in search of World Series title No. 28, while the Indians go home with their World Series title total still stuck on two. If all that wasn’t bad enough, the starting pitcher for the Yankees in the clinching game was CC Sabathia.

In the 2007 ALCS against Boston, the Indians went into Game 5 leading the series 3-1. They were playing a potential closeout game, at home, with their ace, and eventual 2007 Cy Young Award winner, Sabathia on the mound.

The Indians lost 7-1. Sabathia threw 112 pitches in six innings, giving up an un-ace-like four runs on 10 hits. Boston went on to win the ALCS, outscoring the Indians in the last three games 30-5.

Wednesday night, pitching for the other team, Sabathia was much better — and the Indians lost again.

The Indians lost with their ace, the presumed 2017 Cy Young Award winner, Corey Kluber on the mound.

But not for long. Only 3 2/3 innings.

During the regular season Kluber led the majors with a 2.25 ERA. In two starts against the Yankees his ERA was 12.79. Ten hits and nine runs allowed in 6 1/3 innings.

Expect to hear in the coming days that Kluber was not 100 percent for those two starts. Maybe it was the tight lower back that caused him to spend the month of May on the disabled list. It was something, because the postseason Corey Kluber was not the regular-season Corey Kluber.

Not even close.

“Nobody wants our season to be over,” Francona said. “It doesn’t wind down. It comes to a crashing halt.”

Crashing and crushing.

Indians’ historic 2017 season left unfulfilled after ALDS exit | Jeff Schudel By Jeff Schudel, The News-Herald & The Morning Journal POSTED: 10/12/17, 12:05 AM EDT | UPDATED: 8 HRS AGO # COMMENTS The Indians watch during the ninth inning of Game 5 of the ALDS on Oct. 11 at Progressive Field. The Indians watch during the ninth inning of Game 5 of the ALDS on Oct. 11 at Progressive Field. David Dermer — The Associated Press Sometime in the weeks and months to come, the 22-game winning streak and the 102 victories in the regular season will be fondly remembered — but not today.

Today, the Indians 2017 season is left unfulfilled after a sobering 5-2, Game 5 loss to the Yankees on Oct. 11 at Progressive Field.

All the Indians had to do was win once in three games, and they didn’t pull it off, just as they didn’t pull it off in the World Series last year when they couldn’t finish off the Cubs after leading three games to one. That series ended in a one-run loss (8-7) at Progressive Field.

Some fans left before Yankees’ fireballing lefty Aroldis Chapman got Austin Jackson on a called strike three to end the season. But most stayed until the bitter end, hoping for a miracle. Many of those stood and stared out at the field, finding it difficult to believe the season ended so abruptly.

Bowing to the Yankees after leading the series, two games to none, is more difficult to swallow than what happened in the World Series last year because the Indians had so much going for them.

The Tribe had injuries heading into the playoffs this year, most notably a broken hand that sidelined center fielder Bradley Zimmer. But they weren’t as costly as the ones they dealt with last year, when they were missing starting pitchers Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar plus All- Star left fielder Michael Brantley.

Fans with pitchforks will want to go after Indians manager Terry Francona for starting Trevor Bauer in Game 4. Bauer wasn’t the same pitcher he was in Game 1. But that isn’t why the Indians season is over before it should be.

Players who came through for the Indians all season all went cold at the same time, and that includes ace Corey Kluber, who in two playoff starts never resembled the Cy Young Award candidate he became after the All-Star break.

Francisco Lindor was 2-for-18 with a grand slam in Game 2, his only meaningful hit in the series. Jose Ramirez was 2-for-20 with seven strikeouts. Edwin Encarnacion was 0-for-3 in Game 1 and 0-for-4 in Game 5 in his return from a sprained ankle that forced him to miss Games 3 and 4 in New York.

Kluber was rocked for the second time in the ALDS. That hadn’t happened all season. That was the most stunning result of everything that went wrong for the Indians after leading the Yankees, two games to none, in the best of five series. He gave up 21 home runs in 29 starts in the regular season He gave up four to the Yankees in two short starts in the ALDS. The Indians’ bullpen was superb in Game 5 until Cody Allen gave up two runs in the top of the ninth, and even that sequence was un-Indian like because a throwing error by Jay Bruce led to the Yankees fifth run.

