ALDS 2016 Game 3 recap: Indians beat Red Sox 4-3 to complete sweep
Game 3 of the American League Division Series comes to an end with the Cleveland Indians sweeping the Boston Red Sox 3-0 to advance to the American League Championship Series.
The Cleveland Indians swept the Boston Red Sox with a 4-3 win in Game 3 of the 2016 ALDS. With the win, they secured home field advantage against the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Championship Series.
The move to Boston signaled a change from short sleeves to sweatshirts and jackets. The chilly weather didn’t seem to impact the game at all and in some ways may have given the Red Sox bullpen some confidence.
Boston’s starting pitcher Clay Buchholz looked good in 4.0 innings of work, with six hits, four strikeouts and two earned runs. Josh Tomlin worked five innings for the Indians, allowing four hits with four strikeouts and two earned runs.
The first score of the game came in the top of the fourth inning with runners at second and third and one out. Rookie Tyler Naquin smashed a breaking ball into right field for a two-run single in his first postseason hit, giving the Indians a 2-0 lead.
Red Sox manager John Farrell pulled Buchholz in the fifth inning and put in Drew Pomeranz. Pomeranz struck out two of three batters in his first inning of work.
The Sox got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning when Andrew Benintendi hit the ball off the Green Monster and drove in Xander Bogaerts. Francona made the call for Dan Otero to warm up in the bullpen as Tomlin approached 60 pitches.
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Coco Crisp got revenge on Benintendi in the sixth by hitting a two-run bomb to the top of the Green Monster, driving the Indians lead to 4-1.
Andrew Miller came in to pitch in the sixth inning and quickly got runners on the bases. David Ortiz, Big Papi, came up and hit a sac fly to drive in another run, narrowing the Tribe’s lead to two. Miller was able to get himself out of the hole with only one Red Sox run in the sixth, credited to Tomlin.
Big Papi came up again with two outs in the bottom of the eighth in what was his last at-bat. Ortiz ended up walking on a 3-0 count. Hanley Ramirez followed Big Papi with runners on first and second. Ramirez nailed a single past the shortstop to drive in Will Benson, closing the gap to one run once again. Xander Bogaerts was next up at the plate with runners at first and second and two outs. Bogaerts hit a line drive to Kipnis for the out.
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Craig Kimbrel came in to pitch for the Red Sox in the ninth inning. Kimbrel quickly struck out the first two batters, and then the inning was over when Roberto Perez fouled out to catcher. Cody Allen stayed on the plate for the Indians and got the first two outs quickly.
Jackie Bradley Jr. came up and hit a single to right field with a full count, clearing the way for Dustin Pedroia and the top of the order with two outs. Pedroia got to a 3-2 count and he got a walk. With two runners on base, Allen got to a full count again before Travis Shaw hit a fly ball to shallow right to end the game.
The Cleveland Indians advance to play the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Championship Series after sweeping the Boston Red Sox 3-0.