GREAT SAVES
Great
Save #230
Great
save #230 came on July 24th with Bob Wickman, much to the dismay of
heartbroken Indians fans, in an Atlanta Braves Uniform.
Of course,
that can be attributed to the arrival of Bob Wickman, who wasn't present back on
July 14, when the Braves began this successful road trip with a wacky 11-inning
win over the Padres.
After Ken Ray
and Tyler Yates nearly wasted Hudson's strong effort and LaRoche's powerful
display at Citizens Bank Park on Monday night, Wickman ended the madness with a
perfect ninth that capped a 10-8 win over the Phillies. His first save with his
new team allowed the Braves to head home with the satisfaction gained from
winning seven of nine on 
this
trip.
But there
would be no more late-inning letdowns similar to the multiple ones Jorge Sosa
displayed. Wickman was there to ensure the plane ride back to Atlanta would be a
jubilant one.
As much as
losing Bob hurts all his friends up here in Cleveland, there’s never been any
doubt that he made the right decision. Bob is not the type to stay where he’s
not wanted, and the Tribe brass made it clear that they wanted to turn him in
for a refund. His last two months here would have been filled with one miserable
loss after another, and he’s still too great a ballplayer to sit and watch his
career end with a moping team of underachievers that lost heart in May.
They’re not worthy of him. My
hope is that when they’re sitting at home in October, Bobby is pitching in the
World Series. Maybe it will dawn on them then that their lousy play helped put
him there.
He had nothing left to accomplish here. Bob was loyal to the end and gave everything he had to the city and the Indians, but when they made it clear they didn’t want him anymore, he pursued his chance to see “what might have been.” Now the people of Atlanta, and possibly the whole nation will get to see why Bob Wickman is the greatest ballplayer I’ve ever known.
That's
my rant of the week. J. Ladd 7/25/06
Maybe
Bob should go 1-2-3 in the ninth for some real excitement. This putting guys on
and then escaping by the skin of his teeth is getting boring.
Bob Wickman
passed Doug Jones with 130 saves on May 7th at Safeco Field by
slamming the door on C.C. Sabathia’s 2-0 masterpiece against the Mariners.
After tying
the record 0n April 28th, our hero had to wait 10 days for his
chance. The pattern this season so far: When the Tribe isn’t blowing out the
opposition they’re on the receiving end of a spanking. Luckily, the Maestro
has his veteran experiences to rely on to keep him sharp when that call does
come.
After
retiring cleanup hitter Ritchie Sexson on a routine grounder, the Master began
conducting another of his patented tension-filled symphonies.
Carl
Everett and Adrian Beltre both singled to put runners at first and second,
bringing the winning run to the plate. Bob Wickman and catcher Kenji Johjima had
never faced each other before, but Bobzilla always does his homework. Having
studied him extensively, Bobby went right at him with 3 straight fastballs.
Johjima sent the third one to shortstop Jhonny Peralta, who started a slick
game-ending 6-4-3 double play.
“It was
typical Wicky fashion,” said Sabathia. “I don’t even get nervous anymore.
I knew he’d get that ground ball. I’m just glad I could be part of it.”
The Wickster
is 6-for-6 in save situations this year and has converted 22 straight saves
since last year. Bob, of course, was gracious and humble amid all the accolades.
“I remember
my first game as a new closer,” said Wick. “Doug Jones came up to me and
said, ‘If you ever need anyone to talk to, I’m here for you.’ I took the
job from him and he had no hard feelings.”
Bobby is
going to give the record-setting ball to Chris Kelley, a former Indians bat boy
seriously injured in a car accident in 2004.
“When Chris wakes up, he’s going to see that ball.”
Bob
Wickman’s 221st save came with no surprises-it was the usual gut
wrenching, no room for errors nail-biter that has become his trademark since his
return from Tommy John surgery in 2004.
After
the Tribe added an insurance run against Texas in the top of the ninth at the
Jake, Bobby entered the 7-5 game to face the heart of the Rangers order.
Michael
Young greeted our hero with a double down the right-field line, and was brought
home with a Mark Teixeira drive off the left-field wall to cut the lead to 7-6
with no outs.
After
a Phil Nevin ground ball advanced Teixeira to third, Bobzilla emerged for his
first appearance in Cleveland this year.