Defense, a hallmark of the Indians all season, deserted them the last two games. They made four errors in Game 4 and two in Game 5.

When things went bad, they went really bad.

Roberto Perez and Giovanny Urshela, two players at the bottom of the lineup drove in the Indians’ only runs.

So where does Indians president Chris Antonetti go from here? That is a question not easy to answer. There are no holes on this team.

Losing Game 7 of the World Series was bigger, but the Indians gave everything they had in the postseason last year. They didn’t have a drop of energy left.

This stings more because so much more was expected.

ALDS Game 5: Tito’s minutiae by Jordan Bastian Edwin Encarnacion is ready to go?

“Yesterday everybody was making a big deal out of him running. And I understand that. But it’s not like he’s a base stealer. I wanted to see him hit. If he really can’t hit, being out there in name doesn’t help. I watched him in the cage and I really came away thinking, man, if I really wasn’t looking for it I wouldn’t have known, which is really uplifting. So, again, I don’t think he’s going to be at top speed, by any means, but I don’t see that getting in the way of his at-bats, either.”

Why is Austin Jackson batting ahead of Jay Bruce?

“Yeah, you try not to upset the apple cart. We’ve done things a certain way the whole year. But against CC, I just wanted to make sure that coming through the middle there that guys get pitched to, especially Santana. I thought that this was the best way to go about it.”

Why Roberto Perez over Yan Gomes with Kluber pitching?

“That was the hardest decision of all. In fact, when they went home last night, I told Millsie to tell them that we’d.. because I didn’t really know. And we talked to the coaches. I talk to Millsie about everything. We just finally came to the conclusion that we were going to start ‘Berto, and I don’t know that there was a wrong choice. We just decided that we would start ‘Berto and we told Gomer that he would probably have an influence in this game before it’s over.”

What tipped the scale in Perez’s favor?

“His in-game adjustments are really good. And that’s not to say that Gomer’s aren’t. I just think that for me, in a game like this, knowing that you may have guys coming in quick, left and right. He caught that game last year where we had the whole bullpen game. It’s not to say gamer’s not. I don’t feel that way.”

Is Giovanny Urshela’s leg doing better?

“He’s OK.”

Did you think that first one was a tough error?

“Yeah. It was right at you, but wow. It was attacking him. Like a topspin.”

How do you think Urshela will bounce back from Game 4?

“He’ll be OK. He’s a really good defender. It shows you, when you don’t defend, how it can get. But I’d put my money that he’s a good defender.”

After the second error, you patted Urshela on the chest. Is it hard in the moment as the manager to balance reassuring him that it’s OK with being upset about what happened?

“I think you have to. If you make too big a deal out of it so people see, you’re doing it for yourself. I just wanted to do it for him. That’s why it was just a quick… He knew. ‘Hey, man, we’re in this together,’ and not just when you make the greatest play ever. Through thick and thin. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. That’s how I feel with this team. I don’t dislike them when we make errors. I hope we don’t. But I have enjoyed this team thoroughly. Going into Game 5, it’s agonizing. But I like going with this group.”

Does Kluber have to do anything mechanically to make sure his back issue doesn’t flare up?

“I would say no to that. I think there are times, though, when he maybe gets in a delivery because he knows it’s safe, so it doesn’t. You know when you think maybe you’re going to feel something. And I thought he got into a little bit of a habit of getting lower on the back side, which kind of leaves everything a little flatter. But, his bullpen was good. I think he’s done an amazing job this year with maintenance with that thing, because it didn’t just go away when he came back. You saw him the whole year, his level of consistency was amazing.”

From the outside, one knee-jerk reaction to Game 4 could be to move Jason Kipnis back to second and Jose Ramirez back to third. Was that ever under consideration?

“Who’s going to play center?”

Jackson…

“Who’s going to play left?”

Lonnie Chisenhall or Michael Brantley…

“OK, why?”

