Tribe sees Salazar extend post-DL trend By William ... · Tribe can't back brilliant Salazar, fall on late HR By Jordan Bastian and Bryan Hoch / MLB.com | August 5th, 2017 + 189 COMMENTS

Tribe sees Salazar extend post-DL trend Righty reaffirms club's call not to trade for starte r before Deadline By William Kosileski / MLB.com | August 5th, 2017 + 1 COMMENT CLEVELAND -- When the Indians activated starter Danny Salazar from the disabled list on July 22, they were unsure of what exactly they would get from the right-hander. Two weeks later, after the hard-throwing hurler delivered his third consecutive quality start, the Indians couldn't be more confident in Salazar as a reliable option to give the ball to every fifth day. Salazar was nothing short of dominant on Saturday night against the Yankees at Progressive Field, allowing one run, four hits and three walks while striking out a career-high 12 in seven frames en route to a no-decision. Although the Tribe went on to lose, 2-1, Salazar's stellar, 112-pitch outing is something that the Indians and fans alike can hang their hats on. "That was good to see," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "[If] he pitches like that, we're all going to be happy." With his strong showing on Saturday, Salazar has now posted a 1.35 ERA and a 0.65 WHIP in his three starts since coming off the DL. In 20 innings across that trio of starts, Salazar has held opposing hitters to a .121/.183/.197 slash line while recording 28 strikeouts, giving him a 39.4 percent strikeout percentage in that span. "He's been doing that consistently the last couple starts since he's been back," Indians catcher Yan Gomes said on behalf of Salazar, who respectfully requested not to speak with the media after the game due to a hoarse voice. "It's really nice to see. I know from everyone else, everyone was kind of iffy on how he was going to kind of come back. He's healthy. We all know when he's healthy, he's a dangerous pitcher." Based on Salazar's first two outings off the DL, the Tribe opted to not pursue a starting pitching before the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline to start behind ace Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco. His display of dominance over the New York lineup on Saturday reaffirmed that decision. Other than the three walks he issued, the only blemish on Salazar's line came on an RBI double from Didi Gregorius in the first inning. After allowing that knock, Salazar held the Yankees to a 2-for-21 showing. "It's starting to show that he's kind of just letting it eat now," Gomes said. "You don't see the 89-90 [mph] out of nowhere; 89-90 is usually an offspeed. It's good that he's healthy, he's feeling good. Once his confidence starts rising, that's when we know he's going to be real good." In his final inning, Salazar struck out the side in order. His final pitch clocked in at 96 mph, resulting in a swinging third strike from Yankees catcher Austin Romine. "That's good to see, especially late in the game like that," Francona said of Salazar's velocity. "When he's nearing the end of his game, his last pitch I think was [96], and there was some purpose behind it. ... When you can go get another gear that late, that's impressive." Salazar handed the ball over to Zach McAllister in the eighth, but the reliever allowed a solo homer to Chase Headley that ultimately proved to be the difference in the ballgame. Afterward, McAllister praised Salazar for his consistency since rejoining the rotation. "I think it's great for anybody that we face," McAllister said. "To see the staff that we have, especially [with Salazar] getting on a roll, he's an All-Star. He has All-Star stuff. When he's locked in, he's one of the best in baseball." Tribe can't back brilliant Salazar, fall on late HR By Jordan Bastian and Bryan Hoch / MLB.com | August 5th, 2017 + 189 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- The Yankees needed to get Indians right-hander Danny Salazar off the mound on Saturday night. Once his overpowering outing came to a close, Chase Headley delivered a go-ahead home run for New York, paving the way for a 2-1 win at Progressive Field that halted Cleveland's nine-game home winning streak. The decisive blow arrived in the eighth inning, when Zach McAllister took over for Salazar and then yielded the one-out solo shot to Headley to put the Indians behind, 2-1. Salazar was hung with a no-decision after notching a career high in strikeouts (12) and a season high in pitches (112) over his seven dominant frames. "It was big. We haven't been swinging the bats great," Headley said. "Part of that is us and part of that is their starting pitching. It was a big swing. I wasn't sure when I hit it, but it had enough and fortunately it carried out. It was enough to get us a win." With the Royals-Mariners game postponed, the loss trimmed the Tribe's lead atop the American League Central to three games over Kansas City. The Yankees held firm to the AL's top Wild Card spot and remained three games back of the Red Sox in the AL East. "The guy comes out there, gives us seven innings, one run, 12 strikeouts," Indians catcher Yan Gomes said of Salazar. "I mean, he's been doing that consistently the last couple starts since he's been back. It's really nice to see." • Indians see Salazar extend post-DL trend Yankees left-hander Jordan Montgomery also walked away with a no-decision after limiting the Tribe to one run on three hits over five innings. Montgomery, who struck out seven and walked none, flinched only in the second, when Carlos Santana crushed a hanging curveball over the 19-foot wall in left for a home run. The blast was Santana's 16th of the season. • What's next for Montgomery? "He kind of leverages the ball downhill," Indians manager Terry Francona said of Montgomery. "And his breaking ball, it was in and out of the zone and we had a really tough time laying off. Once a couple of them got called, then we started to chase it more. Their staff is really good. We made it probably even tougher, because we started going out of the zone more. They really took advantage of that." The Yankees' only other breakthrough arrived via an RBI double from Didi Gregorius in the first inning. MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Gardy's got it: The sellout crowd of 34,651 roared in the ninth as Jose Ramirez lifted a deep fly ball to left field off Aroldis Chapman, sparking images of a possible two-run, walk-off homer. Brett Gardner had a different idea, as the Gold Glove Award-winning outfielder expertly tracked the ball to the wall and timed his leap perfectly on the warning track to take away what could have been an extra-base hit. Ronald Torreyes added a diving catch to steal a hit from the next batter, Edwin Encarnacion. Gardner's spectacular catch

