Kuzul

The Los Angeles Dodgers have taken control of the National League Championship Series, seizing a 2-1 lead after blanking the Chicago Cubs 6-0 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers spread 10 hits and scored in four different innings, getting a two-run home run from Yasmani Grandal in the fourth inning and a solo shot from Justin Turner in the sixth. Grandal had three RBI while Corey Seager and Joc Pederson also had run-scoring hits for Los Angeles, which has won two straight after losing the opener 8-3.

Rich Hill held the Cubs to two hits over six innings, with Chicago managing only four hits in getting shut out for a second consecutive game. Chicago starter Jake Arrieta was chased after allowing four runs in five-plus in his first start in Dodger Stadium since his 2015 no-hitter.

Game 4 is set for 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, with the Cubs sending John Lackey against Los Angeles’ Julio Urias.

Scroll down for all of our updates, analysis, statistics, pitchers, tweets and anything else worth noting from L.A.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Cleveland Indians again relied on their bullpen in Game 3, earning a 4-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays to build a 3-0 lead in the American League Championship Series on Monday.

Starting pitcher Trevor Bauer was removed after recording just two outs, but six relievers combined to throw 8.1 innings, allowing only two runs.

Jason Lukehart of Let’s Go Tribe provided an incredible stat from Cleveland’s victory:

The Indians are one win away from reaching the World Series for the first time since 1997.

Bauer’s early exit was the big story of the game after a pinkie finger injury he suffered while repairing a drone pushed his start back from Game 2 to Game 3. The cut turned out to be more serious than expected, and his stitches opened a couple of batters into the contest, causing the finger to bleed all over the mound.

Buster Olney of ESPN The Magazine described the situation:

Fox Sports provided a gruesome image (warning: NSFW) of Bauer’s finger as he exited the game.

Bauer walked two batters and recorded two outs before Dan Otero found a way to get out of the first-inning jam. Cleveland was then forced to piece together innings from its bullpen for the rest of the night, although manager Terry Francona came prepared.

In addition to using a wide variety of relievers throughout the game, Francona asked closer Cody Allen to pitch in the seventh inning for the first time since 2014, per ESPN Stats & Info. Allen came through with 1.2 hitless innings.

Andrew Miller then followed with a four-out save featuring three strikeouts.

Jordan Bastian of MLB.com summed up Cleveland’s mindset:

Blue Jays starting pitcher Marcus Stroman couldn’t keep up, allowing four earned runs in 5.1 innings.

Mike Napoli sparked the Indians offense Monday. He got Cleveland on the board with an RBI double off Jose Bautista’s glove in the first inning and followed that up with a solo home run in the fourth.

Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com described the veteran’s confidence:

Napoli was 2-for-18 in the playoffs coming into the day but finished 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs and two RBI.

Toronto again struggled to generate much offense, although Michael Saunders did his part with a solo home run in the second inning.

Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer described the big hit:

The blast got the home fans excited, but the Blue Jays didn’t score again until the fifth, when Ezequiel Carrera hit a triple into the right-center field gap and eventually came around to score on a Ryan Goins groundout.

Eric Engels of Sportsnet praised the left fielder as Toronto evened the score at 2:

The tie didn’t last long, however, as Jason Kipnis drilled a solo home run to right, giving Cleveland a 3-2 lead in the sixth and knocking Stroman out of the game. Napoli then continued his great showing with heads-up baserunning after getting on with a walk. He advanced on a wild pitch before scoring on a Jose Ramirez RBI single.

Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com summed up the difference for the key players in Cleveland’s lineup:

The Blue Jays had a chance to cut into the lead with two runners on base in the seventh inning against Allen, but Josh Donaldson’s line drive ended up in Coco Crisp’s glove.

Toronto got the first runner aboard in the ninth inning but couldn’t do anything else as Miller closed out the 4-2 win.

After Toronto scored 27 runs in its first four games of the postseason, Cleveland has limited the Blue Jays to three runs in the ALCS.

The teams will return to action Tuesday for Game 4. Corey Kluber is set to take the mound on three days of rest for the Indians after tallying 13.1 scoreless innings in his first two postseason starts. Aaron Sanchez is scheduled to make his first start of the series for Toronto after allowing six runs in his only other playoff start this year.