With
the heat turned up a few notches, the Wickster began to get nasty. He retired
the dangerous Hank Blalock on a fly ball to Casey Blake in short right, who
proceeded to fire a perfect strike to Victor Martinez at home, holding the tying
run at third with two outs.
Enter
Kevin Mench, who became the first right-handed batter in major-league history to
homer in seven consecutive games when he went deep against Guillermo Mota in the
eighth inning. A dramatic 9-pitch battle ensued, with Bobby ending the threat
and the game by inducing a harmless pop out to Ronnie Belliard at second.
A
fired-up Bobby Wick pumped his fists, shouted and walked around hugging everyone
in sight.
“I
wasn’t pumped because I tied the record, I was more excited about getting out
of a jam. It’s fine with me if I don’t get any saves as long as we win,”
said the Wickster. “I made quality pitches. If something had happened, I’d
have gone home knowing I got beat with good pitches.”
Next up: Bob Wickman becomes the Cleveland Indians all-time saves leader. Don’t miss one pitch of baseball’s ultimate adrenaline rush! Same Wick- time, same Wick-channel…
Our gutsy closer added some acrobatics
to his latest ninth-inning production against the Oakland A’s on September 13th.
With the Tribe up 5-2, a man on first (always) and no outs, Oakland’s Dan
Johnson sent a bouncer in the hole that was snagged by first baseman Ben
Broussard.
Our hero Wick, who never
fails to hustle to first, collided with Johnson at the bag taking the return
throw from shortstop Jhonny Peralta, sending both men sprawling to the turf.
After the ball hit Bob in the thigh and bounced into foul territory, he
sprang immediately to his feet and retrieved it. Never taking his eyes off of
the umpire, who made no call either way, Bobby did what no one else in Jacobs
Field was thinking about. He calmly walked over to first and stepped on the bag
to complete the double play, igniting a roar from the stunned crowd. Johnson had
missed the bag.
“It
was quite amazing,” said Kevin Millwood, the games’ winning pitcher. “How
many people would’ve thought to touch the bag after a collision like that?”
Not I, that’s for sure. Being in
shock after seeing our beloved closer fall on his pitching arm while wiping out
at first base, I was grateful just to see him get up. A minute later, with his
arm bleeding from just above his right elbow, Bob got the third out with a
harmless fly ball to right for his league-leading 40th save.
“Bob Wickman is killing me”I really thought that it would be a west coast trip that would finally do me in. The games start at 10PM here in Cleveland when the Tribe is on the left coast, and even if I catch a nap before the game or during the early innings, it’s usually about 1AM before Bob comes in to do his thing. Being the early guy at work, the lack of sleep combined with Bobby’s gut-wrenching performances pretty much turns me into one of those zombies from “Dawn of the Dead” the next day.
But it was Bob’s August 23rd
stress-fest in Tampa Bay that took at least a year off of my life. It was a true
masterpiece; a miracle filled ninth where everything that can possibly go wrong
did and we still won the game. From most of the Warriors checking in the next
day, the line of the evening seemed to go something like “Oh God, I don’t
think I can stand to watch this again…”
With a 5-4 Indians lead, leadoff batter Toby
Hall sent a Wickman fastball screaming about 1 foot foul of the left field foul
pole before being retired on a fantastic diving catch by Coco Crisp a pitch
later. Bob seemed to be on his way to a 1-2-3 inning after inducing a groundout
to short by Alex Gonzalez for the second out, but then Julio Lugo began the
tightrope walk with a single to left. Carl Crawford found the hole between 1st
and 2nd ,
sending Lugo to third.
Then
he stole second on Bobby’s first
pitch to Jorge Cantu. In an attempt to quick-pitch Cantu, Bob made an apparent
balk that wasn’t called by any of the 4 umpires, sending Rays manager Lou
Pinella into one of his patented, hysterical on- field meltdowns. The balk would
have scored Lugo from third with the tying run if called.
Like a fine orchestra conductor, the maestro
Wickman brought down the house on the next pitch by knocking down Cantu’s hard
liner to the mound and tossing it to first to end the exhilarating production.
My breathing and heart rate returned to normal about 20 minutes later, and I
just had to laugh at the replays of Bob giving high-fives going through the
victory line.
If
the Indians do make the playoffs this year, I may have to watch the games in the
nearest hospital emergency room just to be on the safe side. Like I’ve said
here many times before, anyone that thinks baseball is a boring game isn’t a
Bob Wickman fan.