Gardner's spectacular catch Brett Gardner ranges toward the track and leaps to make a great catch in the bottom of the 9th inning "When he hit it, I wasn't sure," Gardner said. "I knew it was pretty high and I knew it was going to be really close to being a catchable ball. I just wasn't sure if it was going to land on the track or be halfway up the wall. It's a ball that [Aaron] Judge probably catches without having to jump. I'm fortunate it wasn't hit six inches higher, because it could have been a different result in the game." "Gardner makes a great play. And then the little bloop right there was a nice diving catch, too," McAllister said. "We had our chances right there. It's just one of those where that's tough. You have to tip your cap. They made good plays and we just missed a home run. There were multiple things where if the ball goes a different way, it's a different ballgame." More > Ellsbury's dive: After Francisco Lindor led off the sixth with a rocketed single off the wall in right, Brandon Guyer flared a pitch from David Robertson to shallow center. The ball looked destined for the grass until Yankees center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury dove to snare it at the last moment. Per Statcast™, the catch probability on the play was 75 percent, making it a 3-Star play for Ellsbury. The catch proved important, considering Michael Brantley followed with a single to left, before Robertson retired the next two batters to escape further harm. "Just because we're not scoring a lot of runs doesn't mean we can't win ballgames," Robertson said. "The pitching just has to get the job done, and we were able to do that tonight." QUOTABLE "I guess now it was a bad idea. It's one of those things, man. If the pitch is a little lower, Headley either takes or rolls over. Credit to Headley, man. He put a good swing on it. It pretty much won them the ballgame." -- Gomes, on calling back-to-back curves to Headley in the eighth inning WHAT'S NEXT Yankees: Right-hander Luis Severino (8-4, 2.98 ERA) is scheduled to work in Sunday's 1:10 p.m. ET series finale at Progressive Field. Severino will start with an extra day of rest after being taxed for 116 pitches over just five innings in his last start, a July 31 outing vs. the Tigers. Severino has won three straight starts and hasn't lost since July 2 at Houston. Indians: Right-hander Carlos Carrasco (10-4, 3.89 ERA) is scheduled to take the ball for the Tribe in a 1:10 p.m. ET tilt with the Yankees on Sunday to conclude this four-game set at Progressive Field. Carrasco is 3-2 with a 4.47 ERA at home this season, and has gone 4-4 with a 3.67 ERA in his career against New York. Indians honor Boudreau, unveil statue By William Kosileski / MLB.com | August 5th, 2017 + 0 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- When the blue cover was removed, the surrounding crowd made up of Indians players, coaches, fans and loved ones of the late Lou Boudreau applauded the reveal of Progressive Field's newest addition. The statue of Boudreau was officially unveiled beyond the center-field gates before the Tribe's game against the Yankees on Saturday. With 70 members of the Boudreau family in attendance -- all of whom wore matching red T-shirts with Boudreau's name and No. 5 on the back -- the Indians honored the Hall of Famer with a ceremony that not only recognized the shortstop as an all-time great player, but also as one of the game's best player-managers. The ceremony was capped off with the reveal of the bronze statue, which depicts Boudreau preparing to swing the bat. "My father's stories of this player-manager Lou Boudreau leading our Cleveland Indians to the World Series was to me like me reading stories of Harry Potter to my children: magical, heroic and unbelievable," Indians owner Paul Dolan said. "But there is nothing fictional about the Boudreau magic." Boudreau -- whose retired No. 5 sits in the upper deck in right field -- began serving as Cleveland's player-manager when he was only 24 years old in 1942, holding the dual role until 1950. To put it into context, the ceremony's emcee and Indians radio play-by-play announcer Tom Hamilton jokingly asked the team's current shortstop Francisco Lindor (23 years old) if he will be ready to take on the same role next season. Lindor shook his head no with a smile on his face. "That's unbelievable," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "You're running the bases, and then you've got to think about a pitching change and guys are 10 years older than you. It's pretty incredible." Boudreau led the Indians to the 1948 World Series after he went 4-for-4 with two home runs in a one-game playoff against the Red Sox. The Tribe then went on to defeat the Boston Braves in six games to capture the franchise's most recent championship, and Boudreau was later named that season's American League MVP. Boudreau's son, Lou Boudreau Jr., and his son-in-law Denny McLain -- Major League Baseball's last 30-game winner and a two-time Cy Young Award winner -- spoke at the ceremony. "Despite all of his accomplishments -- the Hall of Fame, the MVP, the World championship -- people never say or talk about his exploits," McLain said. "I will truly tell you that beyond his stardom, he was truly the greatest MVP of all in life." The first 12,500 fans in attendance at the game received a replica of the newly unveiled statue. It marked the second statue that the Indians have unveiled this season, and Progressive Field's fifth overall. MLB's first African-American manager, Frank Robinson, was given his own statue on May 27 in Heritage Park beyond the center-field wall. The statue of Cleveland's all-time home run king, Jim Thome, was moved inside the ballpark, allowing Boudreau's statue to join the figurines of Larry Doby and Bob Feller. "It is fitting that Lou's statue stands alongside two of his teammates: Bob Feller and Larry Doby," Dolan said. "Their generation was known as the greatest. As such, these three men represent what the greatest generation stood for. Which is why we will be forever proud with these three men, who stand at the entrance to this ballpark, representing what we are as a community and franchise, and what we strive to be." Indians recall Almonte, option Plutko By Jordan Bastian and William Kosileski / MLB.com | August 5th, 2017 + 2 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- With the Indians' pitching staff over the rough patch from earlier this week, Adam Plutko's latest stint as an insurance arm for the bullpen came to a close.

Prior to Saturday's game against the Yankees, Cleveland reverted back to a more usual roster alignment, recalling outfielder Abraham Almonte from Triple-A Columbus and optioning Plutko to the same affiliate. Plutko was promoted on Wednesday after a taxing stretch for the bullpen and following Andrew Miller's trip to the disabled list. "It gives us also a pinch-hitting option, which is a switch-hitter. That kind of helps, too," Indians manager Terry Francona said of calling Almonte back up. "For a while there, with Plutko here, we wanted to protect our bullpen, because when we got through Boston, we were getting a little beat up there." Almonte returns to the Indians' roster just 10 days after he was optioned to Columbus. He was initially sent down for reliever Shawn Armstrong, one night after the team's bullpen was tasked with covering 5 2/3 innings in an 11-7 extra-inning victory over the Angels on July 25. Starter Mike Clevinger is temporarily in the bullpen, so Plutko can now resume his role as a starter for Triple-A Columbus. With Almonte -- who is able to play all three positions in the outfield -- back with the Indians, the team now has five outfielders. The other four are Michael Brantley in left, Bradley Zimmer in center, Brandon Guyer available for the corners, and Austin Jackson serving as an option for each spot. In 44 games with Cleveland this season, Almonte has hit .244 with three homers, five doubles, three triples and 10 RBIs. The switch-hitting outfielder had been swinging the bat well before he was optioned, hitting .308 in his previous 39 at-bats (12 games), with a pair of doubles, triples and homers to go along with three walks and four RBIs. Kipnis on target for Sunday Francona noted that second baseman Jason Kipnis (10-day DL, right hamstring) remains on pace to be activated for Sunday's game against the Yankees. Kipnis went 1-for-5 for Columbus on Friday in his fourth Minor League rehab game, and he was cleared to rejoin the big league club. "He thought he was ready to go [earlier this week]," Francona said. "He's worked so hard, so we wanted to kind of -- I don't know if meeting in the middle, if that's the right way to say it -- but show him that we appreciate it. But, I just thought one more game would do him some good. And he ended having to sprint I think four times, which is good. So, he'll play second base [on Sunday]." Carrasco duels with Yanks' Severino in finale By William Kosileski / MLB.com | August 5th, 2017 + 0 COMMENTS Sunday's series finale between the Yankees and the Indians at Progressive Field will feature a premier pitching matchup between New York's Luis Severino and Cleveland's Carlos Carrasco. Severino (8-4, 2.98 ERA) will aim to continue his strong campaign as he takes mound for his 22nd start. Although the All-Star right-hander threw 116 pitches and walked three through five innings against the Tigers on Monday, he picked up the win after holding Detroit to one run on four hits while striking out eight. Severino has won three consecutive starts, and has been lights-out over his last four outings, going 3-0 with a 0.69 ERA. In those four starts, he has allowed two earned runs in 26 innings while recording 29 strikeouts and holding opponents to a .196 average. He has not taken a loss since July 2 against the Astros. Carrasco (10-4, 3.89) will will look to bounce back after a rough outing against the Red Sox his last time out. In a rare dud for the Indians right-hander, he was credited with a no-decision after he only lasted 1 2/3 innings on Tuesday. He allowed five runs -- all of which came in the second inning -- on six hits and three walks. It marked only the sixth time in 21 starts this season that Carrasco has allowed more than three runs in a start. Both pitchers have found success against the opposing team in their respective careers. In 10 career appearances (eight starts) against the Yankees, Carrasco has gone 4-4 with a 3.67 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 49 innings. Severino has gone 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA and eight strikeouts in two career starts (12 innings) against the Tribe. Three things to know about this game • After missing nearly a month, Jason Kipnis will be activated from the 10-day disabled list (right hamstring strain) prior to Sunday's game. Expect Kipnis to return to the top half of the Indians' lineup and play second base. Kipnis was hitting .232 with eight homers and 26 RBIs in 66 games before his injury. In 30 career games against New York, Kipnis his hitting .319 (36-for-113) with eight doubles, five homers, 10 RBIs, 14 walks and a .914 OPS. • Yankees center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury and third baseman Todd Frazier have both found success against Carrasco in their careers. Frazier has gone 8-for-21 (.381) with a homer, four doubles, six RBIs and two walks, while Ellsbury has gone 6-for-18 (.333) with a homer, four RBIs and two walks. • A big key to Severino's success this season has been his slider. Per Statcast, opponents are only hitting .205 with a .275 slugging percentage against the pitch. In addition, he has recorded 108 swings and misses and 99 called strikes with the slider, and he has racked up 90 strikeouts with it. Covering the Bases: Game 108 by Jordan Bastian FIRST: Francisco Lindor gripped the dugout railing as he watched the ball in flight. Giovanny Urshela stood on the elevated bench, rising up as the deep fly off Jose Ramirez’s bat continued to carry high over left field. Admit it, if you were watching this one, you thought of Game 7 of the World Series. The Indians were down by a run and there was a familiar face on the hill: Aroldis Chapman. He was, of course, the one who gave up Rajai Davis’ game-tying shot in the Fall Classic. And this was Chapman’s first outing in Cleveland since that historic game. “I feel like he’s still fresh in our minds,” Indians catcher Yan Gomes said.