Postgame Reaction

Francona has excelled this postseason at using his bullpen in creative ways, but getting a win after replacing the starter in the first inning was impressive even for this team. Still, it wasn’t exactly the plan, per Erik Boland of Newsday:

Meanwhile, the Blue Jays aren’t ready to give up despite being down 3-0 in the series.

“I still believe our offense is due to erupt,” manager John Gibbons said, per the Associated Press (via USA Today). “It hasn’t happened yet. But I’ve seen it too many times. Hopefully tomorrow is that day, we’ll see.”

Of course, breaking out against Kluber will not be an easy task Tuesday.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Cleveland Indians put together one of the greatest examples possible of a team win Monday night.

Starting pitcher Trevor Bauer’s bloody finger caused him to come out in the first inning, and the Indians used seven pitchers to again stifle the Toronto Blue Jays in a 4-2 win in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series.

Cleveland leads the series 3-0 and can clinch its first World Series appearance since 1997 with a win Tuesday.

Mike Napoli was the offensive star for the Indians, either driving in or scoring three of their four runs. He doubled home Carlos Santana in the first inning, hit a solo home run in the fourth and scored on Jose Ramirez’s single in a two-run sixth that broke a 2-2 tie. Cleveland took the lead for good that inning on a solo home by Jason Kipnis.

Bauer, who sliced open his right pinky last week while working on a drone, began to bleed profusely against the fourth batter in the bottom of the first and had to leave after two-thirds of an inning. He was followed by six relievers—the last being Andrew Miller, who struck out three over the final 1 1/3 innings to earn the save. Bryan Shaw picked up the win.

Toronto got a solo homer from Michael Saunders in the second and an RBI groundout from Ryan Goins in the sixth after Ezequiel Carrera tripled. The Blue Jays have scored only three runs in the series.

Scroll down for all of our updates, analysis, statistics, photos, tweets and anything else worth noting from the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Los Angeles Dodgers evened the National League Championship Series at 1-1 with a 1-0 win over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday night at Wrigley Field.

Pitching dominated the game, with the two teams combining for five hits and 16 strikeouts.

Kyle Hendricks gave the Cubs 5.1 innings, allowing one earned run on three hits. He struck out five batters and walked four.

On another night, those numbers might’ve been good enough to propel Chicago to victory, but Clayton Kershaw was magnificent for the Dodgers. He pitched seven shutout innings, allowed two hits, struck out six and walked one.

Despite being the best pitcher in baseball and a three-time Cy Young Award winner, Kershaw has yet to enjoy much success in the postseason. He entered Sunday night with a 3-6 record and 4.79 earned run average in 16 playoff appearances.

Kershaw pitched 12.1 innings in the National League Division Series, including the final two outs of Los Angeles’ Game 5 series-clinching win over the Washington Nationals. As a result, some questioned whether fatigue would be a factor for the dominant lefty.

CSN Chicago’s Dan Hayes provided his workload over the past week:

Not only did Kershaw silence the high-powered Cubs offense, but he was also efficient in doing so. ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark noted how quickly the six-time All-Star breezed through the first half of Game 2:

Statcast showed how Kershaw kept Cubs hitters on their toes by locating his pitches all over the plate:

Kershaw didn’t need much offensive support, and Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez delivered enough in the top of the second with a solo home run to left-center field. The Dodgers provided a replay of the drive:

According to Baseball-Reference.com, it was the fifth home run Hendricks allowed at home this year, compared to 11 on the road.

After Kershaw threw four perfect innings, the Cubs got their first baserunner with two outs in the fifth. Second baseman Javier Baez and catcher Willson Contreras hit back-to-back singles, but right fielder Jason Heyward fouled out to end the inning.

Los Angeles got runners on first and second with one out in the top half of the sixth. Baez made a heads-up play, though, to complete a double play and prevent any damage.

Dodgers center fielder Joc Pederson hit a soft liner to second. Rather than catching the ball, Baez played it off a hop, which allowed him to get the force out at second. Shortstop Addison Russell then tagged out Gonzalez between second and third for the second out.

CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish and Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan praised Baez for thinking so quickly on his feet:

Baez was feet away from being the hero on offense in the bottom of the seventh.

With two outs in the inning and a runner on first, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts visited the mound, seemingly to replace Kershaw with closer Kenley Jansen. Instead, Roberts left his starter out for one more batter.

