Cleveland Indians drop a nail-biter, maintain 2-1 series lead in ALDS

The Cleveland Indians went quiet on offense in Game 3 of the ALDS against the New York Yankees, with one mistake being the difference in the game.

The Cleveland Indians provided fans with unimaginable excitement on Friday night. That was not the case on Sunday.

The Indians managed only five hits during Sunday’s 1-0 loss to the New York Yankees, striking out 11 times on a night when one bad pitch from Andrew Miller was the difference in the game.

Indians hitters couldn’t stop chasing pitches thrown out of the zone by Masahiro Tanaka, which unfortunately overshadows a phenomenal playoff debut by Carlos Carrasco.

Carrasco went 5 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball, although he was bailed out by Andrew Miller in the sixth inning, who came in and got the final out with the bases loaded. Cookie allowed three hits and struck out seven.

A Greg Bird home run gave the Yankees the only run of the game, but the biggest play of the game came when Aaron Judge robbed Francisco Lindor of a two-run home run. Judge barely had to jump to grab the ball that would have likely been a home run if the right fielder was of average height or if Lindor had gotten even just another foot of distance on the ball.

Perhaps it was karma after the non-challenge on Friday. The baseball gods clearly have a soft spot for Joe Girardi, the manager who was booed by Yankees fans during introductions. What a fun bunch.

Some Indians fans will search for blame in odd aspects of the game, but Tanaka just dominated the lineup. Jay Bruce struck out four times, while Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor each struck out twice.

Michael Brantley went 0 for 2 and still doesn’t look right at the plate, making Edwin Encarnacion‘s health a focal point if the series makes it beyond Game 4.

Speaking of Game 4, the weather forecast isn’t looking too great today in New York. But if the game is played, Trevor Bauer has been announced as the starter. Bauer was amazing in Game 1, but he would be on short rest so he may not last long. However, that’s what fans may have been thinking when he took the mound in Game 1, proving postseason baseball is much harder to predict than what the Browns will do on any given Sunday.

Next: Brantley ready to step in for Edwin

The anticipation for tonight’s game will keep everyone on edge at work today, but the weather may come in and change everything. That would not be the worst thing, as it would be nice to let the collective blood pressure of the city go down before watching another game.