Another milestone is met as Bobby’s banner year rolls on
Bobby Wick’s best-case scenario at the beginning of the season (according to the experts) was to will his reconstructed elbow through 30 or so saves with minimal time on the DL, then to pick up his last check, retire and ride off into the sunset.
But that isn’t Bob Wickman’s way. He
didn’t put in all that grueling rehab work to meekly hang on and limp away in
October. “I intend to let ‘er rip.” Bob said of his elbow in spring
training. “If she goes, she goes. Then I’ll walk away knowing I did all that
I could do.”
Leading up to his 200th career
save on August 7th, he had appeared in 11 of the Indians’ past 15
games, turning 8 of those appearances into saves. Wick is now second in saves in
team history at 110; 31-for-36 on the year as it stands today.
#200 came, unfortunately, on the road at
Comerica against the Tigers. After the Indians blundered their way to a 5-0
deficit with 4 errors in the second inning, the Tribe began their comeback with
dingers by Casey Blake and Grady Sizemore in the fifth to make it 6-3, then
pulled ahead on Ronnie Belliard’s 3 run shot in the eighth.
The Wickster came on in the bottom of the
ninth to face the Tigers’ 3,4, and 5 hitters with a 6-5 lead. Using his slider
to perfection, our hero struck out Chris Shelton and Rondell White looking, with
a weak groundout of Magglio Ordonez sandwiched in between. After throwing 16
pitches, Bob accepted his trophy ball from catcher Josh Bard and playfully
tossed it as he walked to the victory line. He received a champagne toast from
his teammates after the game.
His American League leading 31st
save sealed a three game sweep of Detroit, leaving the Tribe 4
-
1/2 games out in the wild-card race
with 50 left to play.
Instead of being in position to be lambasted
by his critics as “another has-been who held on too long,” the Indians
All-Star closer is leading his team into the thick of the wild-card race with
his guns blazing. But that doesn’t surprise Wick’s Warriors at all. We all
know that our guy has made a career out of shutting up his detractors and
proving them wrong.
Bob Wickman skunks ‘em again. J. Ladd – 8/8/05
Great Save #195July 28th proves again to be a magical day
for Bob Wickman*
After a heartbreaking
blown save against Oakland on July 27th, Bobby Wick redeemed himself
by nailing down his 26th
save of the year the next night against
the Mariners in Seattle.
Understandably upset
after allowing the A’s to tie the score in the ninth and eventually win the
game 5-4 in extra innings off of David Riske, Bob was took it pretty hard and
blamed himself.
“It’s hard to win a
tie game on the road. I put David in a tough situation in a game we should have
had won. It’s a two game swing in the wildcard race--I didn’t do my job and
I let the team down.”
Of course he didn’t
mention that without his 26 /
30 converted saves this year, the Tribe would already be finished for the
season. Bob converted his last 11 in a row before the A’s found the holes that
day. It was only by his unflappable will that he escaped the inning with the
score tied at four. A wheel play, a bases loaded play at the plate and a
strikeout got him off the hook and allowed the Tribe to fight on.
The
next evening our hero charged right back into the fire to close out a 6-5 lead
against the Mariners. After a one out error put Bob in a jam again, he faced the
dreaded Ichiro Suzuki at the plate representing the winning run. The Wickster
induced the fastest man in the league to hit into only his second double play of
the year to end the game.
That
save was Bob’s 105th as an Indian, leading him past Jose Mesa’s
104 and sending him on his way toward Doug Jones’ franchise leading 129 saves.
It was his third appearance in 3 days, converting 2 out of 3. The next milestone
to fall will be his 200th career save. The Warrior faithful can only hope it will be at Jacobs Field so we can all
join in the celebration with our favorite ballplayer.
*Great Save #195 came
on July 28th, which seems to be a magical date in Bob Wickman’s
life: It was his 5 year anniversary as an Indian, as well as the date of his
first save (in 2004) after coming back from Tommy John surgery. It’s also the
birthday of Bobby’s youngest son Ethan, who just turned 2. How fitting that
the Indians turned –two to seal this great save on a special day. J.
Ladd - 7/28/2005
Great Save #185Bobby Wick’s 7-6 save against the San Francisco Giants at SBC Park on June 11th was a milestone in his Indians career. It was his 95th save in a Tribe uniform, moving him past Mike Jackson into 3rd place behind Jose Mesa and Doug Jones. And, in true Wickster fashion, it was a nerve-wracking, mind-bending experience. But what fun is there in doing things the easy way?