Given the way the sellout crowd erupted when Ramirez shot Chapman’s pitch to deep left-center, it seems safe to assume that it was all fresh on the fans’ minds, too. Maybe, just maybe, Ramirez’s shot would best the flame-throwing lefty, just like Davis did back in November. But then, the ball began to fall, and it dropped just short of the 19-foot wall. Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner glided across the warning track and timed his jump precisely, plucking the diving ball just before it could strike the padding. What might’s been a double was now a highlight-reel catch. Michael Brantley, who singled to open the inning, retreated to first and the stage was set for slugger Edwin Encarnacion. He fought Chapman for six pitches and flared the last to shallow right. It looked like it had the makings of a bloop single — until second baseman Ronald Torreyes made an impressive diving catch. “I heard Hammy on the radio kind of talking a little bit about last year with the home run and all that,” said Indians reliever Zach McAllister, referring to Game 7. “And then you see what Josey almost does right there. Gardner makes a great play. And then the little bloop right there was a nice diving catch, too. “We had our chances right there. It’s just one of those where that’s tough. You have to tip your cap. They made good plays and we just missed a home run. There were multiple things where if the ball goes a different way, it’s a different ballgame.” That brought up Carlos Santana, who came into the night batting .303/.415/.528 in his past 40 games, with seven homers, 11 doubles and nearly as many walks (26) as strikeouts (27) in that span. Thanks to his solo shot in the second inning, Santana was also the lone source of offense to that point in the game For nine pitches, Santana battled Chapman. The closer went with three straight offspeed pitches to start things off (87–89 mph). Then, Chapman went hard for the next three (100–101 mph). Santana hung with him, taking three balls and fouling off the others. Chapman then alternated his pitch speeds — 88 mph, 101 mph and 88 mph — for the final three offerings. That 101-mph pitch? Santana smoked it down the right-field line, where it drifted just foul. That is when Chapman went back to his 88-mph slider, which Santana took for strike three. It was the backdoor variety, elevated and caught the outer third of the strike zone. Ballgame. “Brant with a really good at-bat,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “It’s hard to beat a guy like that, but we came really close. You’d rather be in a situation where he doesn’t pitch. We’ve won some of those, and we’ll win them again.” SECOND: In a game decided by inches, and especially one lacking a wealth of offense, the chess-match decisions that impact the outcome wind up being put under the microscope. That was the case when it came to the ill-fated pitch that McAllister threw to Chase Headley. McAllister has been having a tremendous season and much of his success is due to his fastball. It’s that fastball, and its velocity, that convinced Francona to hand the ball to the big righty in the eighth. “We wanted to bring him in for the first three hitters,” Francona said, “then have [Tyler] Olson and then [Bryan] Shaw behind him, because of velocity.” McAllister struck out Gardner and then got Headley to take a first-pitch curve for a strike. Given how that pitch went, McAllister and Gomes opted to stick with the breaking ball again. “I wanted to bury the next one,” McAllister explained. “And then, if he swung at that, or he took it, then I was going to go to my fastball. Obviously, I didn’t locate the pitch where I wanted to. It’s frustrating.” The pitch broke over the heart of the plate and Headley sent it out to right field for a home run. That broke a 1–1 deadlock and proved to be the difference in the game. “I’m guessing he’d probably like to have that one back,” Francona said of the pitch. “I guess now it was a bad idea,” Gomes said. “It’s one of those things, man. If the pitch is a little lower, Headley either takes or rolls over. Credit to Headley, man. He put a good swing on it. It pretty much won them the ballgame.” THIRD: Following the defeat, Indians starter Danny Salazar respectfully declined to speak with reporters. The pitcher explained that he had lost his voice and asked if he could skip the media session. The running joke was that Salazar was rendered speechless by his performance. So, without Salazar’s voice, the crowd of reporters talked to Gomes. “I guess I have to answer his questions, is what you’re saying,” Gomes said with a laugh. “Nice. Go ahead.” Salazar’s effort in this one shouldn’t go unspoken, either. The right-hander struck out 12 (a career best) and logged 112 pitches (a season high). He held the Yankees to one run on three hits and walked three in his seven innings of work.

This marked the third strong outing in a row for Salazar since his return from the disabled list. In those three starts, the righty has a 1.35 ERA, 0.65 WHIP, .121/.183/.197 opponents’ slash line and a 39.4 K% in 20 innings (28 K, 8 H, 5 BB, 3 R). “It’s starting to show that he’s kind of just letting it eat now,” Salazar said. “You don’t see the 89–90 [mph] out of nowhere — 89–90 is usually an offspeed. It’s good that he’s healthy, he’s feeling good. Once his confidence starts rising, that’s when we know he’s going to be real good.” “The guy comes out there, gives us seven innings, one run, 12 strikeouts. I mean, he’s been doing that consistently the last couple starts since he’s been back. It’s really nice to see. I know from everyone else, everyone was kind of iffy on how he was going to kind of come back. He’s healthy. We all know when he’s healthy, he’s a dangerous pitcher.” Francona praised Salazar for holding his velocity throughout the game, and even raising it some in his final inning, when he struck out Todd Frazier, Torreyes and Austin Romine in order. “That’s good to see, especially late in the game like that,” Francona said. “His last pitch I think was 98, and there was some purpose behind it. That was good to see. If he pitches like that, we’re all going to be happy. “I think it kind of speaks to his competitiveness, too. We see Verlander do that all the time, it’s almost like he’s his own reliever. When you can go get another gear that late, that’s impressive.” HOME: Before the Yankees’ bullpen trio of David Robertson, Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman did their thing, it was lefty Jordan Montgomery who stifled the Tribe nine. Montgomery gave up a leadoff double to Lindor in the first and then set down the next three. He surrendered Santana’s homer, and then held the Indians to a 1-for-12 showing for the rest of his outing. In just five frames, he struck out seven and walked none. “He’s tall and he kind of leverages the ball downhill,” Francona said. “And his breaking ball, it was in and out of the zone and we had a really tough time laying off. Once a couple of them got called, then we started to chase it more.” Montgomery held the Indians to a 0-for-6 showing with runners on base, but it wasn’t just him shutting Cleveland down. On the night, the Indians finished 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and 1-for-13 with runners on. A big issue for the lineup in this one was chasing. “Their staff is really good,” Francona said. “We made it probably even tougher, because we started going out of the zone more. They really took advantage of that.” Danny Salazar shines, but Cleveland Indians lose to Yankees, 2-1, on Chase Headley's homer

By Paul Hoynes

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Danny Salazar didn't get the win Saturday night - ditto for the Indians -- but he continued his transformation since coming off the disabled list.

Salazar allowed one run in seven innings and struck out a career-high 12 batters in his third start since rejoining the starting rotation after missing more than a month with a sore right shoulder and mechanical difficulties.

Zach McAllister allowed a tiebreaking homer to Chase Headley in the eighth inning as the Yankees beat the Indians, 2-1, at Progressive Field. The loss ended the Indians' nine-game home winning streak.

