World Series: Can the Indians' trust tree of pitchers possibly keep this up?
CHICAGO — Indians manager Terry Francona answered nine questions in his postgame news conference, and not one of them was, “Why did you pull Josh Tomlin after he had thrown only 58 pitches over 4 2/3 innings in a scoreless game?”
I was in the room; I didn’t even think to ask it. In a matter of weeks, we’ve come to understand that postseason games are managed differently. We’ve also come to understand that Francona goes to the furthest extreme — and to remarkable effect.
The wind was blowing out at Wrigley Field on Friday night. Tomlin, a pitcher who allowed 36 home runs during the regular season, started for the Indians. Yet at the end of a game that Francona said was “agonizing” to manage, the score was Indians 1, Cubs 0.
What are we seeing from Cleveland is unconventional. It is also a tour de force. The shutout in Game 3 of the World Series was the Indians’ fifth in 11 postseason games, a record. The team is now 9-2 in October with a 1.65 ERA, while batting a mere .216.
The Indians knocked out the Red Sox, who led the majors in runs scored. They knocked out the Blue Jays, who ranked ninth. And now they lead the Cubs — who ranked third — two games to one, in the World Series.
Hold off on that Cubs coronation. Forget about them winning the Series at home. The Indians not only hold an advantage, but they also are well-positioned for Game 4, in which their ace, Corey Kluber, will face the Cubs’ fourth-best starter, John Lackey.
Sure, Kluber will be on three days rest. But he has made only four starts in the last 32 days, and the Indians’ top two relievers, lefty Andrew Miller and righty Cody Allen, will be more than available. Miller threw only 17 pitches Friday night, Allen only 18. Oh, and Tomlin’s low pitch count should benefit him in a potential Game 6, which he would start on three days rest.
Assumptions are dangerous, both in this Series and baseball in general. The Cubs have now been shut out four times in the postseason, and even their back-to-back zeroes against Dodgers lefties Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill turned out to be not at all predictive. So to say the Cubs are in trouble ... eh, not so fast.
I still believe the Indians will crumble due to their lack of pitching depth, but heck, I’ve thought that the entire postseason. Francona relies heavily upon Kluber, Tomlin, Miller and Allen, and Bryan Shaw re-entered the circle of trust with his 1 2/3 scoreless innings on Friday night.
So? The extra days off in October enable Francona to max out his top performers. He doesn’t need to be democratic about it. He doesn’t need to make full use of his 12-man staff.
Kluber has a 0.74 ERA in four postseason starts — including one on three days rest. Tomlin has a 1.76 ERA in three. Miller and Allen, meanwhile, have combined for — gulp — 45 strikeouts and seven walks in 25 scoreless postseason innings. By the time the unreliable Trevor Bauer starts Game 5 on three days rest, the Indians could be operating with margin for error, leading three games to one.
I asked pitching coach Mickey Callaway afterward how many mistakes his pitchers made in Game 3. He replied with a smile, “Not very many,” citing an eighth-inning single by Dexter Fowler off Shaw, and that’s about it.
“They’re focused on the next pitch,” Callaway said of his pitchers. “It’s hard to do that for a whole season. Things are going to happen. In the postseason, you have to do it to win. And that’s what they’ve been doing.”
Francona helps, too, continuing to put everyone in the right spots. Even the Indians’ gamble to give Carlos Santana his first career start in left field worked out Friday night; Santana handled his only chance cleanly and also drew two walks before leaving the game in a double-switch.
By the end of the game the Indians were out of position players, prompting Francona to say, “We needed to win that game in nine or Kluber was going to end up hitting at some point.”
Well, they won it in nine. And in the end, it all made sense.
Francona pulled Tomlin with two outs and a runner on third in the fifth, summoning Miller to go left-left against pinch-hitter Miguel Montero. Surprisingly, Montero hit a bullet. Alas, it went directly to right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall. And in the next inning, Miller struck out the Cubs’ 1-2-3 hitters on just 13 pitches.
Under American League rules, Francona might have stayed with Miller. But a double-switch bought the manager only one spot in the batting order, and Miller was set to bat fourth the following inning. Francona pinch-hit for him after the Indians put runners on first and third with one out.
Voila! Coco Crisp hit a single to drive in the game’s only run.
Shaw followed with his strong outing, but Francona removed him after Fowler’s two-out single in the eighth. The manager wanted Allen, who is better than Shaw at holding runners. Allen struck out Kris Bryant to end the threat, then worked a hair-raising ninth, escaping a second-and-third, two-out jam by striking out Javier Baez.
The games sure would be easier if the Indians were averaging more than 3.2 runs per game in the postseason. Then again, maybe their offense will improve against Lackey, who will be pitching on nine days rest and lasted only four innings in each of his two previous playoff starts.
Or maybe not.
Francona and Co. are not about to worry. Their pitching requires frequent improvisation, their offense is barely part of the conversation. Yet, here are they are, two wins away from securing the Indians’ first World Series title since 1948.
Believeland, indeed.