Really,
how do you enter a game with runners on 2nd and 3rd, allow 3 stolen bases, and
still get the save? Here's how:
With
a 7-4 lead in the ninth, the game looked well in hand when Bob Howry came in to
finish off the Giants. A few base hits later, Wick came in to relieve Howry with
runners on second and third with no outs. Bobby retired the first two batters,
but each out produced a run.
Our
hero walked Michael Tucker, who stole second. Then he walked his old friend Omar
Vizquel to put runners on first and second.
“I
don’t know if my grandmother was still awake, but Omar was her favorite
Indian,” Bob said. “Omar was not going to beat me there. He wanted to be a
hero, and I wanted to be a hero.”
After
a double steal by Tucker and Vizquel, Bobzilla ended it by striking out J.T.
Snow.
The
steals tied knots in manager Eric Wedge’s stomach, but didn’t bother Killer
at all.
“They’re
going to score on a gapper,
no matter what.”
Said
Wedge after the game, “Wicky has nerves of steel.”
Yep, that’s why he’s #1 warrior. Never a dull moment.
“What in the cockeyed hell was that?”
That was my reaction when I saw Bobby Wick balk Mike Cuddyer of the Twins from 2nd base to 3rd in the bottom of the ninth inning in a 4-2 game that he was trying to save on May 3rd.
Turns out that Bob was having a flashback to a blown save on April 21st against the Angels in which Garret Anderson, with Darin Erstad on 2nd base, reached out and blooped a low and outside pitch into center field to tie the game. Anderson seemed to know where the pitch was going, and the Tribe eventually lost the game 6-5 in 10 innings. He wasn’t going to let it happen again.
“I did it on purpose,” explained the Wickster. “I didn’t want him calling pitches at second base. The run means nothing. If he goes to third he can’t call pitches, can he?”
Turns
out that Bob ended up walking Shannon Stewart (at the plate) anyway, but then
struck out Matt LeCroy to earn save #6 on the season and career save #175.
“It
was my only balk my whole career,” Bob said after the game with a smile on his
face.
It was another fine display of the depth of the veteran’s baseball knowledge, and his showmanship came at a great time. The Indians badly needed this win against their division rivals.
Anyone who thinks baseball is boring sure ain’t a Bob Wickman fan.
J. Ladd – 5-5-05
CASE
CLOSED!
7-28-2004
It took 2 years for me to write this article. I was waiting for Bob
Wickman to give me the script. As usual, he didn’t disappoint me.
Bob finally came full circle in Wednesday nights’ 5-4 win over the Tigers at Jacobs Field. The Indians have been slowly easing Bob back into his closer role since his return from the disabled list on July 6th. He has performed brilliantly in his 8 appearances since.
After 5 appearances as a setup man, Bob was officially given the closer role on July 20th. His last hurdle was going back-to-back, which he cleared by striking out the side on 16 pitches in Tuesday’s 10-6 win. He needed only 8 pitches to induce 3 ground ball outs last night to save the game for Scott Elarton.
“That’s big,” said Wick. “It’s the one
stepping stone everyone was looking at. There was enough adrenaline to keep me
going in back-to-backs.”
Casey Blake’s two run home run in the seventh erased a 4-3 Tribe deficit and helped give Elarton his first win with the Indians and his first win in 18 starts.
Wick offered the game ball to Elarton, but Scott declined. “I got my game ball in 2002 after my shoulder surgery. I know he feels better than I do.”
It was a night for both Elarton and Wick to exorcise their demons.
The Indians (52-50) went 6-3 on the homestand and can now hit the road for the longest road trip of the year with confidence in their bullpen riding high. Without making a single trade, the Indians have solidified the biggest trouble spot on the team this season. They did it by patiently investing in the hard work and dedication of a great ballplayer. Bob Wickman is back. J. Ladd 7-28-04
Great Save #150 That’s
what I get for not trusting in Bob.
After
Bob Wickman left a disastrous game in the Metrodome on June 5th with
a numb elbow, I spent the next few days turning into a Wickman’s Worrier. OK,
what did he tear? Nerve damage? When’s he going on the DL for the first time
in his career?