McAllister, who's best pitch is his fastball, threw two straight curveball to Headley. He hit the second one into the right field seats for what proved to be the game winner.

"We wanted to bring McAllister in for the first three hitters, then have (Tyler) Olsen and (Bryan) Shaw behind him because of (McAllister's) velocity," said manager Terry Francona. "He ends up throwing a lead breaking ball and then he follows that up a breaking ball. I'm guessing he'd probably like to have that one back."

Said McAllister, "I threw a first pitch breaking ball for a strike. I thought I threw that one pretty good. I wanted to bury the next one, if he took it I was going to throw my fastball. Obviously, I didn't locate the pitch where I wanted to.

"It's frustrating. Danny goes out there and pitches his butt off and competes and gives us a chance to win. I come in, in a spot like that, and I'm not able to get the job done. It's frustrating."

Terry Francona pleased with Danny Salazar

McAllister (1-1) threw consecutive 82 mph curveballs to Headley after striking out Brett Gardner to start the inning.

Salazar's only mistake came in the first inning when he allowed a run. After that he limited the Yankees to two hits and two walks. In his last three starts, Salazar is 1-0 with a 1.30 ERA. He's struck out 28, walked five and allowed three runs.

The performance rendered Salazar speechless. He did not talk to reporters after the game, telling the team's PR staff that he'd lost his voice.

"It's good to see, especially late in the game like that," said Francona. "When he's nearing the end of the game, his last pitch I think was 98 mph and there was some purpose behind it. It was good to see.

"If he pitches like that, we're all going to be happy."

The problem was that the Indians could do little against rookie left-hander Jordan Montgomery and the Yankee bullpen. Their offense consisted of a Carlos Santana home run. It's hard to win like that.

Montgomery allowed one run over five innings before David Robertson (5-2), Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman combined on a six-hitter. Robertson earned the win and Chapman the save, No. 14, in his first appearance at Progressive Field since Game 7 of the World Series in November.

The Indians almost extracted some revenge against Chapman, the former Cubs' closer. Michael Brantley opened the ninth with a single to right. Jose Ramirez followed with a drive to the left-field wall that Gardner turned into an out with a well-timed leap. Chapman went to a full count on Edwin Encarnacion, but Encarnacion was denied when he sent a soft fly ball into right that was caught by a diving Ronald Torreyes, who raced out from second base to make the play.

Santana made the last out, but not before sending a full-count liner toward the right-field foul pole that sliced just foul.

Indians almost get revevge against Aroldis Chapman.

"I think he (Chapman) is still fresh in our minds," said catcher Yan Gomes. "We kind of know what he's going to bring. We do a pretty good job in the eighth and ninth inning to try and rally something up together.

"Even though we weren't able to come through, in the back of their minds and some team's minds, they're going to know that in the ninth inning the game is not over."

The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the first on a double by Didi Gregorius. In his first two starts since coming off the disabled list, Salazar retired the side in order in the first. That did not happen Saturday. He walked Gardner to start the game, struck out Headley and allowed a single to Aaron Judge to move Gardner to second. After Gregorius' double, Salazar retired the next two batters to escape the jam.

The Indians, after wasting a leadoff double by Francisco Lindor in the first, made it a 1-1 game on Santana's homer in the second. It was Santana's 16th homer of the season and sixth since the All-Star break.

That was the only damage the Indians did against Montgomery, who did a five and fly. He allowed one run on three hits with seven strikeouts. Montgomery leads MLB rookie pitches with 111 strikeouts.

Salazar put together six scoreless innings after the first. He didn't allow another hit until Gardner's two-out single in the fifth. Gregorius doubled with one out in the sixth and Gary Sanchez walked, but Jacoby Ellsbury hit into 6-4-3 double play featuring a nice turn by Ramirez at second base.

What it means

The Indians fell to 10-8 vs. the AL East with Saturday's loss. The Yankees, who broke a four-game losing streak, have homered in 15 of their last 16 games.

The pitches

Salazar threw 112 pitches, 71 (63 percent) for strikes. Montgomery threw 65 pitches, 47 (72 percent) for strikes.

Thanks for coming

The Yankees and Indians drew 34,651 fans to Progressive Field on Saturday night. First pitch was at 7:10 p.m. with a temperature of 73 degrees.

It was the Indians' seventh sellout of the season and second of the series. The seven sellouts are the most for the Indians since they had 11 in 2007.

Next

The Tribe's four-game series against the Yankees ends on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. when Carlos Carrasco (10-4, 3.89) faces Luis Severino (8-4, 2.98). SportsTime Ohio, WTAM/1100 and WMMS/FM 100.7 will carry the game.

Carrasco is coming off a start against the Red Sox on Tuesday in which he failed to hold a 5-0 lead in what turned into a 12-10 loss. Carrasco is 4-4 with a 3.67 ERA in 10 appearances against the Yankees, including eight starts.

Severino, 23, is coming off a 7-3 win against the Tigers on Monday in which he allowed one earned run in five innings. He's 3-0 with a 1.36 ERA in his last five starts. Severino is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA in two starts against the Indians.

'Good Kid' gets his turn in the spotlight: Clevelan d Indians unveil Lou Boudreau statue at Progressive Field

By Zack Meisel

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The nickname "Good Kid" stuck with Lou Boudreau throughout his career.

So, when Boudreau referred to a child by the same two-word moniker, the term of endearment carried special meaning. Well, most of the time.

"Dad also confided in me once that it was also easier saying 'good kid' than remembering somebody's name," Lou Boudreau Jr. said Saturday afternoon outside of Progressive Field.

The Indians unveiled a bronze statue of the last player, manager or player/manager to direct the franchise to a championship. Boudreau was the team's heartbeat in 1948, the American League MVP, the catalyst behind the club's one-game playoff victory against the Red Sox and the manager pulling the strings.

More than 70 family members, including some who traveled all the way from Australia, attended the ceremony. They each sported a bright red "Boudreau Reunion" shirt, which included the surname and his No. 5 on the back.

Cleveland Indians unveil Lou Boudreau statue

He called pitches from his shortstop position. He starred for the Indians for more than a decade. He batted .355 for the Tribe during that magical 1948 season, with 98 walks and nine strikeouts -- nine -- in 676 plate appearances.

His son read a player description from an old Sporting News article that noted Boudreau "would discount his lack of speed by getting an uncanny jump on the ball, with rare judgment and instinct. He had small hands, but there was not a surer pair in any league. An impossible stance at the plate, but he won the American League batting championship. As a competitor, he had few equals, none superior. That was the ballplayer Lou Boudreau."

And despite all of the talent and achievements Boudreau enjoyed, his son-in-law, Denny McLain, a former 30-game winner and AL MVP himself, stressed one attribute.

"He had no ego," McLain said. "None."

What about when he burst onto the big-league scene as a 22-year-old All-Star in 1940?

"No ego."

What about when he became player/manager or during his MVP and championship season of 1948?

"Still no trace of ego."

"When anybody would ask him about his superstar exploits," McLain said, "all Lou would say is, 'Hey, we had a great team. We had the best second baseman, the best third baseman. We had Bob Feller. Those are the guys who won this thing for us.'"

McLain said he never saw him deny an autograph-seeker.

"I don't think he ever finished a meal at a restaurant," McLain said. "Fans would line up for an autograph, ensuring him of a cold dinner. But he never complained. He could turn rainouts into sunny days."

McLain, the younger Boudreau, Indians owner Paul Dolan and announcer Tom Hamilton each shared stories about the man inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1970.

Hamilton discussed how Boudreau mailed a letter to owner Alva Bradley detailing his managerial credentials.

"The moment immediately after he mailed that letter," Hamilton said, "Lou wished that he could crawl into that mailbox and retrieve it. Well, thank goodness he did not."