Baez drove a 1-0 fastball deep to center field, and the Wrigley Field crowd rose to its feet in anticipation of a go-ahead two-run homer. But the windy conditions inside the stadium knocked the ball down, and Pederson made the catch in front of the center-field wall.

Kershaw thought Chicago had taken the lead, per Stark:

According to Statcast, Baez’s flyout is a home run more often than not:

Jansen came on for Kershaw to start the eighth and set the Cubs down in order over the final two innings to seal the win.  

Rich Hill and Jake Arrieta will take the mound in Game 3 on Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Hill looked strong early in his two postseason starts, but Roberts showed he isn’t afraid to remove the veteran left-hander at the first sign of trouble. Hill made it through 4.1 innings in his first outing and 2.2 innings in his second.

Should the Cubs jump on Hill in the first few innings, Roberts may once again be forced to dip into his bullpen earlier than he otherwise would’ve wanted.

Arrieta picked up a no-decision in his lone postseason start. He pitched six innings and allowed two earned runs before handing Game 3 of the National League Division Series over to his relievers.

The 2015 Cy Young winner went seven scoreless innings against the Dodgers on May 31. If he can repeat that Tuesday, Chicago will likely take a 2-1 lead in the NLCS.

Postgame Reaction

Kershaw shared his thoughts after the game with Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (via Fox Sports: MLB):

Pederson praised Gonzalez, Kershaw and Jansen:

“Now it’s a race to three,” Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo said, according to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers.

“The big thing with Kershaw is that if he’s on top of his game, man,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said, according to USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale. “It is what it is. You never anticipate scoring a lot of runs.”

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Behind dominant displays from Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen, the Los Angeles Dodgers tied the National League Championship Series with a 1-0 Game 2 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

In the best postseason start of his career, Kershaw stifled the Cubs through seven spectacular innings. Although the ace only threw 84 pitches, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled him for Kenley Jansen, who recorded a six-out save with four strikeouts.

Kyle Hendricks limited them to one run despite issuing four walks, but Adrian Gonzalez’s solo home run in the second inning proved all the offense Los Angeles needed. 

Both sides combined for five hits in a quick game which lasted under three hours. After evening the series at 1-1, the Dodgers will now host the next three matchups, starting with Game 3 on Tuesday night.

FINAL SCORE: Dodgers 1 – 0 Cubs

W: Clayton Kershaw (7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K)

L: Kyle Hendricks (5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K)

SV: Kenley Jansen (2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K)

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

A power surge in the bottom of the eighth inning featuring a Miguel Montero pinch-hit grand slam lifted the Chicago Cubs to an 8-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Wrigley Field in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Saturday night. 

The Dodgers battled back from a 3-1 deficit in the top of the eighth to tie the game after the Cubs pulled starter Jon Lester, who gave up one run in six innings on 77 pitches. But the Cubs showed a brand of postseason resiliency that’s been uncommon on the North Side of Chicago for 108 years. 

The pitching matchup featured opposing hurlers trending in different directions Saturday night.

Lester hadn’t allowed more than one run in nine of his last 10 starts, while Los Angeles’ Kenta Maeda was thrashed for 12 runs over his last three appearances. 

The Cubs got to Maeda in the bottom of the first, when Kris Bryant doubled home Dexter Fowler from first to take a 1-0 lead.

Maeda attempted to throw a two-seam fastball on the outside corner, but Bryant was strong enough to send a shot to left field over Howie Kendrick’s head. 

It was all that Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal had to see:

However, Daren Willman of MLB.com pointed out that Kendrick could have done better:

The Dodgers almost had an answer in the top of the second. After an Adrian Gonzalez single and a Kike Hernandez walk, Maeda singled to left field. But Ben Zobrist threw the slow-footed Gonzalez out at home by a healthy margin.

Sports Illustrated‘s Jay Jaffe was not impressed with third base coach Chris Woodward:

Maeda returned to the mound and got into more trouble, giving up a leadoff triple to Jason Heyward. He scored on a hustle double by Javier Baez, who blooped a fly ball off the end of his bat into no-man’s land between shortstop and right field.

According to Statcast, that usually doesn’t end well for the batter:

Baez’s hustle was a welcome sight for Katie Klabusich of The Establishment:

Baez made it 3-0 when he advanced to third on a passed ball and then stole home with Lester at the plate.

