Here are 29 Walk-Off Thoughts on the Indians’ 1-0 win against the Chicago Cubs in Game 3 of the World Series Friday night.
1. The Indians’ pitching staff—the one that’s beat up and well below full strength and was supposed to struggle to last one series, let alone three—has now set the record for most shutouts in a single postseason for any team, with five. They’ve also shut out the Cubs in two of the first three games in this World Series.
2. On baseball’s biggest stage, Corey Kluber, Josh Tomlin and the bullpen—with some help from Ryan Merritt—have only gotten better. The Indians had several scoring opportunities early in Game 3 and they couldn’t convert, leaving the pitching staff exposed. But, it didn’t matter. They delivered again, as they have almost all October.
3. And, now, the Indians are two wins way from the winning the World Series without three of their best players.
4. The staff by the numbers: 9-2 this postseason with an ERA of 1.65. The bullpen has a 1.60 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 45 innings pitched. Among bullpens with at least 35 innings pitched, the Indians’ 1.60 ERA is fourth in postseason history. The other three teams (1973 Athletics, 2013 Red Sox, 1992 Blue Jays) all won the World Series.
5. What the Indians’ pitching staff has been able to accomplish without Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar—two Cy Young candidate-caliber starting pitchers—has been nothing short of special, a deliberate response to their backs being against the wall. With the fifth shutout, it’s now been a historic effort.
6. Said Jason Kipnis, “They’re carrying us right now. The bullpen and pitching staff is the reason we’re here. You can afford to have a guy like me not hit too well, but when the bullpen is doing what it’s doing, that’s how you can afford that.”
7. Because Andrew Miller has reached a new level of dominance this postseason, Cody Allen probably hasn’t gotten the credit he’s deserved, as those two have combined to throw 25 scoreless innings this postseason.
8. And thanks to Allen, Napoli’s error won’t have a chance to be entered into a long line of horrific memories that follow Cleveland losses. Because had this game gone wrong and then the series, it would have been a tough play to forget.
9. With two outs in the bottom off the ninth and the tying run on second, Jason Heyward grounded a ball to Napoli at first base. It looked to be routine and the game-ender. But it caught Napoli in-between hops and trickled away, giving Javier Baez a chance to tie or win it.
10. Allen, though, blew Beaz away with a high fastball, so Napoli’s play is only a footnote in these Walk-Off Thoughts and not Cleveland sports history.
11. Napoli was focused on keeping the ball in front of him at all costs. If he gets by him, the Cubs tie it.
12. Said Napoli, “In that situation you want to knock the ball down no matter what. Last thing I want to do is try to go backhand and have it go under my glove. My first priority is to keep it in front. It hit off my glove and if I make that play, good for us. But I’m trying to keep the ball in front. Cody definitely picked me up.”
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13. In Game 3, National League rules essentially forced Andrew Miller out of the game earlier than he would have. It put Shaw in a spot of working 1 2/3 innings and Allen going for a four-out save. It’s one of the drawbacks of not having the DH, that the bullpen can’t always be managed on the merits of the pitcher in the game. The circumstances force manager’s hands.
14. Shaw came through, and he overcame a misplay by Lonnie Chisenhall in right field that put the tying run on third base, also against Baez. He induced a groundout to end the inning, which was the beginning of three tense innings for the bullpen clinging onto that 1-0 lead.
15. Miller, Allen and Shaw have been the backbone of the Indians’ postseason run. And they have fed off one another. In Game 3, it was arguably Shaw who had the best performance.
16. Said Shaw, “Absolutely. When we see Miller come in and do what he does, we sit down in the pen and look up at the scoreboard and see 15.6 K/9 or whatever and he gets an out that’s not a strikeout, we make fun of him because it goes down, and then he comes out the next inning and punches out the side and it goes back up over 16. It’s definitely something that we feed off, each one of us down there. IT doesn’t matter who it is coming in. It’s a lot of fun to watch our guys come in and do the jobs they’ve done.”
