Here are 27 walk-Off Thoughts on the Indians’ 3-0 win against the Toronto Blue Jays to take the American League Championship Series 4-1.
1. The Indians are going to the World Series. Though the injuries, the setbacks, the odds piled against them, this team has earned the benefit of the doubt. They just keep winning, and it’s been quite a postseason run—truly one for the ages.
2. The way the Indians punched their ticket to the World Series was fitting. A no-name starting pitcher takes the mound because of another injury, this one being rather bizarre. The bullpen takes over and delivers 5 2/3 scoreless innings, still holding as perhaps the most dominant unit in baseball. And the offense did enough, coming through early and adding on with a couple home runs.
3. These Indians are far from healthy and far from playing with a full deck. But they’ve taken down every wall in front of them so far. It’s been 19 years since the Indians were in the World Series. And it’s amazing, given all the circumstances, that this is the team to break that slump.
4. Said Corey Kluber, “It is kind of fitting. We’ve had a fair amount of injuries and things to overcome, but I think the biggest part of it is nobody has shied away from the challenges that we’ve faced, whether it would be losing one of our best hitters or losing guys out of the rotation. It speaks to the kinds of guys we have. Nobody is backing down from anything. Everybody is just trying to go out there and do their jobs. He knew today that his job was to go out there and fill up the zone and not beat himself and he did just that. He pretty much dominated.”
5. Ryan Merritt gave one of the gutsier postseason performances in recent memory. He wasn’t even supposed to be on the ALCS roster at all. Only a few weeks ago he was throwing in Arizona just to stay extended in case something drastic happened. It did, thanks to Trevor Bauer’s drone. Only a week or so removed from throwing on one of the auxiliary fields in Arizona, Merritt took the mound on the national stage in Game 5 of the ALCS in the Rogers Centre and was nothing short of terrific.
6. Jose Bautista said before the game that Merritt would be shaking in his boots. That certainly wasn’t the case. The kid delivered.
7. He was perfect through three and lasted 4 1/3 innings. It was everything the Indians could have asked from him and more. And it’s a pitching performance that won’t soon be forgotten in franchise lore, as Merritt pitched well enough to get to the bullpen with a lead—and that’s what sent the Indians to the World Series Wednesday night.
8. Said Josh Tomlin, “I loved it. I loved every second of it. I told Mickey that I’m on the edge of my set. I’m up cheering for him every pitch that he made, because I realize how tough it is for guys like us to do what he just did. But, you’ve got to give credit where credit’s due. He stuck to a game plan and he executed pitches. He didn’t get rattled at all. He showed big heart, is the word I can say right now. He went out there and did what he was capable of doing. He didn’t try to go out there and try to do anything more because it’s a postseason game, because he was facing eight righties in the lineup. He went out there and, ‘You know what? I’m going to treat it as another game and go out there and try to execute pitches and compete.’ When you get guys like that, we have 25 guys like that right now, that just go out there and compete and do the things we’re doing. It’s a pretty special thing.”
9. Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway used the word “unflappable,” saying, “I figured it before the game. And just watching him warm up, I came in and told Tito, I said, ‘He’s going to pitch good. He’s keeping the ball down. Throwing exactly where he wants to.’ He’s kind of unflappable. He’s the unflappable Ryan Merritt. He probably doesn’t even know their names. He did great.”
10. Said Dan Otero on Merritt, “What he did was unreal. And we’ve gone through a lot of injuries and different adversities throughout these last couple months. But everybody in this clubhouse, all 25 guys, and all the coaching members and training staff, knew that he was going to do what he did tonight. We knew he wasn’t going to be unnerved by the challenge at hand and the fans weren’t going to get to him, he was just going to go about his business and he was able to make good pitches and he got us into the fifth inning which probably nobody thought he could do, so it was unbelievable.”