After Lester squared up and missed the bunt with Baez charging down the third base line, Dodgers catcher Carlos Ruiz got up and fired to third. Instead of stopping and turning back toward third, Baez continued home.

By the time Justin Turner could fire it back home, Baez had slid in safely for the first postseason home base steal by a Cubs player since Jimmy Slagle in Game 4 of the 1907 World Series, according to Fox Sports: MLB.

Fox Sports: MLB couldn’t contain its excitement:

Then again, neither could Rian Watt of Vice Sports:

Los Angeles got a jolt in the top of the fifth inning, when Andre Ethier pinch hit for Maeda and sent a high fastball the other way for a solo home run to cut the Dodgers’ deficit to two. 

Ethier’s long ball surprised Stacey Gotsulias of Today’s Knuckleball:

MLB.com’s Alyson Footer tried to explain how the ball went out:

It was the only blemish on Lester’s night. Jorge Soler hit for him in the sixth with two outs and Baez at second. However, Soler grounded out to short, and Diamond questioned the decision to pull Lester:

After an uneventful seventh inning that saw Travis Wood, Carl Edwards Jr. and Mike Montgomery record an out apiece, Montgomery allowed a leadoff single in the eighth to pinch hitter Andrew Toles. 

Montgomery was pulled for Pedro Strop, who walked Chase Utley to put two men on with no outs. It got worse for the Cubs when Turner hit a ground ball down the third base line, which was fielded deep behind the bag by Bryant. In an attempt to get the force-out, he tried to beat Toles to third. But he was too late, and the bases were loaded. 

Nick Vlahos of the Peoria Star Journal was prepared for the drama:

In a dire situation, the Cubs turned to flamethrowing closer Aroldis Chapman, who started by striking out NL Rookie of the Year candidate Corey Seager on four pitches. 

The drama was too much for 101 WKQX:

Yasiel Puig met the same fate, fanning too late on a 103 mph dart for the second out. 

But Gonzalez was able to figure out Chapman, driving a single up the middle to tie the game 3-3.

Jason McIntyre of the Big Lead couldn’t believe Gonzalez was able to catch up to Chapman:

While other seasons might have seen doom and gloom for the Cubs, Zobrist ensured the Wrigley crowd stayed in it with a leadoff double in the bottom of the eighth off Joe Blanton.

After an Addison Russell groundout and intentional walk to Heyward, Baez popped up to make it two outs. 

Instead of pitching to Chris Coghlan, who pinch hit for Chapman, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called for another intentional walk to load the bases and force the Cubs’ hand to get Chapman out of the game. 

Reserve catcher Miguel Montero was called in to bat for the closer, and he put an entire city on his shoulders, launching a Blanton offering into the right field porch for a grand slam. 

Today’s Knuckleball’s Jon Heyman wasn’t afraid to give Montero’s bash a prestigious label:

Dexter Fowler electrified Wrigley even more when he followed it up with a big fly of his own, and 103.5 KISS FM couldn’t control itself:

Los Angeles plated one in the ninth after a Toles double scored Joc Pederson. But with one out, Utley ripped a liner in the glove of Rizzo, who quickly turned and fired to second to end the game with a double play.

Both teams have had sizable championship droughts, although one is noticeably longer than the other. The Dodgers haven’t won a World Series since 1988, while the Cubs last won a title 80 years before that. 

The Dodgers will look to ace Clayton Kershaw to tie the series in Game 2 on Sunday, while Chicago will turn to this season’s ERA king, Kyle Hendricks, in what looks like a big-time pitching matchup before the NLCS shifts to Los Angeles for three games.

Post-Game Reaction

The hero of the night Montero kept it simple when trying to describe his game-changing at-bat, via 670 The Score:

There might have been more work involved just remaining focused after preparing for a night of sitting on the bench, via Josh Frydman of WGN News:

But after Montero’s ball left the park, the Cubs’ bench might have been focused on their safety, according to Baez via USA Today Sports’ Bob Nightengale:

While there was elation in Chicago’s dugout, there was despair in Los Angeles’ as Roberts explained his decision-making in that eighth inning, via Fox Sports:MLB:

Bryant though was okay with Roberts’ decisions, via ChicagoSports:

With Los Angeles’ ace in Kershaw looming next in Game 2, there had to have been added pressure for the Cubs to take the series opener as facing a former Cy Young winner down 1-0 could have created an insurmountable deficit. 

