Blue Jays have their work cut out for them after Game 3 loss

By: Andrew Hendriks

Canadian Baseball Network

TORONTO - Despite dipping into their opponents bullpen with two out in the first inning, the Blue Jays failed to mount much of an offensive stand on Monday as Cleveland moved to within a win of appearing in their first World Series since 1997.

Having done so both figuratively and literally, the Tribe was the first club to draw blood in this one.

After Carlos Santana began the game with a five-pitch walk, Stroman rallied for a pair of outs but was touched up by Mike Napoli who snapped a 0-12 skid with a deep fly ball off the glove of Jose Bautista in right field for an RBI double. 

With ten stitches sewn into the top half of his right pinky finger, Trevor Bauer took the hill in the first and, despite some control issues, was able to record a pair of outs before his untimely laceration began to paint both his uniform and the Rogers Centre mound a distinct shade of crimson which led to an early exit on Monday. Indians manager Terry Francona turned to Dan Otero, who came into the game and stranded both of Bauers walks by inducing a sharp ground ball to second off the bat of Russell Martin.

Toronto responded with a run of their own in the second when Michael Saunders stepped into an 84 MPH Otero changeup and quickly deposited it over the wall in left field for the first career postseason home run. In addition to tying the game at one run apiece, the solo shot also represented the first big fly Cleveland's righty had surrendered to a left-handed batter in 2016 (119 AB).

Napoli led off the Indians fourth by sending an 0-1 Stroman offering over the wall in left-center to give the Tribe yet another one-run edge. The go-ahead drive represented Napoli's 13th career home run at Rogers Centre, the most he's hit in any visiting ballpark over the span of 11 seasons at the major league level. 

Undeterred by Napoli's extra-base prowess, Toronto tied things up in their half of the fourth after Ezequiel Carerra stroked the Jays second triple of the 2016 postseason and Ryan Goins brought him around with a RBI groundout out to short off the torso of Indians hurler, Zach McAllister. 

In the fifth, Jason Kipnis launched a solo homer and after Francisco Lindor struck out for a second time on the night, Napoli walked on seven pitches bringing an end to Stroman's night on the hill. With Joe Biagini on in relief, Napoli advanced to second on a wild pitch and was later ushered home on a RBI single from Jose Ramirez as Cleveland took a two-run lead.
The four runs scored were all the Tribe needed to cruise past the Blue Jays as Cleveland's bullpen continued to baffle Toronto's hitters. Surrendering only two earned runs over 15 and a third innings for the series, the Tribe's relievers have now pitched to an ERA of 1.19 while allowing only eight hits over three games played in the best-of-seven series.

In all, Stroman allowed only three hits over five and a third innings of work on the night. Walking four, the Blue Jays righty admitted to being less than sharp in his second outing of the 2016 postseason but certainly did his part to keep Toronto in the game.
"I had great stuff, just didn't locate on certain pitches and they capitalized on my mistakes," said Stroman following Monday's tilt. "I made mistakes in certain counts where I don't normally make mistakes on certain pitches, and I got beat."

"At the end of the day, I didn't do what it took to get a win".

The way Cleveland is pitching in this series, it might take a complete game shutout in order to do what it takes.

"It's just good competition," explained Blue Jays manager John Gibbons of Cleveland's performance in his post-game conference with the media. "Tito (Francona) did a masterful job running that bullpen today. I had a good feeling at the end but it just didn't happen."

The Indians turn to Corey Kluber on Tuesday as they look to complete the four-game sweep of the Blue Jays and advance to the Fall Classic in impressive style. Having started Game 1 for the Tribe, Kluber will be going on three days rest which could make things interesting should he run into trouble following Monday's bullpen game for the Tribe.

"He's one of the top pitchers in baseball for a reason but we've got a good one going ourselves," said Gibbons.  "We've got our work cut out for us but I think (our guys) are due. "
Looking to extend their season, Toronto will send American League ERA leader Aaron Sanchez to the hill on Tuesday. In his 2016 postseason debut, Sanchez allowed six earned runs during the Blue Jays Game 3 win vs. Texas in the ALDS. 

PUT ME IN, COACH

With the win, Francona improved to 34-18 as a manager in postseason action. The former Expos outfielder -who owns the highest winning percentage (.654) among all MLB managers with at least 50 games in the postseason- is now tied with Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer Sparky Anderson for seventh on the all-time list. 

BUNCHES

With the loss, Toronto has now dropped 13 straight postseason tilts when failing to plate fewer than five runs. Conversely, they have won 20 straight when scoring at least five.

CAN-CON

With 35, Russell Martin enters Tuesdays bout needing only one hit to pass  Tip O'Niell for the most hits by a Canadian-born ballplayer in Major League Baseball. 

- Follow Andrew Hendriks on Twitter (@77hendriks)