The Indians needed a foursome of outcomes to lead to their best-case scenario on Sunday, and all four came to fruition. As a result, the Indians will have homefield advantage against the Boston Red Sox in the American League Division Series.
The postseason is here. Game 1 will be Thursday in Cleveland. Game 2 is Friday in Cleveland before the series shifts to Boston for Games 3 and 4 and then back to Cleveland for Game 5, the latter two if necessary.
On Sunday the Indians beat the Kansas City Royals 3-2, the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Red Sox 2-1, the Baltimore Orioles beat the New York Yankees 5-2 and the Detroit Tigers lost to the Atlanta Braves 1-0. Those four outcomes sealed the five-team American League postseason field, solving all home-field advantage scenarios. The Texas Rangers are the No. 1 seed with the Indians and Red Sox Nos. 2 and 3. The Blue Jays and Orioles are the two wild-card teams who will play for the chance to take on the Rangers, leaving the Tigers out of the postseason.
It all also means the Indians (94-67) don’t need to travel to Detroit on Monday for Game 162, as that game wouldn’t have any implications on the playoff picture. It’s the second consecutive year in which the Indians played only 161 regular season games.
The Red Sox (93-69) will pose quite the challenge for the Indians’ depleted starting rotation. The Red Sox led the league in runs scored with 878. They led the AL by 101 runs over the second-place Indians, who scored 777 runs. The Red Sox became only the second AL team in the past 65 years to lead the league in runs by more than 100, according to ESPN. They are also the first team since the 2005 Indians to have 50 extra-base hits from seven different hitters.
That lineup includes two Most Valuable Player candidates, outfielder Mookie Betts and designated hitter David Ortiz, who is on his farewell tour. The Red Sox also have a Cy Young candidate in Rick Porcello, having the best season of his career, along with high-priced ace David Price.
The Indians, meanwhile, will have Trevor Bauer pitching in Game 1. Cy Young contender Corey Kluber, battling a mild quadriceps strain, will start Game 2 Friday night in Cleveland. Kluber starting Game 2 gives him an extra day of rest and also means he won’t pitch on three days of rest in the series. Bauer will likely do just that in Games 1 and 4, if necessary. Josh Tomlin is slated to start Game 3. If Game 5 is needed, it’ll likely be Kluber if healthy.
Gaining homefield advantage could be a big break for the Indians. Home-road splits are often shaky statistics to believe in when looking forward to a series, though the Indians are 53-28 at Progressive Field and have averaged 5.58 runs per game, compared 4.06 on the road.
Ortiz and Indians manager Terry Francona make up two of the more interesting storylines of this series, with Francona having two World Series titles with the Red Sox. That includes the 2004 championship that ended the Red Sox’s title drought and the 2007 title that came at the expense of the Colorado Rockies in the World Series and the Indians in the American League Championship Series, who held a 3-1 lead before losing the final three games.
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at www.ohio.com/indians. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RyanLewisABJ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RyanLewisABJ