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☆ 2016 ALDS ☆ BOSTON RED SOX vs CLEVELAND INDIANS ☆


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2016 ALDS ☆ BOSTON RED SOX vs CLEVELAND INDIANS ☆

 

Game Date Time Matchup TV

 

Gm 1 Oct. 6 TBD BOS @ CLE TBS... Porcello vs Bauer

Gm 2 Oct. 7 TBD BOS @ CLE TBS... Price vs Kluber

Gm 3 Oct. 9 TBD CLE @ BOS TBS... Tomlin vs Buchholz

 

*Gm 4 Oct. 10 2 or 3 pm CLE @ BOS TBS... Bauer vs Rodriguez

*Gm 5 Oct. 12 8 pm* BOS @ CLE TBS... Price vs Kluber

 

Game 5 would be an 8 pm primetime game mid-October in Cleveland, smart!?

 

October baseball in Cleveland, GO TRIBE!

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KANSAS CITY -- Jason Kipnis sat in a chair, still wearing his dirt-caked baseball pants, watching the Tigers' game on his phone. With no room left on the couches in the visitors' clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium, Jose Ramirez sat on a coffee table, surrounded by his teammates, monitoring the Red Sox game on one of the televisions.

 

The players reacted to every pitch -- groans at close pitches called balls, and cheers for anything that went against Detroit or Boston -- waiting anxiously to learn which city would be on the team plane's itinerary. Finally, given their 3-2 win over the Royals on Sunday, and subsequent losses by the Tigers and Red Sox, the players erupted in a series of shouts and high fives after knowing for certain that they are heading home with home-field advantage in the American League Division Series against Boston that begins Thursday.

 

"That's exactly what we wanted," Kipnis said amidst the cheers and blasting music. "It looked like we could have a perfect day. We were joking about it, saying it was going to be a perfect day today. It turned out to be that way. It's awesome."........

 

.......The Red Sox and Indians enter their ALDS pairing ranked first and second, respectively, in the AL in runs scored. Both teams have Cy Young contenders in Porcello and Kluber. The Tribe boasts the best baserunning group in the league, both teams feature a strong defense, and they are neck and neck in terms of pitching statistics across the board.

 

Francona managed Boston to World Series titles in '04 and '07, and will now be up against one of his best friends, Red Sox manager John Farrell.

 

There will be no shortage of storylines as the Indians and Red Sox ALDS unfolds.

 

"[We're] pretty similar, actually," Kipnis said. "It's going to be a fun matchup. I know we've been looking forward to it. I know a lot of guys are going to be the underdogs in our own ballpark now. ... All we can do is use that as an advantage for us. We just want to say, 'Be careful what you wish for.'"

 

The Indians got their wish of starting the ALDS home.

 

"It's awesome," Kipnis said. "It's better for guys who are going through their first postseason games to have the crowd cheering for you than against you. That's the best part about it."

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10/3/2016 - From vegasinsider.com (the Indians would be higher if their #1-5 pitching rotation were still intact!)

 

ODDS TO WIN 2016 WORLD SERIES (10/31/16)

Team Odds

Chicago Cubs 9/4

Boston Red Sox 6/1

Texas Rangers 6/1

Washington Nationals 7/1

Cleveland Indians 8/1

Los Angeles Dodgers 10/1

Toronto Blue Jays 12/1

New York Mets 16/1

San Francisco Giants 18/1

Baltimore Orioles 20/1

 

ODDS TO WIN 2016 NATIONAL LEAGUE PENNANT (10/31/16)

Team Odds

Chicago Cubs 11/10

Washington Nationals 3/1

Los Angeles Dodgers 4/1

New York Mets 9/1

San Francisco Giants 10/1

 

ODDS TO WIN 2016 AMERICAN LEAGUE PENNANT (10/31/16)

Team Odds

Boston Red Sox 9/4

Texas Rangers 9/4

Cleveland Indians 3/1

Toronto Blue Jays 5/1

Baltimore Orioles 12/1

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Because Vegas actually does real analysis instead of looking at 6 month old numbers.

And pitching! Especially more recent tough breaks for Cleveland and Washington.

 

Plus a true wacky home field advantage, always is at that MLB minature golf course / jai ali court, garage door in center field....sorry it's just that way, what 307 down the right field line? High school stuff. ;)

 

But when you practice and play 81 games there it may be (is?) the biggest home field advantage in MLB. Remember Vegas basically doesn't care who just doesn't want to lose money.

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Boston is a slight favorite in game 1 in Cleveland, the problem when you're down to one ace and he's pitching second instead of first with a quicker chance of pitching again in a five game series.

 

I imagine the money line in game 2 will be close too in Cleveland.