The Dodgers will need their ace to be just that come Sunday or else they’ll be flying home to Los Angeles needing to win all three games if they want a realistic chance of advancing to the World Series. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Cleveland Indians again rode Andrew Miller’s left arm, along with strong starting pitching by Josh Tomlin and timely hitting by Carlos Santana and Francisco Lindor, to a 2-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday and a 2-0 lead in the American League Championship Series.

Cleveland’s postseason formula has been to take an early lead and let the starting pitching hold down the fort before turning it over to Miller and Cody Allen for roughly nine outs.

Saturday started out well for the Tribe, with Santana ripping a laser over the wall in left field for a 1-0 lead in the second inning against Toronto starter J.A. Happ.

Per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, the right side was not Santana’s power side during the regular season:

After being shut out by Corey Kluber on Friday, the Blue Jays did not want to go quietly in Game 2, responding in the top of the third inning against Tomlin.

Darwin Barney, who started at second base after Devon Travis re-aggravated a knee injury in Game 1, singled with one out. He moved to second on a groundout by Ezequiel Carrera and scored on Josh Donaldson’s double.

The opposite-field double also moved Donaldson to the top of the Blue Jays’ record book, per StatsCentre:

ESPN.com’s Buster Olney provided a look at where the reigning AL MVP’s hits have gone in October:

Tomlin battled through the third inning, throwing 24 pitches before working his way out of trouble with just one run crossing the plate.

As they have done throughout the postseason, the Indians wasted no time responding.

After reaching first base on a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the inning, Rajai Davis proceeded to steal second base and then took third on a wild pitch by Happ.

With two outs, Lindor, who was the hero with a two-run homer in the sixth inning Friday and singled in his first at-bat Saturday, gave the Indians a 2-1 lead with an RBI single.

Per Baseball Tonight, Lindor is getting accustomed to multihit games in the playoffs:

Jonah Keri of CBS Sports believes many people have found their new favorite baseball player based on early returns in October:

Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal noticed one thing three of the four remaining playoff teams have in common:

With the lead, Cleveland manager Terry Francona opted to let Tomlin pitch into the sixth inning against Donaldson, Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista for the third time. He retired Donaldson and Encarnacion quickly before walking Bautista.

Francona then went to his bullpen, ending Tomlin’s day after 5.2 innings in which he allowed three hits and one run with six strikeouts and two walks.

Tomlin’s success since Sept. 1 has helped Cleveland get by without Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar. Zack Meisel of Cleveland.com shared the numbers:

The key to Tomlin’s success on Saturday was his ability to generate ground balls, per Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs:

Because Miller threw 31 pitches in Game 1, Bryan Shaw relieved Tomlin and got Troy Tulowitzki to end the potential threat in the sixth.

Miller came out to start the seventh inning, striking out the side on 15 pitches before recording two more punchouts in the eighth inning, adding to his postseason legend in the process.

T.J. Zuppe of 92.3 The Fan tried to illustrate Miller’s postseason dominance with numbers:

Jared Carrabis of Barstool Sports took a different approach to illustrating what happens when Miller is on the mound:

You run out of words at some point with Miller, because this level of dominance is not supposed to happen, particularly in October against the best teams in baseball.

Just as he did Friday, Allen came on to relieve Miller in the ninth inning. Cleveland’s closer did his best imitation of Miller by striking out Encarnacion and Bautista before Tulowitzki flew out to center field to end the game.

This is what the Indians needed to happen. They were brilliant at home during the regular season, with a 53-28 record, and have yet to lose in four games at Progressive Field in the postseason.

The Blue Jays are down, but they are far from out in the ALCS. Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez will start Games 3 and 4 at Rogers Centre on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, while the Indians will counter with an injured Trevor Bauer and Mike Clevinger.

Toronto’s fans are going to be loud with support for their team. The Blue Jays need to get their offense going, but with the pitching advantage in each of the next two games, they have a chance to extend the series.

Postgame Reaction

As was the case on Friday, Miller became the main talking point after Game 2 for his dominant two-inning effort against the Blue Jays. 

“There’s a reason we gave up what we did for him,” Francona said, per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian and Gregor Chisholm. “We thought that he could be a guy that we could leverage in situations like we have. And it would make our bullpen that much better and give us a chance to keep playing. And that’s exactly what he’s doing.”

