CHICAGO: Terry Francona is on fire.
The Tribe manager has done a masterful job piecing together an Indians starting rotation ravaged by injuries and manufacturing runs from a team in a two-week hitting slump. Yet the Indians were two victories away from a championship, holding a 2-1 lead in the World Series going into Saturday night’s Game 4 against the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field.
Friday night’s Game 3 was Francona at his diabolical best.
Harkening back to his first managing job with the National League’s Philadelphia Phillies, Francona used two double switches, both to manipulate his pitcher’s spot in the batting order.
In creating a 1-0 lead in the seventh inning that held up as the final score, Francona also called on a pinch runner to replace his starting catcher. He sent in Coco Crisp to pinch hit for ace setup man Andrew Miller, even though Miller had only thrown 17 pitches. Crisp came through with an RBI single to right.
Francona admitted Saturday that he was so desperate for pinch-hitters that Saturday’s starter, right-hander Corey Kluber, had his cleats on and would have been the next man to the plate.
But it never came to that. Reliever Bryan Shaw and closer Cody Allen followed Miller and kept the Cubs in check, Allen surviving a tense ninth inning.
When the game ended, Francona said he couldn’t read his lineup card. He feared he’d messed up a double switch because it was indecipherable.
“And then I dropped it, to boot, in my tobacco,” he said.
Francona improved his record to 10-1 in the World Series, including winning titles with the Boston Red Sox in 2004 and 2007, but admitted the stress involved Friday against the Cubs.
“Last night was one of the more agonizing games I’ve ever been a part of,” Francona said Saturday before Game 4. “Usually I really do enjoy them. But last night there was a lot going on and we were running out of players at a quick rate to the point where when we got into the ninth inning, if they would have had second and third with less than two outs, we would have probably played the infield in just to win or lose.”
“Kluber already had his spikes on, because he would have been the next pinch hitter. So it wasn’t a real good feeling. That wasn’t how we drew it up, believe me. It’s just as you go, you kind of have your guys ready for each situation and then you react to it and do the best you can.”
While some eyebrows were raised when Crisp batted for Miller, pitching coach Mickey Callaway said it fit the Tribe’s strategy.
“We felt Josh did his job and it was Miller’s turn to go in there and do his job,” Callaway said of Josh Tomlin, lifted after 58 pitches. “Then it was Shaw’s job, just like Coco came in and did his job. We’re going to utilize the whole roster. That’s the way we’re built to play. That’s how we do things.”
Miller noted how much the Indians have to juggle right now.
“That’s on Tito and he does a good job of it. The decisions that Tito and Millsie [bench coach Brad Mills] and Mickey are making in the dugout are big,” Miller said. “We’ve got starters going on short rest, we’ve got confidence in our bullpen, we’ve got depth. You try to find a way it works.”
Francona said while all the seventh-inning machinations were going on in Game 3, only he and Mills were talking in the dugout. Francona’s college roommate and former teammate in Montreal, Mills has worked under Francona for 11 seasons.
“It just works better that way,” Francona said in reference to Mills. “Too many, what do you call it, chefs in the kitchen. That’s not the moment for somebody to have to tread lightly. I’ve probably learned more about the game from him than he’s ever learned from me.
“He’s able to go back and forth with me, digest some of the things I’m saying that aren’t always easy to digest, and then he’s going to get players ready. He’s got a full plate during the game.”
Miller said it’s not a stretch for the Indians to perform in postseason situations that are out of their comfort zone, like his 40-pitch outings and Allen taking the mound in the seventh inning of Game 3 of the American League Championship Series against the Blue Jays.
“We’re asked to pitch longer, we’re asked to pitch in situations we’re not quite accustomed to in the regular season,” Miller said. “That’s easy. This is the World Series. We’ve bought into whatever it takes and whatever makes sense. We have a pretty good manager leading the way and it’s easy to follow him.”
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.