CLEVELAND: Indians ace Corey Kluber had to wait an extra day to make his first career postseason start. It was worth the wait.
Kluber cruised through baseball’s best lineup from the regular season, and the Indians beat the Boston Red Sox 6-0 on Friday night at Progressive Field to take a 2-0 lead in the American League Division Series.
One night after the Indians’ bullpen played a major role in Game 1, throwing 4⅓ innings and allowing Trevor Bauer to be ready on short rest for a possible Game 4, Kluber nearly rendered the bullpen moot by delivering seven shutout innings. He gave up three hits, three walks and struck out seven. It was one of the strongest starts for any pitcher against the Red Sox this season and came when the Indians needed it most.
Kluber hadn’t pitched in 10 days since suffering a mild strain of his quadriceps in the clinching game in Detroit, but he showed no ill effects from the layoff.
“Yeah, we talked before the game about would he be a little rusty or would he be really good. I think he answered that question,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “He was terrific. Early in the game, it was a little hard for him. They put a sleeve on, and it was a little too tight. So he had to work through that a little bit, which I think made us probably a little more nervous than it made him.”
Jason Kipnis believes the Indians have yet to see Kluber’s best.
“If you go back and watch him pitch, I don’t think he had his best stuff [tonight],” Kipnis said. “He might have still been feeling the quad. Usually, he’s very pinpoint accuracy. He was kind of all around the zone a little bit. Then you see the stat line he put up at the end against that offense. That tells you what kind of competitor he is.”
The victory means the Indians will travel to Boston for Game 3 on Sunday and Game 4, if necessary, on Monday, needing one win to advance to the American League Championship Series. Game 5, if the Red Sox win both at home, would be Wednesday in Cleveland.
The Indians again put together a big inning early, this time against Red Sox starting pitcher David Price. In the second inning, Carlos Santana singled to left field and was followed with an infield single by Jose Ramirez. Brandon Guyer delivered a bloop single to center field, scoring Santana and giving the Indians a 1-0 lead.
Then, the big blow. With runners on first and third, Lonnie Chisenhall rifled a three-run homer down the right-field line to make it 4-0. Chisenhall entered the game 4-for-11 (.364) in his career against Price. That, plus his defense in right field, led to Francona leaving him in the starting lineup despite a left-hander being on the mound. It paid off with the biggest hit of Chisenhall’s career.
The ball caromed off a pane of plexiglass just above the wall in right field and bounced back on the field but was quickly ruled a homer.
“I don’t remember too much running around the bases,” Chisenhall said. “I remember seeing it go out and I knew it was a home run, so I slowed down pretty quickly. It was a quick run around the bases.”
Price was knocked out of the game in the fourth inning. Against relief pitcher Matt Barnes, Kipnis added an RBI single in the fourth and Rajai Davis made it 6-0 with a sacrifice fly to center field that followed a costly error by Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia.
LeBron James was in attendance along with several of his Cavaliers teammates. James addressed the sellout crowd of 37,842 before the game, calling for the same support the Cavs received in June during their run to the NBA title.
“Just like you guys were behind our back for our championship run, we all have to rally together for their championship run tonight for Game 2,” James said.
That run now continues to Boston and a chance to close out the series at Fenway Park.
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at www.ohio.com/indians.