Hamilton then turned toward the collection of Tribe players sitting behind him and asked shortstop Francisco Lindor, who will turn 24 in November, if he plans to pen a letter to Dolan asking to become player/manager.

Boudreau introduced the concept of defensive shifting, a tactic that even worked against the prolific Ted Williams.

"Williams continued to try to hit through it," Boudreau Jr. said, "but he would acknowledge later in life that it really affected him."

Remembering Boudreau on what would've been his 100th birthday

Remembering Boudreau on what would've been his 100th birthday

One hundred years ago - July 17, 1917 – Lou Boudreau was born. His daughter and a fan who saw him play recall the former Indians player-manager.

The Indians relocated Jim Thome's statue to inside the center-field gates. Boudreau's statue stands outside of the ballpark.

Another "Boudreau Shift," his son said.

Boudreau loved to bowl between road trips and during the offseason. He played on a pair of teams in south Chicago and carried an average of 210. When he was laid to rest in Frankfort, Illinois, in 2001, someone placed a bowling ball next to his headstone. It remains there today, Boudreau Jr. said.

Good Kid would have turned 100 in July.

"This statue, besides bringing back some fond memories," his son said, "will keep him forever young."

Could Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau be a player-manager today? Rant of the week

By Paul Hoynes

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Statues and ballparks go together. It is a way to remember a team's past, to celebrate it and let fans and current players know who came before them.

The Indians have done a great job in that regard as part of the remodeling of Progressive Field. Jim Thome, the franchise leader in home runs, had his statue unveiled in 2014. Hall of Famer Larry Doby, the first African American to play in the American League, was cast in bronze in 2015.

This year the Indians honored Frank Robinson with a statue in May as the first African American manager in the big leagues. On Saturday, they honored Lou Boudreau with a statue as well. Boudreau led the Indians to their last World Series title in 1948.

The first statue unveiled at the Progressive Field was that of Bob Feller, the greatest Indians pitcher of all-time. His statue was unveiled in 1994 and it has been joined by two of his 1948 teammates - Doby and Boudreau - at the center field entrance of the Progressive Field. What a cool way to walk into a ballpark.

Boudreau not only managed the Indians to the 1948 World Series championship, he was their starting shortstop. Before the 1942 season, Boudreau wrote a letter to then Indians owner Alva Bradley, saying he should be named manager of the Indians. Bradley, somewhat shockingly, agreed.

At age 24, Boudreau became the Indians' player-manager.

Terry Francona, the Indians current manager, marveled at that.

"He was 24 years old," said Francona. "That's unbelievable."

Tom Hamilton, who emceed the Boudreau statue unveiling, marveled at it as well. He turned to Francisco Lindor, the 23-year-old shortstop, during the presentation and asked if he could imagine himself being named player-manager of the Indians next year. Lindor smiled and shook his head no.

Cleveland Indians unveil Lou Boudreau statue

The question is could Boudreau succeed today in the role of player-manager? Besides managing the Indians in 1948, he was named MVP of the AL.

"You could, if somebody named you, I just think there's certainly a lot more that goes into managing now than there used to be," said Francona, who is in his 17th season as a big-league manager. "I don't mean those guys didn't know the game, it's just a little different.

"I can't imagine Lou sat in a room with media every day. It's just different."

Francona smiled as he thought about how the everyday duties of managing would be magnified as a player-manager.

"Think about that, you're running the bases and you've got to think about a pitching change," said Francona. "[You're managing] guys who are 10 years older than you. And he's the AL MVP of the league. It's pretty incredible."

When Robinson was hired as the Indians manager in 1975, it was as a player-manager. That lasted for two of the three years he managed in Cleveland. Pete Rose was hired by Cincinnati as a player-manager in 1984, but after 1986 he became the full-time manager.

Boudreau managed 16 years in the big leagues, nine with the Indians. He was a player-manager for his first 10 years on the job. In that regard youth was served.

It's hard to imagine a player-manager being successful in this era. Boudreau didn't have a laptop full of statistics to go through before each game. He didn't have an analytics department pumping out daily suggestions on who should bat where in the lineup.

Managers have almost become CEOs. Teams travel with trainers, strength coaches, mental skills coaches, cooks, a video team and a replay coordinator on top of the regular coaching staff. Somebody has to coordinate all that and have the final say when problems arise. Managing the game is sometimes the least of a manager's worries, but those worries could multiply if he also happened to be the starting shortstop.

One thing about being a player-manager, especially if you were as talented as Boudreau. The job security would be hard to beat. Managers get fired by the fistful every season. But if the manager is hitting .350 with 30 homers and 100 RBI, well one way or the other, he's probably going to stick around.

Cleveland Indians' Danny Salazar leaves himself spee chless with 12 strikeouts against Yankees

By Paul Hoynes

CLEVELAND, Ohio - It's unclear if Danny Salazar threw so well and so hard Saturday night that he was rendered speechless by his own talent. Or that his voice just gave out on him.

Whatever the reason, Salazar told the PR staff that he'd lost his voice and couldn't talk to reporters after the Indians lost to the Yankees, 2-1. Salazar, who struck out a career-high 12 batters in seven innings, was not involved in the decision.

Tongue-tied or not, he figures to play a prominent role in the final two months of the season as the Indians try to defend their AL Central championship. He has made three quality starts since coming off the disabled list, going 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 20 innings.

So who does one talk to when the pitcher is at a loss for words? The catcher of course.

Yan Gomes was unaware of Salazar's vocal problems. When told his starter's distress, Gomes smiled and said, "So I've got to answer his questions, is that what you're saying? Go ahead."

Once Gomes warmed to the subject he did a nice job standing in for Salazar.

Terry Francona pleased with Danny Salazar

"It's starting show that he's just letting it eat now," said Gomes, referring to Salazar's fastball. "You don't see the 89 mph or 90 mph out of nowhere. If it's 89 or 90 it's usually off speed.

"It's really good that he's healthy, he's feeling good. Once his confidence starts rising, that's when we know he's going to be really good."

Salazar went on the disabled list with a sore right shoulder on June 6. To be frank, he was a mess. Not only did his right shoulder hurt, but the Indians had put him in the bullpen. They sent him to Class AA Akron to work with minor league pitching Tony Arnold and Ruben Niebla, the team's minor league pitching coordinator.

No one knew when he'd be back. He was Humpty Dumpty and had to be put back together again. Salazar didn't pitch again for the Tribe until July 22. He's been rolling ever since.

"I know everybody was wondering how he'd come back," said Gomes. "He's healthy and we all know when he's healthy he's a dangerous pitcher.

"Right now you're seeing that young Danny, just letting his arm eat. You see some guys out there having some silly at-bats against him."

Salazar threw a season-high 112 pitches Saturday night. Sixty three percent of them (71-for-112) were strikes. He allowed four hits and three walks.

He threw 61 four-seam fastballs with an average velocity of 95.5 mph. Salazar's four-seamers ranged from 92.3 mph to 98.3, according to baseballsavant.com.

Salazar's first pitch of the night was 93.4 mph. His last, to catcher Austin Romine, to strikeout the Yankees in order in the seventh was 96 mph.

"If he keeps pitching like that, he's going to make everybody happy," said manager Terry Francona.

Yankees 2, Indians 1: 11 Walk-Off Thoughts on Danny Salazar ‘eating’ again, returning to form

Here are 11 Walk-Off Thoughts on the Indians’ 2-1 loss to the New York Yankees Saturday night.

1. Zach McAllister allowed the game-winning home run in the eighth, and the Indians threatened Aroldis Chapman in the ninth, but two terrific plays by the Yankees negated the answer they needed. It was a tough loss at the hands of the Yankees in which the bullpen faltered and the offense came up just short in the ninth.

2. But, the lasting impression from Saturday night, especially with a longer-term view in mind, is that Danny Salazar again looks like one of the better starting pitchers in the American League, just as he did in the first half of last season en route to an All-Star selection.