To try to maximize the offense…

“OK, and I’m going to come back, why? I mean, Brant’s 1-for-15 of this guy and Lonnie… I don’t think that maximizes your offense. I think Kip in a place where, if he needs to move runners and stuff, is one of the best at it. And we tried to get A.J. in a place where he can be a run producer.”

We all got dozens of e-mails and tweets about that question…

“I even got them. I don’t know how people get my e-mail address. Some guy wanted Naquin to leadoff. It [took a lot] not to answer them. I figured it I answered, the guy would know he got the right e-mail.”

Kipnis also hasn’t played second base in several weeks now…

“No. The only way is if we ended up getting into like extras. We almost got there the other night, but we didn’t.

What was your reaction to John Farrell being fired by the Red Sox?

“I talked to him today. I talked to him today a little bit. It’s one of those things where it’s your friend. I do think, for whatever reason, that place is a little crazy. I think he felt like he probably had a target on his back for a while. He said he was at peace with it. And I think he’s done some amazing things. He won a World Series there. I think he’ll probably end up feeling like he’s in a better place, because I think that place can age you a little bit sometimes. I saw what it was doing to him. He’ll be fine. He’s got too good a reputation. He’s too good a guy. He’ll be just fine. I think on a day like today, he knows he has a lot of people that care about him.”

You mentioned watching Encarnacion’s swing. Were you paying close attention to his back foot mechanics?

“I was looking at everything, because it was an important decision. I was pleasantly surprised how good he looked.”

Was Ryan Merritt throwing to Encarnacion to help simulate facing Sabathia?

“Not particularly. That’s one thing guys hate doing, and Merritt we knew wasn’t going to drill him — things like that. He’ll throw it over the plate and stuff like that.”

You obviously know from experience what it’s like to manage in Boston. What is it about that job that makes it a different animal from other cities?

“There’s just so much passion and so much interest that, with that comes, it can’t help but come with headaches.”

Farrell had won a World Series and division titles…

“Yeah. And unlike New York, it’s got a little bit of a smaller-town atmosphere to it. I think in New York you get lost a little bit, it’s so big. Not in Boston. Like, when somebody gets called from Triple-A, they know who it is. There’s just a lot of interest and sometimes you go home with a headache. That’s just kind of the way it is. I mean, it’s a great baseball town.

“I just told John, I said, ‘You know, John, a couple years from now, you’ll go back there and they’ll love you.’” Indians suffer an epic letdown with ALDS loss Jerry Crasnick CLEVELAND -- After Brett Gardner's line single to right field scored two runs to put away Game 5 of the American League Division Series for the New York Yankees, hundreds of crestfallen realists in the Progressive Field stands succumbed to the inevitable. They lugged their disappointment and dashed dreams up the stairs into the night, fully cognizant that the Cleveland Indians' streak of world championship-free seasons will turn 70 in 2018.

When Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman struck out Austin Jackson looking to seal a 5-2 victory, the Cleveland players headed down the dugout steps into a long, regret-filled winter. The season wasn't supposed to end this way -- or at least this soon -- and it was a time for a little introspection on the fly. In Cleveland, there always seems to be a new twist on despair. Either the World Series ends in heartbreak after a rainstorm gives the Cubs the time and space to compose themselves, or an Indians team that won 102 regular-season games suddenly forgets to field or hit at the worst possible time. It all comes down to degrees of disappointment and pain.

Francisco Lindor, the Indians' wondrous young shortstop and franchise face, confronted all the difficult questions Wednesday night: When did the Indians lose their momentum? What happened to the bats -- and the gloves? How did this unhappy ending compare to the World Series loss to Chicago last fall? And why do the Indians seem to have so much trouble putting away teams in October?

Including this year, the Tribe have dropped six straight potential clinching games in October and 17 of 20 such games since 1999. That's an awful track record by any objective standard.

For much of his give-and-take with the media, Lindor lapsed into default mode and stuck to platitudes: It's baseball. That's part of the game. Hats off to the Yankees. They outplayed us.

But the look on his face reflected the growing pains of a 23-year-old kid who expected so much more.

"I was thinking I was going to be playing all the way to November 1, with champagne," Lindor said. "I wasn't thinking about doing this here, early in October. It's tough. It hurts. But you learn from it."