I
spoke with Bobby before the game on Tuesday, June 11th and asked him
point blank how bad it was. He assured me like he always does that it wasn’t
that bad, that he’d just have to pitch with the injury and be careful he
doesn’t overuse the arm or try to pitch when the elbow says he can’t.
I
was skeptical. “This is not a good thing, Bob. That’s the second time in 2
weeks I watched you leave the mound in pain. You
wouldn’t try to kid a kidder now, would you?”
Entering
the game later that night in relief of Bartolo Colon, Wick faced Jeremy Giambi,
Scott Rolen and Travis Lee with runners on second and third, no outs and a 5-1
lead. Pass the Rolaids, this should be fun.
With
me wincing at every pitch he threw, Number One Warrior proceeded to pitch his
most dominating save appearance of the season, using 14 pitches to strike out
the side in succession and preserving another brilliant win for Colon. It was
like watching Picasso paint a portrait of a save:
Jeremy Giambi
1)
92
MPH fastball- S1
2)
92
MPH fastball fouled S2
3)
92
MPH fastball away B1
4)
88
Mph breaking ball swing and miss- 1 out
Scott
Rolen
1)
92
MPH fastball inside B1
2)
93
MPH fastball inside swing and miss S1
3)
91
MPH fastball inside B2
5)
92
MPH fastball low B3
6)
87
MPH slider swing and miss S3- 2 outs
Travis
Lee
1)
94
MPH fastball fouled S1
2)
88
MPH slider S2
3)
86
MPH slider B1
4)
91
MPH fastball called strike three- ballgame. Save #14 on the year.
(Looked
a little low, but I’m through questioning genius)
Maybe I should start listening to my own slogan: “In Bob We Trust”. JL
The greatest save of 2001 came against Seattle on August 26.
The day after the infamous Vizquel-Rhodes earring game at Safeco Field,
Rhodes held a 3-2 lead in the ninth. With two outs and the bases loaded, Kenny
Lofton drove a 1-2 pitch over second to score Ellis Burks and Wil Cordero for a
4-3 lead.
In comes Wick in the bottom of the ninth and gives up a single to Mike
Cameron, but then he strikes out David Bell. Bobby broke Carlos Guillen’s bat
on the next pitch, but Vizquel had no play on the slow roller. Pinch-hitter Stan
Javier then skied a ball off home plate that Bob could only wait for and catch
to load the bases.
In comes the American League MVP and Rookie of the Year candidate Ichiro
Suzuki, who promptly bounced a 2-2 pitch back to the mound. Wickman snagged it
and smartly threw home for the force. Mark McLemore ended the game by hitting
into a force play at second. Wick fought his way out of the hornet’s nest the
same way he got into it--by having the batters beat the ball into the ground.
Bob’s post game comments: "This game was huge. We started with a 4 ˝
-game lead and ended it with a 4 ˝ -game lead. We went 4 –3, but in my career
I think it’s the best trip I’ve ever been on because of the good pitching we
faced."
But that was just the highlight in a road trip full of highlights for Our
Boy. What’s truly amazing to me are August 21, 22, 23 games against Oakland
earlier in the week in which Bob saved 2 games and won 1 in the span of less
than 40 hours!
This road trip in my opinion was the most important juncture of the Tribe’s
season. Having gone 4 –3 against the two hottest teams in the league gave them
the confidence to finish strong and take the division crown. I use Bob Wickman’s
work on that trip often in my argument that he was the Indian’s MVP in 2001.
J L
The May 25th, 2001 game certainly qualifies as a
sensational save, particularly because it was against the Yankees, and I
was there.
The game featured Jaret Wright going in his second start after shoulder surgery against Orlando Hernandez on a cool Friday night. It featured sparkling defensive plays by Omar Vizquel on a Chuck Knoblauch ground ball and an Einar Diaz-to-Vizquel pickoff of David Justice early in the game.
The Tribe’s scoring began immediately when leadoff hitter Jacob Cruz rapped a 2-1 pitch from Hernandez over the center field wall. A run scoring double by Diaz and Juan Gonzalez’s 13th home run pushed the lead to 3-0 in the third. A run-scoring single by Vizquel in the 4th and a towering 2-run blast by Jim Thome in the fifth rounded out the Indians scoring.
