CLEVELAND: For many of the Indians players on the field Thursday and Friday, it was their first taste of playoff baseball and the added electricity that comes with it.
For others, it was their second immersion into that kind of atmosphere, with only the one-game, toe-in-the-water experience of the 2013 wild-card game coming before.
The experience didn’t disappoint — and neither did the sellout crowd of 37,763.
“The fans, that’s what motivated me,” said Francisco Lindor of his home run Thursday night during the Indians’ 5-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox in Game 1 of the American League Division Series. “How they reacted, I reacted. I try to enjoy the game. I try to smile. I try to have fun.
“As soon as Mookie [Betts] jumped, the ball touched the top of the wall, everybody’s hands went up. My hands went up, too. I was just excited.”
Indians manager Terry Francona said he felt it as soon as he stepped out of the dugout.
“I’m not an idiot — maybe I am — but it’s amazing how you get so locked in that you don’t really [notice] until you leave the dugout,” he said. “Then it’s like, ‘Whoa.’ It was a good atmosphere. I was happy for our city. I was proud of our city. … You want to get the fans here and everything. Sometimes it’s just been frustrating, but I thought [Thursday night] was a really cool thing.”
The first experience can be difficult. It took Game 1 starting pitcher Trevor Bauer an inning or two to calm down. Jason Kipnis pressed too hard in 2013 for the wild-card game.
“I think in ’13 the first time around I might have built it up to be a little too much, made it too hard on myself,” Kipnis said. “I gripped it too tight and the nerves got the best of me.
“This time around with just the way the ballclub’s played, I was able to settle in. … In terms of the crowd, the red towels were out just like last time, and they were loud when they needed to be, and loud when they didn’t need to be. And that’s just exactly what you want out of a hometown crowd.”
Signs of stealing?
After the Indians’ three-homer third inning in Game 1, the question of stealing signs was brought up. According to the Boston Herald, pitcher Rick Porcello and catcher Sandy Leon midway through Game 1 switched up their signs after the home-run barrage gave the Indians a lead.
Pitching coach Carl Willis, formerly with the Indians, told the Herald, “Yeah, you never know,” when asked if it was possible the Indians did figure out their signs, despite all three homers coming with the bases empty. Normally, stealing signs is a concern with a runner on second base.
Francona wasn’t aware of the report when asked by reporters, saying, “I’m not even sure what you’re saying, because we only had one hit with a runner on [second] base.” He then joked, “We barely know our own signs.”
Red Sox manager John Farrell dismissed the notion on Friday, saying, “There’s no accusation of any kind. It’s a matter of us going out and executing more consistently.”
Game 4
Francona is confident that Bauer will be fine to start Game 4 on short rest after he threw only 78 pitches in Thursday’s Game 1. Bauer needing to come back after three days’ rest is one of the consequences of the multiple injuries to the starting rotation. “He understood,” Francona said of taking out Bauer in the fifth inning Thursday.
Josh Tomlin is slated to start Game 3 in Boston. Should the series return to Cleveland for Game 5, Corey Kluber would start.
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com.