Francona needs relief corps to thrive again
The Blue Jays suddenly have life in the NLCS. Now, though, can they truly put fear in the Indians and send the festivities back to northern Ohio?
Fresh off a 5-1 win yesterday, John Gibbons’ group takes on the Tribe again this afternoon, with a 4:08 p.m. ET first pitch at Rodgers Centre. Online sports book Bovada.lv gives the host squad odds of -177 to extend its season, while Cleveland represents a +162 underdog. The over/under run total rests at eight.
With Corey Kluber working on short rest in Game 4, Toronto finally managed to regain a little offensive swagger. Third baseman Josh Donaldson clubbed a solo homer in the third, and Ezequiel Carrera’s RBI single an inning later gave the squad additional breathing room. Starting hurler Aaron Sanchez also worked six frames of largely flawless ball, striking out five and walking two.
In a few hours, Gibbons will ask Marco Estrada for a similarly stout outing. Despite limiting the Indians to just six hits last week, the 33-year-old was the hard-luck loser in the series opener. Estrada is 0-0 with a 0.91 WHIP in two career appearances against Terry Francona’s crew.
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Cleveland answers with Ryan Merritt, who spend the bulk of the campaign at Class AAA Columbus. The continued absence of Danny Salazar, however, presses the lefty into his playoff debut here. In 24 assignments for the Clippers, Merritt posted an 11-8 record with a 3.70 ERA.
One honestly wonders whether the Tribe’s fantastic bullpen can continue to shoulder such a heavy burden. Francona didn’t use Cody Allen or Andrew Miller yesterday, but those two have already combined to log 15 2/3 innings since the beginning of the postseason. In short, Merritt’s unproven nature makes us partial to the Canadian contingent.
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