ALDS Game Five, 2017

Posted on by

Yankees at Indians, 5:00 PM PT, TV: FS1

Game Five doesn’t have the resonance Game Seven does, but it’s the end of the line for one of these teams. The Yankees have to feel pretty good that they’ve gotten this far after fighting through the Wild Card Game to get into the series, while the Indians are probably annoyed that they lost two straight in the Bronx after taking a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

The Yankees send C.C. Sabathia to the mound to face the Indians’ ace Corey Kluber. Again. This is a rematch of Game Two’s pitchers. In that game Kluber got knocked out early but the Indians came back from a five-run deficit and won in 13 innings. Sabathia gave the Yankees 5 1/3 innings and gave up four runs. The Indians also lost their slugger Edwin Encarnacion to an ankle sprain in the first inning and he hasn’t played since.

Today in baseball history:

  • 1948 In Game 6 of the Fall Classic, the Indians beat Boston at Braves Field, 4-3, to capture the team’s second World Series title in franchise history. Bob Lemon gets the win, with Gene Bearden pitching the final one and two-thirds innings to earn the save.
  • 1965 In Game 5, a 7-0 victory over the Twins at Dodger Stadium, Willie Davis becomes the second player to steal three bases in a World Series game. The L.A. center fielder joins Pirates shortstop Honus Wagner, who accomplished the feat on the same date 56 years ago against Detroit in Game 3 of the 1909 Fall Classic.
  • 1975 As the first host of Saturday Night Live, George Carlin compares baseball to football in the opening monologue of the ground-breaking show. The comedian jokes the national pastime a gentler game, portraying the sport as one which is pastoral and played in a park as opposed to football, in which the objective is to march downfield and penetrate enemy territory in a stadium.

  • 1999 An ailing Pedro Martinez, with both starters ineffective in the decisive Game 5 of the ALCS and the score tied at 8-8 in the fourth, enters the game and doesn’t yield another hit to the Indians for the next six innings. Troy O’Leary collects a grand slam and a three-run home run, both following an intentional pass to Nomar Garciaparra, contributing to the Red Sox’ 12-8 victory at Cleveland’s Jacobs Field.

30 thoughts on “ALDS Game Five, 2017”

    • Thanks for sharing it, John.
      I liked it, covering the negatives (I wish they would’ve mentioned his demotion last year and how things have changed since), as well as the positives. Definitely agree with how he electrifies the crowd . . . I look forward to joining the 50,000+ shouting “Puiiiiiiiig!”

      • I am pleased he is still on our team. Like the article says, he may not be our best player, but he brings an excitement to the crowd. Possibly the biggest excitement since Manny. Those of you who actually attend games may have a more informed opinion on that 🙂

  4. Last time ‘Stros, Yanks and Dodgers were in the playoffs was 1981. Moreover, to the extent that Expos=Nats…

  6. One hopes Roberts and the Dodgers’ coaching staff is telling the team “See what happened to the Indians? As hot as they were, they got beaten. It can happen to us. Stay focused.”

  9. Looks like the two September hotties, Snakes and Spiders, can’t carry over into October.

  12. Cleveland’s radio play by play guy just gave the pronouncement that the Cubs are eliminated with their loss, then corrected himself.
    That wasn’t even in the heat of calling a play, so I guess such miscues are universal and we shouldn’t get down on our guys so much.