3. Salazar delivered seven strong innings, allowing just one run, and struck out a career-high 12 batters. In his first start back from the disabled list, he threw seven scoreless innings against the Toronto Blue Jays. In his second outing, he allowed two runs on three hits in six innings against the Chicago White Sox. In all three starts, he’s struck out at least eight hitters and now has a combined 1.35 ERA.

4. As the trade deadline neared, the Indians were connected to several starting pitchers available on the market. It was written that Danny Salazar would represent as high of a ceiling as any starting pitcher the Indians could likely acquire, with obviously the added positive that it wouldn’t take several assets to bring him into the mix. With realistic expectations in mind, Salazar has been right at the ceiling in his first three starts back from the disabled list.

5. In effect, he might end up being the biggest deadline acquisition for the Indians, with all due respect to Joe Smith, who represented a positive move as well.

6. Yan Gomes: “It’s starting to show that he’s kind of just letting it eat now. You don’t see the 89-90 out of nowhere, 89-90 is usually an offspeed. It’s good that he’s healthy, he’s feeling good. Once his confidence starts rising, that’s when we know he’s going to be real good. … “The guy comes out there, gives us seven innings, one run, 12 strikeouts, I mean, he’s been doing that consistently the last couple starts since he’s been back. It’s really nice to see. I know from everyone else, everyone was kind of iffy on how he was going to kind of come back. He’s healthy. We all know when he’s healthy, he’s a dangerous pitcher.”

7. Salazar was placed on the disabled list and continued to work in the minors. He, and others, mentioned his confidence. Indians manager Terry Francona said the Indians hadn’t yet really seen Salazar look like himself. They are all still searching for the Salazar who was dynamite for half of last season before injuries derailed a potential Cy Young bid. He certainly seems back now, which would be a huge boost for a club to have Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar all healthy and pitching well as a 1-2-3 punch.

8. Gomes: “I think that was probably something with his health or whatever was going on. But now, you see that young Danny just letting his arm eat. You see some guys out there having some silly at-bats against him.”

9. Salazar’s velocity was an issue when he started his rehab assignments. It’s also safe to say that it has returned. With his 110th pitch Saturday night, Salazar hit 98 mph while facing Austin Romine, who went on to be Salazar’s 12th strikeout

10. Francona: “Yeah. That’s good to see, especially late in the game like that. When he’s nearing the end of his game, his last pitch I think was 98 and there was some purpose behind it. That was good to see. He pitches like that, we’re all going to be happy. … “I think it kind of speaks to his competitiveness, too. We see Verlander do that all the time, it’s almost like he’s his own reliever. But when you can go get another gear that late, that’s impressive.”

11. Salazar was unavailable to speak after the game, as he was dealing with a hoarse voice. There’s a joke about how even he left himself speechless in there somewhere. If he, Kluber and Carrasco can stay healthy, they’d represent the type of 1-2-3 that has seemingly set up the Indian well in an October setting, at least on paper.

Akron Beacon Journal LOADED: 08.06.2017

Yankees 2, Indians 1: Chase Headly hits game-winning home run as Indians waste another strong start by Danny Salazar

By Ryan Lewis

CLEVELAND: A good sign for the future, but a loss for the present.

The Indians received further evidence that Danny Salazar has regained the confidence, aggressiveness and mechanics that made him an All-Star a year ago, but the bullpen couldn’t follow suit in a 2-1 loss to the New York Yankees on Saturday night before a sellout crowd at Progressive Field.

After a strong outing by Salazar, Zach McAllister (1-1) entered in the eighth inning of a 1-1 tie and was quickly taken deep by Chase Headley for a solo home run to right field.

The Indians (59-49) couldn’t answer against reliever Dellin Betances in the eighth. Some terrific defense, which failed the Yankees (58-51) in the first two games of the series, ensured there would be no answer in the ninth, either.

Facing closer Aroldis Chapman (14 saves), Michael Brantley opened the inning with a single and Jose Ramirez put a scare into the Yankees with a deep drive to left field, but Brett Gardner made a leaping catch at the wall. Ronald Torreyes then added a diving catch to rob Edwin Encarnacion of a single in shallow right field for the second out.

With two outs, Carlos Santana worked the count full and then sliced a ball down the fight-field line that was just foul and only a few feet from being a walk-off home run or, at least, an RBI double. On the next pitch, Chapman struck out Santana looking to end it.

Salazar continued his red-hot stretch since returning from the disabled list, allowing just one run on four hits and striking out a career-high 12 batters. He was also hitting 98 mph in the seventh inning as he crept above 100 pitches.

It was another positive sign for the Indians and their No. 3 starting pitcher. Salazar pitched seven shutout innings against the Toronto Blue Jays in his return and followed that up with a quality start (six innings, two runs allowed) against the Chicago White Sox. He has struck out at least eight hitters in all three outings and has looked every bit of the pitcher who was an All-Star last season.

The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the first inning off a shaky Salazar. Gardner led off with a walk before Aaron Judge singled with one out. Didi Gregorius followed by blasting a double off the wall in center field, narrowly missing a home run, to score Gardner.

The Indians answered in the bottom of the second. Yankees starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery left a curveball over the middle of the plate to Santana, who lined a solo home run just over the 19-foot wall in left field. It was Santana’s 16th home run of the season.

In the sixth, the Indians failed to convert a scoring opportunity and endured a minor injury scare. After singling to right field, Francisco Lindor took off for second base with Brantley at the plate. As Brantley singled to left, Lindor started to slide but held up, awkwardly stumbling into the base and bending over for a bit once the play was dead. Lindor remained in the game.

Saturday night was the Indians’ seventh sellout this season, the most since 2007, when they had 11.


Indians unveil Lou Boudreau statue; Jason Kipnis to be activated Sunday; Abraham Almonte promoted

CLEVELAND: The player-manager who led the Indians to their last World Series title has been further immortalized among the all-time greats within the franchise, as the club on Saturday unveiled a statue honoring Lou Boudreau.

Boudreau, who was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 1970, took over as player-manager when he was only 24 years old and eventually led the Indians to a World Series championship in 1948, the year he was also named the American League MVP, hitting .355 and driving in 106 runs. He was a seven-time All-Star, the 1944 batting champion and remains as the Indians’ all-time winningest manager with 728 victories.

Boudreau’s statue, which stands outside the gate in right-center field, joins those honoring Larry Doby and Bob Feller, his former teammates. Jim Thome’s statue was moved just inside the gate, and Frank Robinson’s stands in Heritage Park.

The ceremony was attended by more than 70 of Boudreau’s family members, including some who flew from Australia to be there, as well as Indians owner Paul Dolan, former major-league pitcher Denny McLain— Boudreau’s son-in-law—and the current Indians roster.

Boudreau was the childhood idol of Dolan’s father, Larry. So, the younger Dolan always heard the stories of incredible Boudreau and the 1940s Indians teams.

“He never tired of telling the stories of how remarkable a player he was, what a great leader he was and what a great competitor he was,” Dolan said. “As a child of the 60s and 70s, winning in Cleveland was unknown, and the World Series was unthinkable. So my father’s stories of this player-manager, Lou Boudreau, leading our Cleveland Indians to the World Series was to me like reading stories of Harry Potter to my children. Magical and heroic, but unbelievable. Yet, there was nothing fictional about the Boudreau magic.”

Among Boudreau’s resume, it was his time as a player-manager that amazed Francona. That was especially true in 1948, as he managed the club while acting as the AL’s MVP.

“That’s unbelievable,” Francona said. “I don’t think [you’d see that today]. … But, think about it. That’s unbelievable. You’re running the bases, and then you’ve got to think about a pitching change and guys are 10 years older than you. It’s pretty incredible.”

In and out

The Indians on Saturday made one roster move and are set to make another on Sunday.

