Starting pitchers this afternoon were righthander Josh Tomlin (Cleveland) and lefthander J.A. Happ (Toronto).
31-year old Tomlin was 13-9 in the regular season, his seventh with the Indians.
He struckout 118 batters in 174 innings.
Today, Tomlin threw in his second career postseason game.
In his first one, he started against Boston a week ago in Game 3 of the ALDS.
He then gave up two runs in five innings, but was the winning pitcher.
This season, Tomlin started two games against the Blue Jays.
He had a no-decision in the first one, then was the losing pitcher in the second game.
33-year old Happ was 20-4 in the 2016 season with a 3.18 ERA and struckout 163 batters in 195 innings.
Happ was the winning pitcher in Game 2 of the ALDS against Texas, but he then gave up nine hits in five innings.
Today was his third start and tenth postseason-appearance.
This season, Happ pitched in one game against the Indians and then was the winning pitcher.
After the Blue Jays were retired in order in the top of the first inning, the Indians reached base in its first at bat.
With two outs, Francisco Lindor singled, but he was left behind.
The Blue Jays then also reached base in the second inning off of righthander Josh Tomlin.
With two outs, Russell Martin singled, but he also stranded, as Tomlin closed with a strikeout.
Tomlin initially was scheduled to start for the Indians in Game 3 on Monday in Toronto.
He switched with righthander Trevor Bauer, who was to be the starter today in the second game.
However, Bauer sustained a cut in his right pinkie finger (pitching hand) on Thursday while repairing a drone.
The cut required multiple stitches.
Bauer designs and builts drones as a hobby.
Manager Terry Francona then decided to moved up Tomlin to today's game and give Bauer two days extra rest to let his finger heal and start him on Monday.
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(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
The Indians then opened the score in the bottom of the second inning when Carlos Santana led off with a homerun off of lefthander J.A. Happ.
Toronto came alongside in the top of the third.
With one out, Darwin Barney singled and advanced on a grounder, then scored the tying run on a double by Josh Donaldson.
This afternoon, Barney started at second base instead of the injured Devon Travis.
Tomlin then closed the at bat by striking out José Bautista.
Cleveland came back on top immediately in the bottom of the third.
Roberto Perez led off with a walk, but was forced out on a grounder by Rajai Davis.
The latter then stole second base, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a 2-out single by Francisco Lindor to make it 2-1 in favor of the Indians.
Both teams were retired in order in the fourth inning.
Josh Tomlin then also got three outs in a row in the fifth, adding two strikeouts to raise his total to six.
The Indians then got into scoring position again in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Lonnie Chisenhall led off with a single, but later was forced out on an one-out grounder by Rajai Davis.
The speedy Davis then got into scoring position when a pick-off attempt to first base by pitcher J.A. Happ ended in a throwing error.
But Davis stranded on second base.
In the top of the sixth inning, Cleveland went to the bullpen.
With two outs, Josh Tomlin walked José Bautista, then was replaced by Bryan Shaw, who got an inning-ending grounder from Troy Tulowitzki.
Toronto also made a pitching change in the bottom of the sixth, as Joe Biagini took over for J.A. Happ.
He began with a strikeout, then walked Carlos Santana with two outs.
But this at bat also ended with a groundout and with that, the Indians still led only 2-1.
In the top of the seventh, top-reliever Andrew Miller took the mound for the Indians and struckout the side.
In the bottom of the seventh, Biagini also retired the side.
Miller then added two strikeouts in the top of the eighth.
In the top of the ninth inning, Cleveland-closer Cody Allen preserved the minimal lead.
He first struckout Edwin Encarnacion and José Bautista.
Hereafter, Troy Tulowitzki flied out to centerfield to end the game.
With that, the Indians won 2-1 to take a 2-0 lead in the ALCS.
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Cleveland nips Toronto to take 2-0 lead in ALCS
CLEVELAND, Ohio (USA) -
Cleveland Indians nipped Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 on Saturday-afternoon (October 15) in Game 2 of the best-of-seven American League Championship Series.
With that, Cleveland now leads 2-0 in the Series, which now moves to Toronto, where it continues on Monday.
After completion of the first game, the Blue Jays replaced Devon Travis on its ALCS-roster.
The second baseman left the opener in the fifth inning with a knee-injury.
During the ALDS against the Texas Rangers, he missed two games due to the injury (bone bruise) and it was questionable whether he would be placed on the roster for the ALCS.
After a series of tests, the Blue Jays kept him of the roster.
Travis is replaced on the roster by Justin Smoak.
He was initially left off the roster when the Blue Jays made two moves before the start of the ALCS.
The roster-change was approved by Major League Baseball, but it also means that when the Blue Jays should reach the World Series, Davis is ineligible to be placed on the roster for that Series.
It is allowed that a player can be replaced due to an injury, but he then will not be eligible to play in the next series.
The lone exception is when a player is replaced due to a concussion.
In this case, there are differente rules.
Such a player can be replaced, then has to be out of action for at least seven days, but then can be put on the roster again for a following series.
This is what happened to Toronto-pitcher Francisco Liriano.