 

And Salazar is in Arizona and out for the ALDS.

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Twelve years ago, Terry Francona led the Red Sox to their first World Series title in 86 years. Now at the helm of the Indians, Francona will open his seventh postseason as a manager tonight at Progressive Field against Boston, looking to end another long championship drought -- Cleveland's 68 years without a World Series crown.

 

"The one thing I think I need to be cognizant of is the players have worked so hard -- both sides -- to get to this," Francona said. "So, whatever my feelings are need to remain my feelings, and let the players [have the spotlight]."

 

The American League Division Series, which will air on TBS beginning at 8 ET tonight, will mark the fifth time the Red Sox and Indians have met in the playoffs. The most recent was the 2007 AL Championship Series, in which Boston overcame a 3-1 deficit to hand Cleveland a heartbreaking defeat in seven games. Led by Francona, the Red Sox would go on to win the World Series for their second championship in four years.

 

The two clubs also met in the 1999 ALDS (won by Boston), the 1998 ALDS (won by Cleveland) and the 1995 ALDS (won by Cleveland). Beyond the organizational October histories are the personal histories intertwined in this clash, from Francona and Red Sox skipper John Farrell (a former Indians pitcher and farm director) to Red Sox GM Mike Hazen (who began his front-office career as a Cleveland intern) to Tribe slugger Mike Napoli (a member of the '13 Boston club that won it all) and on and on and on.

 

How much does all of that matter between the lines? Not a whit. What matters more is the Indians' ability to overcome the rash of injuries to their once-loaded rotation and Boston's ability to keep its league-leading offense churning out the runs on the road.

 

Game 1 does not present the pitching matchup one would have expected back on Opening Day at Progressive Field, when former Cy Young winners David Price and Corey Kluber opposed each other. Instead, because of Kluber's late-season issue with mild quadriceps strain and because of the emergence of a new Cy Young candidate in Boston, those two are pushed back to Game 2.

In the spotlight for Game 1 on Thursday will be right-handers Rick Porcello of the Red Sox and Trevor Bauer of the Indians.

 

The 27-year-old Porcello, a leading Cy Young candidate, boasts a 3.15 ERA this season, and gave up two runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings for a win over Cleveland on May 22 at Fenway Park. The right-hander had a stellar second half, posting a 2.62 ERA and 92 strikeouts to just 11 walks.

Porcello will make his third career start and ninth career appearance in the postseason -- he's 0-2 with a 4.41 ERA in 16 1/3 innings, all for the Tigers from 2011-13.

 

"They have some different guys and some different looks, but the core guys are still the same." Porcello said of the Indians. "They do a bunch of different things to come at you. We have to prepare for that and be ready to counter."

 

Bauer will start Game 1 instead of ace Kluber. Francona said he felt more comfortable starting Kluber in Game 2 following extended rest. Josh Tomlin is expected to start Game 3.

 

Bauer, who will make his first career postseason start, began the season in the bullpen but was moved into the starting rotation after fourth starter Cody Anderson struggled in the early going. As a starter, Bauer went 10-8 with a 4.35 ERA in 28 appearances. The 25-year-old posted a 3.30 ERA prior to the All-Star break, but has struggled in his last six starts with a 6.39 ERA.

 

In his lone start against Boston this season, Bauer surrendered four runs on eight hits over five innings in a loss at Fenway Park on May 21.

 

The Indians own the third-best home record in the Majors this season, at 53-28. But Cleveland lost two out of three against the Red Sox at Progressive Field.

 

Several Indians hitters have had success against Porcello in their careers: Carlos Santana is 12-for-41 (.293), with two doubles, three home runs and four RBIs; Jason Kipnis is 10-for-31 (.323), with a double, homer and eight RBIs; Napoli is 7-for-22 (.318) with two doubles and a triple; and Yan Gomes is 5-for-13 (.385) with two doubles.

 

"We're pretty similar, actually. I think we're No. 1 and 2 [in the AL] in offense," Kipnis said. "With the bullpens and quality starters that are going to be out there, it's going to be a fun matchup. I know a lot of guys are going to be the underdogs in our own ballpark now. ... All we can do is use that as an advantage for us. We just want to say, 'Be careful what you wish for.'"

 

The Red Sox have the highest-scoring offense in the Majors, and averaged 5.2 runs per game in their season series against Cleveland, winning four of six contests. Mookie Betts, David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez have each hit well in a small sample size against Bauer: Betts is 3-for-5 with two doubles, a home run and four RBIs, Ortiz is 4-for-5 with two doubles, a homer and three RBIs, while Ramirez is 2-for-5 with two RBIs.