11. It seemed to be a running joke that Merritt wasn’t into baseball history, or that he even knew what was going on. He’s just this wide-eyed kid from Texas who took the mound in Game 5 of the ALCS against one of the better lineups in baseball and threw a gem out of nowhere. After all, he was called up in May and it took a week for him to even get into a game. All he did was show up when the lights were brightest and respond in a big way.
12. And how new was he? Indians owner Paul Dolan was in the clubhouse trying to find Merritt, because he had never met him.
13. He’s just glad the Indians called him in Arizona. Said Merritt, “It's crazy. It's awesome that I'm here. I'm glad they called me and that they showed that they had trust in me to come out here and give them a chance to win a game, especially at this point in the season. It's tough for them to pick a guy and trust him to go out there that hasn't had much experience to go out there and win for them. So it's an honor, really, just to be able to have that opportunity to go out and try to win.”
14. Andrew Miller took home the ALCS MVP, essentially because he nearly struck out every hitter he faced and pitched multiple innings when he took the mound. Miller has put himself in the conversation as the best or, at the least, one of the very best relievers in baseball. He’s also validated the Indians’ trade for him several times over.
15. Said Dolan on the cost, “We gave up a lot, but it’s all about winning. And we were positioned to win this year and it’s very clear now that Andrew Miller was the big difference in terms of getting us there, because of what he meant to our pitching staff and our bullpen, particularly. Yeah, years from now I suspect we’ll look at some of these guys that we traded and say, ‘Why did we trade them?’ But then we’ll look at the couple trophies we have and we’ll know why we did it.”
16. The Indians’ acquisition of Miller has given them one of the best weapons in baseball, and Francona has utilized him aggressively and flawlessly. And, without it, the Indians might have been doomed.
17. One of the biggest pitches of the game was Miller’s first. He entered with one out and Josh Donaldson up to bat, with Edwin Encarnacion on deck. Not only did he not labor through the inning to escape with their lead in-tact, he needed only one pitch to induce an inning-ending double play against one of the best hitters in baseball.
18. That one pitch resulting in two outs set up the rest of the night. Miller could come out for the seventh effectively like he was just coming out of the bullpen and get through the seventh and eighth without much trouble.
19. This postseason run has been wild enough that some members of the team think it ought to be movie material. Merritt’s role in it all clinched it.
20. Here’s Jason Kipnis: “With all of the stuff that’s happened with us all year, first, we’re like, ‘There should be a movie made about this team. This team. Not the old Major League. There should be a movie.’ Kluber in a clinch game would just make too much sense. That’s why we lost yesterday. Having a guy in his second career start would be perfect for the movie. That’s why this was going to work out in our favor. That literally was talked about before the game. Guys had a lot of support for Merritt. He had a good start under his belt. He had the mystery of the unknown playing in his favor. He did an unbelievable job.”
21. Who would play Kipnis in that movie? Kipnis: “Someone really good-looking. … Channing Tatum.”
22. It’s not how the Indians envisioned they might get to the World Series. It’s not how anyone envisioned the Indians might get to the World Series.
23. But here they are, the last American League team standing and the one most thought would be done in by the Red Sox a couple weeks ago.
24. Said Chris Antonetti, “I think our guys, from the start of the year really, focused on who was here and how do we find a way to win that night’s game. They’ve overcome a lot of adversity. It’s certainly not the script we would have written at the start of the year, but to be here standing here took a collective effort by a great team with a great leader in Tito, the coaching staff, and everyone throughout the organization, our player development group, our scouting group, our coaches, our trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, everyone.”
25. The Cavaliers’ title run was unbelievable because so many in Cleveland still thought the city’s sports teams were cursed, and they were destined to lose. This Indians’ run has been unbelievable, but it’s because of the circumstances of their run and the crucial pieces they’re currently missing.
26. On Tuesday night, the Cavaliers unveil their World Championship banner and the Indians will take the field for Game 1 of the World Series in neighboring buildings. Being a Cleveland sports fan certainly feels different in 2016.
27. The Indians have held champagne celebrations in Detroit, Boston and Toronto. And they just keep beating the odds.