Wright was not sharp, giving up three runs on six hits in 4-2/3 innings. In comes the bullpen with relievers Rich Rodriguez, Steve Reed and Paul Shuey holding theYankees to one run on three hits over 3-1/3 innings and setting up closer Bob Wickman with a 6-4 lead in the ninth.
With everyone including me going nuts, in comes The Man who promptly proceeds to pick up save # 9 by fanning the heart of New York’s lineup-Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez and Justice – to end the game. Bobby’s sinker was especially wicked that night with the ball dropping over the plate like it had a nail in it. D. J. looked quite foolish as he flailed away trying to catch a piece of it.
Ah, well, nothing like beating the stinking Yankees on a Friday night in Cleveland.
J L
On September 20, 2000, Bob Wickman saved both ends of a day-night doubleheader for the first time in his career. To Fenway Park:
Game 1: Indians fans will long remember the first time the
Tribe beat Pedro Martinez. In what I always refer to as the "Woodard
Game", Steve Woodard pitched six scoreless innings and protected Robbie
Alomar’s RBI single before handing Paul Shuey a 1-0 lead in the seventh. Shuey
carried it through the seventh and eighth before turning the game over to Wick,
who hadn’t pitched in a week and was feeling a bit rusty. Kenny Lofton’s
homer around the foul pole in short right field off of Derek Lowe in the top of
the ninth gave Bobby a 2-0 cushion.
Wickman walked Jose Offerman to start the ninth, but Jason Varitek hit into a force play at second. Nomar Garciaparra then doubled off the Green Monster, missing a game tying home run by a few feet. Troy O’Leary’s infield single made it 2-1 before Dante Bichete hit a bouncer that Wick snagged to the left of the mound and caught Garciaparra in a rundown between third and home.
Bob then struck out Brian Daubauch to record his eleventh save as an Indian and restart my heartbeat. Indians 2, Red Sox 1.
Game 2: Omar Vizquel’s straight steal of home with the
bases loaded in the fifth inning highlighted this little gem in the nightcap.
Omar didn’t even draw a look from Rheal Cormier as he scored standing to tie
the game at 3 all.
The Sox were trailing 5-4 when they
loaded the bases with one out off of Paul Shuey in the eighth. Enter Wickman to
end the threat by getting Lou Merloni to ground into a 5-4-3 double play. Killer
then worked a scoreless ninth for his 12th save. Indians 5, Red Sox
4.
Any hopes the Red Sox had for the wild-card died that day. J L
Wednesday, August 29th, 2001 found Bob Wickman well into
his nervous breakdown phase of saving games; another thriller I was fortunate
enough to attend. Jacobs Field vs. the Boston Red Sox:
C.C. Sabathia struck out 11 in seven fine innings of work, turning over a 2-1 lead to Danys Baez in the eighth. The long ball provided all the scoring in this one, featuring back to back drives by Juan Gonzalez (31st) and Ellis Burks (23rd) in the sixth. The Tribe looked clueless against the legendary Casey (don’t call me possum) Fossum until the consecutive bombs flew with 2 outs in the sixth. Manny Ramirez, whose leadoff homer in the fourth provided the Sox with their only run, struck out swinging against Baez to end the eighth. Enter the Wickmiester with 40,000 fans still buzzing from the Ramirez whiff an inning earlier. Pass the Rolaids.
Bob started the ninth by giving up a bloop double to Dante Bichette on a ball that got past the diving Marty Cordova in right. Shea Hillenbrand moved Bichette to third on a grounder to second. As the left handed hitting Troy O’Leary stepped to the plate, my brother Frank and I looked at each other, shrugged and said, "hit him". Wick’s next pitch nailed the pinch-hitter in the side to put runners on first and third with one out. A strike out of Jose Offerman proved to be huge as Bobby walked pinch- hitter Scott Hatteberg to load the bases for Trot Nixon. Nixon then bounced a 1-2 fastball down and away to shortstop Omar Vizquel who threw to Robbie Alomar for the game-ending force. Sabathia gets win #14, Wickman save # 25.
Killer’s post game comments: "What C.C. did tonight, you don’t want it to go to waste. When an inning starts going like that, I get more focused." Yeah, right. Let’s focus in on a 1-2-3 ninth next time, shall we Bob? Indians 2, Red Sox 1.
P.S. That win was the second of a three game sweep of Boston, which effectually eliminated them from any wild-card hopes for the second straight year. What a shame.
J L