Written by Jerry Chasnick at ESPN.com
As Cleveland Indians closer Cody Allen weaved his way through theBoston Red Sox lineup in the eighth and ninth innings Monday, a little piece of him flashed back to his boyhood in Florida. Allen took the mound in Game 3 of the American League Division Series without his best fastball or command. But as he surveyed the scene around him, his head was spinning with memories.
“I remember when I was a kid, watching games in this ballpark and seeing how crazy it was,” Allen said in a raucous Indians’ clubhouse late Monday. “For me to stand here and say I didn’t hear the crowd, that would be a lie. I heard them. I could feel it, and I’m sure their players could feel it.
“It’s a really cool feeling to be part of a game like this, at Fenway Park, where there’s so much history, playing against guys like Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz and that team over there. It’s a really cool thing to be a part of.”
Once Travis Shaw’s pop fly settled into the glove of Cleveland right fielderLonnie Chisenhall to seal a 4-3 Indians victory, Allen and his teammates experienced the ultimate in cool. They heard 39,530 Fenway fans go quiet before striking up a “Thank you, Papi!” cheer in recognition of Ortiz’s final game.
In the midst of all that mourning, the Indians held an impromptu mosh pit at second base to celebrate a three-game series sweep. Boston is done, and Cleveland will move on and try to create some new memories against the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Championship Series.
The Indians entered the division series as consensus underdogs for a reason. September injuries to Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar put a major crimp in the pitching rotation, and Boston’s lineup looked too deep and formidable to be stopped. Even though the Red Sox dropped five of six games to end the regular season, they led the majors with 878 runs and an .810 team OPS. Plus, they had the added incentive of trying to write a poignant final script for Ortiz.
But everything unraveled against the Indians, who took the three games in the series by scores of 5-4, 6-0 and 4-3. The Red Sox struck out 31 times in 98 at-bats and posted a .214/.278/.378 slash line. Boston’s three homers in the series came from the unlikely trio of Andrew Benintendi, Brock Holt and Sandy Leon. Ortiz, Pedroia, Hanley Ramirez, Xander Bogaerts and Mookie Betts hit a combined .200 (11-for-55) against Cleveland’s pitching.
To continue reading this article, click here.