Abraham Almonte was recalled to add depth in the outfield, while Adam Plutko was optioned down to Triple-A. The Indians were carrying an extra reliever in the bullpen. Plutko was there partly as insurance, but Corey Kluber’s complete game a few days ago combined with an off day on Monday relieved that need.

Jason Kipnis, on the 10-day disabled list with a strained hamstring, is set to come off the DL on Sunday. It’s likely that Giovanny Urshela, despite his run of highlight-reel plays, could be sent down. Another option would be Erik Gonzalez, though with his experience playing shortstop, third base, second base and in the outfield, he could carry more value as a utility player off the bench.

Kipnis will return to the starting lineup, though the club could be cautious with him in the early going.

“I think we’ll use some common sense,” Francona said. “If we have two or three in a row night games, and there’s a day game, we’ll use some common sense. We don’t want to run him into the ground. That’s the one thing. It’s not just the hitting part—it’s your body. You play two, three in a row. Once you start playing, sometimes guys don’t want a day off, because their bodies are used to it. But, when you’ve missed some time, you’ve got to be a little careful there.”


Jason Kipnis' return could cost someone with a good glove a spot on the roster

By Zack Meisel

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Someone will have to go when Jason Kipnis rejoins the active roster on Sunday.

That person might wield a more-than-capable glove in the field. Giovanny Urshela and Erik Gonzalez have filled in while Kipnis has been sidelined for about a month because of a strained right hamstring.

Urshela made a pair of dazzling defensive gems in the Indians' win against the Yankees on Saturday. Gonzalez has impressed with his leather in occasional appearances as well.

"Their defense, it's elite defense," said Tribe manager Terry Francona. ... "When you have guys out or hurting and you're trying to figure out what to do, knowing that the ball is going to get caught is a really good thing, especially when you value your pitching so much."

Kipnis' return, however, will create an infield crowd.

Francona said Kipnis wouldn't "play 10 in a row." The Indians have an off-day on Monday to help ease the second baseman back into regular action.

In 66 games with the Indians this season, Kipnis has posted a .232/.292/.402 slash line. That production, or lack thereof, has come around several stints on the disabled list. He started the year on the shelf because of a strained rotator cuff in his right shoulder. He also has been bothered by a stiff neck at various points this season. He suffered the hamstring injury before the All-Star break.

"We don't want to run him into the ground," Francona said. "That's the one thing. It's not just the hitting part. It's your body."

Roster shuffle: Mike Clevinger's temporary relocation to the bullpen allowed the Indians to return right-hander Adam Plutko to Triple-A Columbus on Saturday. Corey Kluber and Trevor Bauer have helped, too. The two starters combined for 16 innings during the first two games of the Indians' series against the Yankees.

That, plus Wednesday's rainout, eased the burden on a bullpen forced to cover 16 1/3 innings from Sunday-Tuesday.

The rainout and Monday's off-day permitted the Tribe to reconfigure their rotation and lend Clevinger to the bullpen. Plutko did not pitch during his brief stint with the Indians.

The Indians recalled outfielder Abraham Almonte from Columbus to take Plutko's spot on the roster.

On this date: On Aug. 5, 2001, the Indians completed a comeback for the ages, as they erased a 14-2, seventh-inning deficit against the Mariners at Jacobs Field. Cleveland sealed the win in 11 innings, by a 15-14 final score. The Indians matched the league record by overcoming a 12-run deficit. Seattle ultimately finished the regular season with a 116-46 record. The teams met in the American League Division Series. The Mariners edged out the Tribe in five games.

Cleveland Plain Dealer LOADED: 08.06.2017

Did the Cleveland Indians need more help than Joe Smi th at the trade deadline? Hey Hoynsie

By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com

Hey, Hoynsie: I know I’m not mlb.com, but I had Thomas Pannone and Saad Taylor as top 30 prospects for the Indians. I just think this was a lot to give up for Joe Smith. I think the Indians needed hitting more than relief pitching. In my opinion they wasted these assets in a trade they didn’t need to make. – Dennis, CIPerspective.

Hey, Dennis: You may have a better read on this than mlb.com. Remember who Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff were dealing with – Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro, who have a good knowledge of the Indians' farm system.

Still, with Andrew Miller and Boone Logan down, and Bryan Shaw experiencing some bumps in the road, I think Smith was a good addition. They still have until Aug. 31 to try and work a waiver deal to improve the offense.

Zach Britton

Should the Indians have added a left-handed reliever such as Baltimore's Zach Britton before Monday's non-waiver deadline?

Tribe needed to do more at the deadline

Hey, Hoynsie: You have got to be kidding me. The Tribe does nothing more than get a right-handed reliever at the deadline when it needed a strong left-hander in the bullpen and a reliable bat to platoon or some bench help? Meanwhile, the Royals and just about every contender have made significant moves. The Tribe will be lucky to get a wild card spot this year. – Gordon Weller.

Hey, Gordon: Calm down and count to 10 and check the AL Central standings. You’ll feel better.

Do Indians' players lack patience?

Hey, Hoynsie: Don't you think the Indians show a marked lack of that very important baseball virtue: patience? As if they had already punched their ticket to the postseason and keep asking, “Are we there yet?’’ Hitters lunging at first-pitch high fastballs with men on; pitchers careless when ahead in the count and, especially recently, an exceptional number of outs on the base paths. Is veteran leadership lacking? – Chuck Webster.

Hey, Chuck: I don’t think leadership is the problem. I just think the Indians have played inconsistently for much of the year. I think that’s led to players trying to do too much in certain situations.

Things are improving. Offensively, the Indians rank second in the AL in walks and on-base percentage. Stolen bases are down, but their success rate is a respectable 77 percent (61-for-79). Their batting average with runners in scoring position has improved to .249, tied for ninth in the league.

The start of something special A few savvy trades keyed Indians' run of 6 division titles in 7 years

Leadoff-man Kenny Lofton was the ignitor on the great Indians' teams of the 1990s.

Who's the fastest Indian of them all?

Hey, Hoynsie: Rank the speed of the following players in a Tribe uniform: Rajai Davis, Kenny Lofton, Drew Stubbs and Bradley Zimmer. – Mike Engbert, Upper Arlington.

Hey, Mike: I’m not a track coach, but the one thing I do know is they’re all faster than me. If I was a betting man, however, my money would be on Lofton finishing first in that group. As manager Mike Hargrove used to say, “Kenny’s speed distorts the game.”

One player that should be included in your list is Otis Nixon. Otis could fly, but he always told me his mother could beat him in a race. Now that's a race I would have paid money to see.

Austin Jackson's catch stirs memories of Al Luplow

Hey, Hoynsie: I was listening to the game in which Indians outfielder Al Luplow sailed over the bullpen wall in right center field at Fenway Park to steal a home run from Dick Williams on June 27, 1963. I remember announcer Jimmy Dudley saying if he had been a star like Willie Mays, the catch would have been called the greatest ever. – Jim Claeys, Cuyahoga Falls.

Hey, Jim: The memory of baseball fans always amazes me. I’ve received several emails from people who remember Luplow’s catch in light of Austin Jackson’s great catch near the same spot at Fenway Park on Tuesday night. The link between baseball’s past and present, assisted by our memories, is always strong.

Was Al Luplow in center or right field that day at Fenway Park?

Hey, Hoynsie: Regarding Austin Jackson's catch Tuesday night at Fenway Park, everyone is comparing it to Kenny Lofton’s great catch against B.J. Surhoff, but I think a third catch should be in the mix. Indians outfielder Al Luplow made a great catch at Fenway Park as well on June 27, 1963. I was lucky enough to see all three catches. Jackson slowed and braced himself before the catch, but Luplow cleared the wall full speed before landing in the Boston bullpen. The only thing I’m not sure of is whether Luplow was playing center or right field in that game? – Bob Johnson, East Hartford, Conn.