The Indians could have at least taken some solace in playing their best and coming up short -- as they did in 2016. But a team that won 33 of 37 games to end the regular season and two more to start the ALDS went cold in almost every facet of the game against the Yankees.

Team defense, such a source of pride this season, went south in Games 4 and 5. The Indians committed seven errors in the final two games to hand the Yankees seven unearned runs. Staff ace Corey Kluber, who went 11-1 with a 1.79 ERA after the All-Star break to emerge as the clear front-runner for the AL Cy Young Award, was a pale imitation of himself in the division series. In two starts against the Yankees, Kluber gave up four home runs in 6 ⅓ innings and logged a 12.79 ERA. He gave the Indians everything he had, but it wasn't nearly good enough.

Skeptics had reason to wonder why manager Terry Francona would pitch Trevor Bauer in the series opener and relegate Kluber to Games 2 and 5. Kluber missed a month because of a back injury early in the season, and there were rumblings that the problem flared up again during the postseason. Those questions won't go away anytime soon.

When asked if Kluber might have been fighting a back problem, Francona replied, "You know what? I think he's fighting a lot, and I think you also have to respect the fact that the guy wants to go out there and he's our horse. And sometimes it doesn't work."

Kluber, typically succinct and stoic, declined to shed any further light on his condition. He volleyed every inquiry about his health with a vague half-answer.

"I don't think anybody is 100 percent at this point of the year," Kluber said. "I was good enough to go out there and try to compete. I don't know if I need to get into the details. I was healthy enough to go out there and try to pitch."

Even if Kluber were on his game, the Indians' offense would have given him almost no margin for error. While a lot of credit goes to Masahiro Tanaka, Luis Severino, CC Sabathia and the Yankees' bullpen, the Cleveland hitters went outside their comfort zones and lost any semblance of selectivity at the plate in the division series.

After striking out a mere 18.5 percent of the time during the regular season -- the second-lowest percentage in baseball behind the Houston Astros -- the Indians whiffed 61 times in 164 at-bats against New York. Lindor and Jose Ramirez, the team's top-of-the-lineup catalysts, were particularly ineffective, hitting a combined .105 (4-for-38) with 13 strikeouts against New York. But up and down the lineup, the Cleveland hitters appeared to be pressing.

"You press because it means so much to you," veteran Jason Kipnis said. "You press because you want to get it done. You press because you want to succeed. You don't press because you fear failure. When you press in those terms, you just want it so bad, I guess. It was just bad timing to switch off. There's no other answer than that."

The Indians' early departure hurts the most, in the end, because those exhilarating midsummer memories are so fresh in everybody's minds. They were the talk of baseball with 22 straight wins in August and September, and they were considered by many to be the game's most complete and balanced team entering the postseason.

Compared to last year, when the Indians lost Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco to injuries and had to rely so heavily on Kluber, they had a rotation built to win in October. Edwin Encarnacion gave them a reliable, power-hitting anchor in the cleanup spot, and Jay Bruce provided one big hit after another after coming over from the New York Mets in a deadline trade. Lindor and Ramirez were better this year with experience, and the bullpen, while down a tick from 2016, was still formidable with Andrew Miller and Cody Allen at the back end.

Now the Indians are going home and they have to watch the Astros take on the Yankees, who were supposed to be a year away from serious contention. "It's a missed opportunity for us," Bruce said. "I'm so very proud of the way we played overall this year, but obviously it doesn't mean much when you get to the postseason and can't do the job. This team really doesn't have any weaknesses. I felt like we were a legitimate World Series contender. It was an honor for me to be a part of it and come over and experience this with these guys. This group is gonna be around for a long time."

Bruce might not be around much longer. He's a free agent in November, so he'll have something to occupy his time this winter beyond lamenting what might have been. But the disappointment is real and the pain is still fresh, and it's hard to come to grips with how quickly the season unraveled.

Questions abound for the 2017 Indians. Satisfactory answers, not so much.

"Baseball is a crazy game," Bruce said. "And I don't think I'll ever, ever understand it."