It would be easy to keep singing the praises of Miller, but the Indians don’t get a chance to use him without Tomlin shutting down the Blue Jays for nearly six full innings. 

Per MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince, Cleveland second baseman Jason Kipnis called Tomlin a guy who is “easy to root for” because “he’s had to work for all 89 mph on that fastball.”

The Blue Jays aren’t in a full-blown panic facing a 2-0 series deficit, just as they did last year against the Kansas City Royals, but manager John Gibbons is aware the sense of urgency is increasing. 

“Our back’s against the wall,” Gibbons said, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of SportsNet.ca. “That’s pretty obvious.”

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Stellar pitching from Corey Kluber, Andrew Miller, Cody Allen and a home run from Francisco Lindor gave the Cleveland Indians a 2-0 victory and early edge in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. 

Blue Jays starting pitcher Marco Estrada was cruising through the first five innings. He gave up just four singles and had Cleveland hitters off-balance with an outstanding fastball-changeup combination. 

The Indians struck in the sixth with Jason Kipnis drawing a five-pitch walk. Lindor got down 0-2 in the count before waiting back on a changeup from Estrada that carried over the center field fence for a 2-0 lead on a night when balls had been dying in the outfield. 

That would be the lone blemish on Estrada’s resume for the evening. Toronto’s starter finished with a complete game, allowing just six hits, two runs with six strikeouts and one walk on 101 pitches. 

Per Ben Nicholson-Smith of SportsNet.ca, Estrada’s loss was particularly tough because he did something no Toronto pitcher had done in 2016:

Per ESPN Stats & Info, it’s been nearly 20 years since the Indians have had a homer like the one Lindor provided:

Per Cespedes Family BBQ, it’s possible that you may have felt the earth shake wherever you were following Lindor’s blast:

Kluber continued his postseason magnificence for the Tribe. After throwing seven scoreless innings against Boston in the division series, the 2014 American League Cy Young winner added to his early playoff resume, with Zack Meisel of Cleveland.com providing his stat line so far this October:

The Blue Jays did have opportunities against Kluber that they were unable to take advantage of, particularly early. They had two runners on base in each of the first three innings, but they came up empty-handed. 

Falling behind didn’t appear to be a problem for Toronto hitters, with August Fagerstrom of FanGraphs noting they did something against Kluber virtually no one did in the regular season:

For the Blue Jays, though, their woes with runners in scoring position that disappeared against Texas in the division series came back Friday night. Per ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick, Toronto was 24th overall with a .249 average with runners in scoring position. 

The Blue Jays finished with seven hits, six of them singles. Edwin Encarnacion had the hardest-hit ball of the night, a frozen-rope double in the top of the first that sent Josh Donaldson to third base with one out. 

Kluber got out of it by striking out Jose Bautista, and Russell Martin grounded out to end the inning. In total, the Blue Jays went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position in Game 1. 

This was the perfect setup for Cleveland, as Kluber was able to work deep in the game, and Lindor’s blast allowed manager Terry Francona to use the bullpen exactly how he wanted. 

Andrew Miller relieved Kluber in the top of the seventh and proceeded to record five outs, doing so in pretty much the way you would expect, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports:

After recording all of his outs via strikeout, MLB.com’s Andrew Simon noted Miller did something that hasn’t been done in 11 years:

Per ESPN’s Christopher Crawford, Miller has been otherworldly since 2013:

Following Miller’s exit, Cody Allen came in to close things out. He battled his command against the Red Sox in Game 3 on Monday, throwing 19 strikes on 40 pitches before ultimately getting the save. 

There were no such issues against the Blue Jays on this night for Allen. He needed just 11 pitches to record the save and leave the Indians three wins away from their first World Series appearance since 1997. 

Looking at Game 2, though, the Indians will likely have to get more out of their offense if they want to avoid going to Toronto tied at one game. Josh Tomlin will get the start in place of Trevor Bauer after the team announced Bauer suffered a cut on his pinkie finger that required stitches.

Francona’s management of the bullpen will be interesting because Miller did need over 30 pitches to record those five strikeouts, so he may not be available for as many outs as he was tonight. 

The Blue Jays just have to take advantage of their opportunities because they had a chance to blow this game open early. Kluber was able to work around trouble, but their bats will not go quietly, and manager John Gibbons didn’t have to use anyone out of his bullpen tonight. 