 

"I feel like this team is very comfortable on the road," said Price, who is expected to start Game 2 for Boston on Friday. "We've played really good baseball on the road, especially the past month and a half or two months and that's something we kind of relish."

 

One club is vying for its fourth championship in a dozen years. The other seeks its first in nearly seven decades. But the road to the World Series for the Red Sox and Indians begins Thursday on the shores of Lake Erie.

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I bet the over 8.5 total

2 great pitchers, you would not think. but that looks good tonight. on bat contact they are all smoked drives

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I bet the over 8.5 total

Whoa you've got guts -but- who'd guess the tribe would hit 3 HRs in one inning.

 

4-2 bottom 4 looking pretty good so far.

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6-3 then

Geezzz 4-3 top 5 and Bauer is out and it's Miller time! You need 2 runs somwhere.

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Very entertaining.

 

BALLGAME.

 

Z

Really was, the Jake was rocking as well

 

I wish these schedulers would think of me over here :) the game on Thursday they start at 1am but on Friday with no work tomorrow it's 9.30pm!

 

Not that I'm selfish or anything...

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I bet the over 8.5 total

Well your game finished well over by 0.5! Nice 1-0 start for the underdog INDIANS in this series with Francona pulling out all the stops in the win...and it worked.

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CLEVELAND -- In the second half of the regular season, the Red Sox answered the questions that had been hounding them about their inability to get real traction on the road. But now they're going to be put to the test once again. Because following Thursday night's 5-4 Indians victory in Game 1 of this American League Division Series, the onus is on Boston to steal a split at Progressive Field before the best-of-five heads to the Back Bay.

 

David Price is hounded by questions, too, specifically about his inability, to date, to win a postseason game as a starter. So Boston's $217 million ace is also going to have to rise to the occasion in Game 2 on Friday (4:30 p.m. ET, TBS), and he's going to have to do so against fellow Cy Young winner Corey Kluber.

 

"I want to have that really good postseason game," said Price, who is 2-7 with a 5.12 ERA in 14 career postseason appearances, with both of those wins coming in relief. "I know that I'm capable of doing that."

 

The Red Sox know they're capable of winning big games away from Fenway Park. They proved that with a Major League-best 27-17 road record in the second half and, particularly, a sterling September in which a road-heavy schedule (all but 10 of their games in the final month were on the road) didn't prevent them from taking what had been an ultra-tight fight for the AL East.

In the first half, the Red Sox were 19-18 on the road.

 

"When you look at what took place in the months of August and September," manager John Farrell said, "our rotation stepped forward in terms of being more consistent one through five. In the month of September, our bullpen was at its best. And I think that was the benefit of maybe some less innings pitched in August. They were able to catch a little bit of a second wind. But bottom line, we pitched better in the second half, and that led to the record."

 

Another bottom line: Cy Young candidate Rick Porcello just didn't pitch very well in Game 1. He was chased in the fifth and charged with five runs. The Red Sox, clearly, need better from Price.

One could argue that the Red Sox's attitude toward assuring themselves of the home-field edge in this ALDS was slightly more lax than that of the Tribe, as evidenced most notably by David Ortiz getting pulled in the fifth inning of the penultimate game of the season, which was a tight one with Toronto. Boston's two losses in that final weekend, combined with the Tribe's sweep of the Royals, gave the Indians home-field edge in this set, and that certainly felt significant in Game 1. The Indians got more runs (five) off Porcello than they did innings (4 2/3) out of starter Trevor Bauer, and then they rode their chief relievers hard. Andrew Miller delivered six outs spread over three innings, and Cody Allen was brought in for just the second five-out save of his career.

 

That presents another subplot to Game 2. The Indians are clearly banking on length out of Kluber, because, even with an off-day looming, they're going to have to be more conservative with Miller and Allen the second time around.

 

"I was joking with Kluber," Tribe manager Terry Francona said. "I told him he's on a tight 165-170 [pitch count]."

 

Given Francona's unconventional approach to the 'pen in Game 1, maybe the leash will be even longer than usual for Kluber. He is certainly well-rested. Quadriceps tightness forced him to skip his last start, so he's on 10 days' rest. How much (or if) the leg issue affects him will certainly be a talking point.

 

"Everything was fine," Kluber said. "It was more precautionary, didn't want it to turn into something serious. Everything is fine."

 

The Indians are in fine shape after their Game 1 win, which went against plenty of predictions about how this series might shake out, given the injury hits to the Tribe's rotation. If the Indians win Game 2, they've got a wealth of history on their side. Only six of the 48 teams that have taken a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five Division Series round have gone on to lose the series.

 

But Boston can still give this series a very different feel going into Fenway. And that has to start with an on-point Price.

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