Francisco Lindor’s home run proved to be the difference for the Cleveland Indians, who got strong pitching out of Corey Kluber and Andrew Miller in a 2-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Friday night at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
Lindor’s home run off Marco Estrada broke a scoreless tie in the sixth and scored Jason Kipnis, who walked.
It was the second home run in four games for Lindor, who was 3-for-12 (.250) with a double in the Indians’ three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox in the ALDS. The 22-year-old shortstop had a stellar second season in 2016, hitting .301/.358/.435 with 15 home runs, 30 doubles and 19 stolen bases.
The home run made a winner out of Kluber, who had two runners on base against him in each of the first three innings and had runners in scoring position in the first four innings but still held the Blue Jays scoreless into the seventh. It was no small feat, as Toronto was coming off an ALDS that saw them score 22 runs in a three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers.
Kluber has yet to allow a run in two starts and 13⅓ innings this postseason
It looks like Lindor got the home run ball back as well.
Now there's a keeper: Alex, a 25-year-old Canton native, nabbed Frankie's home run ball! #RallyTogether pic.twitter.com/X7ROKtAHSS
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) October 15, 2016
Andrew Miller relieved Corey Kluber in the seventh inning and recorded five outs, all by strikeout. So far this postseason, Miller has appeared in three of Cleveland’s four games, pitching 5⅔ scoreless innings, with 12 strikeouts and two walks.
Estrada was a hard-luck loser, pitching eight strong innings and striking out six in a complete game.
Game 2 of the ALCS is Saturday afternoon, a 4:08 p.m. ET start, with Josh Tomlin starting for Cleveland and J.A. Happ for Toronto.