Postgame Reaction

Lindor’s trot around the bases allowed Kipnis to try explaining what it feels like when Cleveland’s star shortstop hits one over the fence. 

“The whole world turns into a trampoline,” Kipnis said, per ESPN’s Buster Olney.

Francona didn’t have a metaphor like that to describe Lindor, though he did offer his best summation of what makes the 22-year-old such a unique asset. 

“He’s got a ton of talent,” Francona said, per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian and Gregor Chisholm. “I just think you can tell how much he enjoys playing the game. Shoot, if I had his ability, I’d feel confident, too.”

Lindor was also asked about hitting the homer, his second of the postseason, per Bastian and Chisholm:

Oh, man, it was unreal. First of all, I thought [center fielder Kevin Pillar] was going to catch it. As soon as it went out, I put my hands out and said, ‘Thank God.’ And I looked at the dugout and everybody was going insane. And the crowd today — unreal. I just tried to go with the flow. I celebrated like it was a walk-off.

Kluber, the other hero for Cleveland in Game 1, earned high marks from Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. 

“He’s got arguably the best right-hand breaking ball in the game,” Gibbons said, per Bastian and Chisholm. “And he kept us honest with enough fastballs. And he’s got that razor-blade slider that’s tough to do anything with. [It’s] a big strikeout pitch for him. He gets a lot of weak contact on them, really.”

Never one to accept credit for his own work, Kluber gave praise to the job done by Miller and Allen after he left the game. 

“If we can get deep in a ballgame and get a lead to our bullpen,” Kluber said, per Bastian and Chisholm, “I feel like we have a really good shot. Those guys have all been doing an unbelievable job down there [in the bullpen]. That’s our game plan—to try to get them a lead and let them go out and do their thing.”

It’s been a winning formula so far for the Indians. To get to the World Series, they must continue to do it.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Francisco Lindor’s two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning provided the only scoring in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, giving the Cleveland Indians a 2-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Lindor roped a one-out pitch from Toronto starter Marco Estrada into the seats in right-center field, right after Jason Kipnis drew a walk. Those were the only mistakes Estrada made all game. He went the distance with six strikeouts and six hits allowed in the complete-game loss.

Cleveland starter Corey Kluber allowed six hits with six strikeouts and two walks in 6.1 innings, stranding seven Blue Jays runners on base, and then Andrew Miller followed by striking out five of six batters he faced. Cody Allen came on for a 1-2-3 ninth to get the save.

Scroll down for our real-time updates, analysis, statistics, tweets, pictures and anything else worth noting from Progressive Field in Cleveland.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The ninth inning of Tuesday’s Game 4 of a National League Division Series will long be remembered as a nightmare for the San Francisco Giants.

The Giants were in full control at AT&T Park with a 5-2 lead after a brilliant outing by starter Matt Moore, but the Chicago Cubs exploded for four runs against five different relief pitchers to earn a 6-5 win and clinch the series.

The sequence: Derek Law allowed a leadoff single to Kris Bryant, Javier Lopez walked Anthony Rizzo, Sergio Romo gave up an RBI double to Ben Zobrist, Will Smith allowed a two-run single to Willson Contreras and got Jason Heyward to bunt into a forceout, and Hunter Strickland gave up the game-winning single to Javier Baez.

Rachel Nichols of ESPN reacted to the rally after the Giants had won a 13-inning thriller in Game 3 on Monday:

Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth to give the Cubs a spot in the National League Championship Series.

Perhaps the most incredible takeaway was the fact the Giants lost an elimination game in an even year, as ESPN Stats & Info highlighted:

San Francisco won the 2010, 2012 and 2014 World Series, but Stats LLC (h/t Fox Sports) noted Chicago starter John Lackey was the last active pitcher to beat the Giants in an elimination contest (Game 7 of the 2002 World Series, when Lackey was with the then-Anaheim Angels).

Lackey didn’t eliminate San Francisco on Tuesday, as he struggled through just four innings of work, allowing three earned runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out four.

His counterpart, Moore, was nearly unhittable through eight innings. The southpaw gave up one earned run on two hits and two walks and struck out 10. He appeared primed to add his own chapter to the Giants’ postseason legacy until the fateful ninth.