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17. The move that took Miller out of the game gave the Indians the only offense of the night. And it was Coco Crisp—of course—who came through for the Indians again.
18. Crisp was essentially added about 10 minutes (it was a day) before the deadline to be eligible for the post season. He hit a home run when the Indians clinched the division. He hit a home run when the Indians clinched their spot in the ALCS. He hit a home run when the Indians clinched the AL pennant. And his pinch-hit, RBI-single propelled the Indians to their Game 3 win Friday night.
19. Since coming to Cleveland, all Crisp has done has come up with some of the Indians’ biggest hits in September and October. It’s been a wonderful reunion for both parties.
20. He also made it so Miller didn’t have to have an awkward at-bat. The Indians certainly didn’t want to take Miller out, but the situation called for an opportunity to steal Game 3, and Crisp came through. Any at-bat involving Miller probably wouldn’t have been pretty. Miller originally grabbed one of Tommy Hunter’s old bats because he didn’t want to risk breaking one that was valuable.
21. Said Miller, “I don’t know if you could tell by my smiling on deck -- I didn’t have a whole lot of confidence in my ability. It was just, if I got the opportunity, find a way to put it in play and make something happen.”
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22. Tomlin now has a sub-2.00 ERA in the postseason. The pitcher who struggled in August and lost his spot in the rotation as his family dealt with a difficult time is long gone. The Indians’ No. 5 starting pitcher under normal circumstances has pitched like an ace in October.
23. And on Friday night, his dad, Jerry, played a part. It was a great story and an emotional start for Tomlin. His dad was sitting just off of his viewpoint from the mound. Tomlin could always find his dad in the stands. It gave him comfort, and it was extra meaningful for his dad to see his son stifle the Cubs on that stage.
24. Said Tomlin, “I think I've probably said it more times than I've probably should, but it was probably one of my more emotional starts I've ever had in my entire life, career, any situation baseball related ever. I'm fortunate enough for him to even be here. So to have him get to experience a World Series game and obviously my first World Series start, it meant everything.
… I found him before the game that way I could kind of go to him throughout the course of the game, if the game was speeding up to me, just to find that sense of calm there. What he's gone through, I mean, that's nothing to what we're going through right now. So to be able to find him and see him in the stands, it kind of calmed me down and just let me go out there and settle into the game and try to go out there and do the best that I could for him.”
25. Napoli put it best when talking about Tomlin’s performance: “Unbelievable. That guy has cojones. It’s so much fun playing behind him because you know he goes out there and competes and we know he’s good. He went through a rough patch but he got a little rest and got himself back under him and he’s been unbelievable for us.”
26. Indians manager Terry Francona has had a near-perfect postseason. Just about every small decision has worked out. In Friday’s game, he made a couple of double-switches, tried to take advantage of Miller but also pinch-hit for him when needed. He worked around the outfield to fit the situation. He took advantage of the NL rules, and it all paid off. Francona has been receiving praise locally and nationally for his management this October. And he’s almost assuredly going to win Manager of the Year for the regular season.
27. Said pitching coach Mickey Callaway, “He almost used some guys that weren’t even on the roster. It was great. I mean, there’s no better manager in baseball than him. He’s unbelievable. He thinks of everything at every moment, I’ve learned so much from him. It’s just fun to watch him do it during the game. He’s going to use everybody in the right situation to have the most success they can probably have. You’re seeing the results of it.”
28. It wasn’t just tonight. Said Napoli, “Seems like every move he’s made all year has worked. He was unbelievable, man. To have a leader like that, it’s fun to come to the park every day, interact with him. I was messing with him. He almost tripped on the mound tonight. I said, ‘Hey man, watch that step.’ It’s a comforting feeling, you look at him and he just has that smirk or he’s going to joke about something when things are on the line. It just relaxes you.”
29. The Indians will wake up on Saturday up 2-1 in the World Series with Corey Kluber taking the mound for Game 4. They need two more to give Cleveland its second championship parade in four months.