Here are 16 Walk-Off Thoughts after the Indians fell to the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series.
1. For the first time this postseason, the Indians will try to bounce back from a loss. And they’ll try to do with a rookie who has one career start under his belt.
2. Aaron Sanchez was masterful and Corey Kluber was tagged for two runs in five innings, namely a dislocated curveball that Josh Donaldson belted for a solo home run in the third that gave the Blue Jays their first ALCS lead. Bryan Shaw later ran into trouble, eventually giving up a two-run single to Edwin Encarnacion.
3. Shaw giving up a single to Ryan Goins and then committed the Indians’ first error of the series put Indians manager Terry Francona in a tough spot. Either pitch to Donaldson with runners on the corners and nobody out, or walk him and pitch to Encarnacion with the bases loaded to create a force-out at home plate.
4. In a postseason in which arguably every move has gone flawlessly, this one didn’t pan out.
5. Said Indians manager Terry Francona, “I went through every scenario in my head where we can't exchange outs for a run. So it's a difficult situation all the way around. But rather than play the infield in without a force out with Donaldson, I decided with the force out at the plate and pitch to Encarnacion. … Either way it's not the most desirable situation. Early in the game you certainly wouldn't do something like that. But in a game where we can't give up another run. We have two hits, that seemed to me to put us in the best position. It didn't work.”
6. So now the Indians turn their fate over to young Ryan Merritt, who legitimately looks terrified talking to reporters and joked the other day that his first initial press conference would probably scare him more than taking on the Blue Jays’ lineup in the ALCS. On Tuesday night he again said, “Standing right here is a lot more intimidating than on the mound.”
7. He’ll have his hands full. The Indians say he has their confidence.
8. Here’s Francona on Merritt starting in Game 5: “I think he's okay. He talked to Mick a little bit the scouting report this morning, just to give him a chance to watch the game and also digest some of the stuff they talked about. I think he's okay. I think he'll be fine.”
9. And Shaw: “He’s done well for us so far since he’s been up here. Obviously it’s a different look for them. I think he’s our only lefty starter we’ve had for the year start for us. I think it should be a good change of pace for us. It’ll be good to have him go.”
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10. And Kluber: “He's obviously good enough to pitch, to get himself to get to this point. I don't think he needs any of us trying to go out there and telling him what to do. He knows what he needs to do already.”
11. And Roberto Perez: ““He’s probably going to be excited. He’s probably going to be pumped in front of this crowd. They’ve got a pretty good lineup. We’ve just got to execute pitches tomorrow and keep the ball down, that’s the key.”
12. It might come down to whether the rookie can get some sleep tonight. Wednesday afternoon takes him from one career start to being on the national stage in a hostile environment with a trip to the World Series on the line.
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13. Said Merritt, “I'm just going to treat it as any other game. I'm going to go out there and have fun, relax, pitch to my strengths, not let the game speed up on me, trust in myself, trust in my defense and just go out there and compete and try to win a game.”
14. There’s a very good reason Francona—and many other managers—say the point is to win a series, not extend it. Teams don’t want to give their opposition a chance to get some breathing room. That’s what Tuesday’s Game 4 loss did for the Blue Jays.
15. The odds are obviously low the series would turn all the way over, but the Blue Jays have a much more balanced rotation and a lethal lineup that finally had some success. Now, that lineup gets an unproven rookie at home. If the Indians can’t clinch in Toronto, it turns to Cleveland and Josh Tomlin in Game 6 and Kluber again on short rest. The Indians are still in a good spot, but taking it one game at a time, a series in which one side has had to deal with multiple injuries and the other is set up to take advantage of it can slide in a hurry.
16. The Indians have beaten odds the entire postseason. Now they’re hoping they can keep them in their favor. After all, their lead is now 3-1. And a pretty significant 3-1 lead was just blown in June.