Conor Gillaspie—who tallied a go-ahead two-run triple in the eighth inning Monday and the decisive three-run home run in a victory over the New York Mets in the Wild Card Game on Oct. 5—nearly played the role of offensive hero again with four hits, a run and an RBI. He even drew “MVP” chants from the crowd. Moore, Denard Span, Buster Posey and Joe Panik also drove in a run apiece for the Giants.

San Francisco wasted little time jumping on Lackey, as Span doubled to lead off the bottom of the first, advanced to third on Brandon Belt’s fly out and scored on Posey’s sacrifice fly.

Anthony Masterson of Stats LLC pointed out the Giants’ lead was nothing new:

Chicago bounced back in the third when David Ross drilled a home run to left field. At 39, he became the oldest catcher and Cubs player to homer in the postseason, per Andrew Simon of MLB.com.

Lackey kept San Francisco off the board in the bottom half, but it was Baez who turned heads. The second baseman made an incredible diving stop and nearly threw out the speedy Span on a play that was reviewed. He then slapped a lightning-quick tag on the leadoff hitter to help catch him trying to steal second.

Baseball journalist Andrew Baggarly called the first play the best he’s ever seen by a second baseman, and Bob Nightengale of USA Today praised the 23-year-old:

Baez couldn’t do anything to stop the Giants in the fourth. Gillaspie and Panik singled with one out, and Moore came up with the bases loaded after Gregor Blanco walked. Moore smacked an RBI single on an 0-2 pitch, and Span made it 3-1 on a fielder’s choice.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post underscored how unlikely the pitcher’s RBI was:

The Cubs got one back in the next inning when Baez advanced all the way to third on a throwing error by shortstop Brandon Crawford and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ross.

San Francisco appeared to break things open with one out in the bottom of the fifth. Hunter Pence singled, and Crawford blasted the ball off the top of the wall in right field. Pence didn’t score because he went back to re-touch second base, and Crawford ended up with a double.

SF Giants on CSN highlighted just how close it was to a home run:

Travis Wood came on in relief, but Gillaspie plated Pence with a single, and Panik scored Crawford with a sacrifice fly for a 5-2 advantage.

Chicago threatened in the sixth when Dexter Fowler drew a leadoff walk and Bryant dumped one into right field, but Pence charged the in-between ball and forced Fowler out at second. That was the last time the Cubs bothered Moore, who retired the Cubs 1-2-3 in the seventh.

The Giants reacted to his performance:

Moore struck out Ross and Fowler in the eighth to cap his night in style.

But as great as Moore was Tuesday, his showing will forever be a footnote thanks to Chicago’s offensive onslaught in the ninth. San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy didn’t give the ball to Romo to start the ninth after the closer recorded a blown save Monday, and Law, Lopez, Romo, Smith and Strickland couldn’t get the job done.

Adam Amin of ESPN noted the meltdown was nothing new:

The Giants will have all winter to think about their bullpen shortcomings after Tuesday’s collapse.

What’s Next?

The Cubs advanced to the NLCS, which starts Saturday at Wrigley Field. They will face the winner of Thursday’s decisive Game 5 between the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Chicago can reset its rotation of Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Jake Arrieta and Lackey, while its next opponent still has to register one more win and will likely be without its best starter until at least Game 2. The Cubs were 5-2 against the Nationals and 4-3 against the Dodgers this season.

Chicago reached the NLCS last year only to be swept by the Mets. One key difference this time around will be home-field advantage, as the Cubs will look to get off to a quick start in front of the Chicago faithful.

Postgame Reaction

Gillaspie summarized things from the Giants’ perspective, per Baggarly: “It’s hard. We pour our whole lives into this. To see it end like this, to be honest, I’m still shocked.”

Bochy said he didn’t want to put Moore back on the mound for the ninth, per Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area: “That’s a lot of work [120 pitches]. He did his job. We were lined up.”

Bryant noted the Cubs’ confidence level in the final inning, per Steve Greenberg of the Chicago Sun-Times: “High. It’s always high. We’ve got a lot of guys on our team who have had unbelievable years.”

Baez talked about why he celebrated so much after his big hit, per Greenberg: “Their pitcher was staring at me for no reason.”

Rizzo said the Cubs have a larger prize in mind, per Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago: “You can’t take for granted what we’ve done last year and this year. But we got one mission, one goal in mind. That’s eight more wins.”

If they get those eight wins, Chicago will likely party until Opening Day next year.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com