Hey, Bob: You’re a lucky guy to see all three of those great catches. Luplow was playing right field that day. He came into the game late as a defensive replacement.

Indians manager Terry Francona will let his hitters swing on a 3-0 count.

Who gets the green light on 3-0?

Hey, Hoynsie: When Indians hitters get a 3-0 count, they always take the next pitch, which is usually right down the middle. I can’t recall a single instance where a player was swinging away on a 3-0 count. Has manager Terry Francona set a rule to take on 3-0 no matter what? George Amer, Gallatin.

Hey, George: I’ve found it’s dangerous to say always and never. Francona lets his hitters swing on 3-0 pitches. Of course, he can give them the take sign in certain instances as well.

This season, according to baseball-reference.com, the Indians have had 241 plate appearances with a 3-0 count. Eighty-eight times the plate appearance ended in a four-pitch walk. When it comes to putting the ball in play on a 3-0 count, the Indians are 2-for-3 with a double and a homer.

These stats don't include what happens if a hitter takes a strike on a 3-0 pitch and the at-bat goes on from there.

Former Colorado Rockies pitcher Jeff Francis licks the fingers of his pitching hand after allowing a home run to Derek Lee of the Cubs in this 2008 game.

When can a pitcher put his pitching hand to his mouth?

Hey, Hoynsie: I've noticed that some Indians pitchers lick their fingers between pitches. What’s the rule book say on what a pitcher can do to get a better grip on the ball? – Brad Behrendt, Perrysburg.

Hey, Brad: A pitcher can go to his mouth with his pitching hand while he’s standing on the dirt part of the mound as long as he wipes his hand dry before touching the ball and stepping on the rubber. He cannot do that while in contact with the rubber.

In cold weather, providing that both managers agree to it, pitchers can blow on their pitching hand.

Cleveland Plain Dealer LOADED: 08.06.2017

By the numbers: How back-to-back curveballs did in I ndians and left Danny Salazar speechless T.J. Zuppe CLEVELAND — Danny Salazar pitched so well on Saturday night, he was left speechless. No, seriously. He declined to talk to reporters after the game because he had apparently lost his voice at some point earlier in the night. When told of this development, catcher Yan Gomes jokingly replied, “I guess I have to answer his questions is what you’re saying.” Unfortunately, Salazar's seven-inning performance wasn't enough to lift the Indians to their third win in a row over the Yankees, as the Tribe fell in game three of the four-game series, 2-1. Here are the numbers behind a close game and interesting finish at Progressive Field. 2: That's how many consecutive curveballs Zach McAllister threw to Chase Headley in the eighth inning. Having just struck out Brett Gardner with straight heat, McAllister doubled up on the breaking pitch to begin the sequence. But Headley was ready for the second offering, driving the ball over the right-center field wall for the go-ahead solo blast. What was the reasoning behind starting with a pair of curves? “I guess now it was a bad idea,” Gomes said. “It’s one of those things, man. If the pitch is a little lower, Headley either takes or rolls over. Credit to Headley, man. He put a good swing on it.” One of the reasons why manager Terry Francona said he went to McAllister in that situation — planning to follow the right-hander with lefty Tyler Olson and righty Bryan Shaw — was because he thought McAllister's velocity would match up well against the top of the Yankee lineup. Every pitch to Gardner in the at-bat prior was a fastball. Every pitch to Headley was a curve. “I thought I threw that [first] one pretty good, 0-0, to get a strike,” McAllister said. “I wanted to bury the next one and then if he swung at that, or he took it, then I was going to go to my fastball. Obviously, I didn't locate the pitch where I wanted to. It's frustrating. Danny goes out there and pitches his butt off and competes and puts in position to have a chance to win the game. Coming in in a spot like that and not being able to get the job done is frustrating.” In fairness, Headley entered the night hitting .315 with a .514 slugging percentage against four-seamers this year, so missing a spot with either type of pitch would be less than ideal. In this situation, the location paired with the pitch sequence led to the outcome. “I’m guessing he’d probably like to have that one back,” Francona said.

Of course, the homer on the curve comes just one day after we wrote about McAllister's increased curveball usage in this week's Friday Insider piece. Not only did we discuss how he's using it more than ever before, we also talked about this was becoming a stretch, with Andrew Miller on the disabled list, for the righty to perhaps take on an expanded role. He did enter Saturday's game with a career low ERA, after all. So, if The Athletic somehow played any part in the unfortunate outcome of Saturday's at-bat, I apologize to you, the readers, and to McAllister. My bad. And shout out to Headley, who clearly proved to be a subscriber by being ready for the second curve against the fastball-oriented pitcher. 1.35: That's Salazar's ERA in three starts since returning from the disabled list, removing more and more doubt from the ever-present evaluation of the hard-throwing righty. In 20 innings following his activation, he's struck out 28 hitters and has looked every bit like the hurler they need him to be. On Saturday, he recorded a career high 12 strikeouts, collecting 14 total swinging-strikes. Typically, Salazar garners most of his whiffs on his split-change, but on this particular evening, half of the swings and misses were recorded with his speedy four-seam fastball. “The guy comes out there, gives us seven innings, one run, 12 strikeouts,” Gomes said. “I mean, he’s been doing that consistently the last couple starts since he’s been back. It’s really nice to see. I know from everyone else, everyone was kind of iffy on how he was going to kind of come back. He’s healthy. We all know when he’s healthy, he’s a dangerous pitcher.” 95.3 mph: Speaking to that health, the fact that Salazar held his velocity throughout his outing for the third straight start also speaks to how his arm is feeling. Some of his hardest tosses came in the final two innings, sitting in the 97-98 mph range. That may be the most encouraging part of his three-start domination. It's not about just being able to throw hard, it's also crucial for Salazar to know he can, when he needs to, reach back and get a little extra. “It’s starting to show that he’s kind of just letting it eat now,” Gomes said. “You don’t see the 89-90 out of nowhere, 89-90 is usually an offspeed. It’s good that he’s healthy, he’s feeling good. Once his confidence starts rising, that’s when we know he’s going to be real good.” 370: Jose Ramirez gave an Aroldis Chapman offering a long ride in the bottom of the ninth, a drive that sent a few players scrambling to their feet in preparation for a potential walk-off, two-run blast. Instead of clearing the 19-foot wall, Gardner made a leaping catch at the wall, 370 feet away from home plate for out number one, sending Michael Brantley scampering back to first base. “I’m pretty sure I saw some guys running around in the dugout,” Gomes said. “Every time Josey steps up to the plate, we think we have a chance. Especially that middle of the lineup, we always know we’re going to have a chance.” Maybe memories of Rajai Davis' two-run, game-tying blast in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series gave the Indians some sort of advantage against Chapman, but some of their best at-bats of the night came against the lefty capable of blowing fastballs by anyone. They created a few good chances, but Garner's catch against the base of the wall and an impressive grab by second baseman Ronald Torreyes to rob Edwin Encarnacion of a hit made it tougher to push the tying run beyond first base. The game came down to a terrific nine-pitch battle between Chapman and Carlos Santana. One pitch before the sequence's conclusion, Santana slapped a ball deep down the right-field line that hit off the padding of the portion of the right field wall in foul territory, missing an extra-base hit by about 10 feet. On the next pitch, the switch-hitter would take an 88 mph slider for strike three, officially ending their rally attempt. “It’s hard to beat a guy like that, but we came really close,” Francona said. “You’d rather be in a situation where he doesn’t pitch. We’ve won some of those, and we’ll win them again.” While they couldn't move Brantley beyond first following his leadoff single, their ability to make him work — he had to throw 21 strenuous pitchers to retire the side — the Indians certainly made the talented lefty look human, much like they did in last year's Game 7. “I feel like he’s still fresh in our minds. I think we kind of know what he’s going to bring. We do a pretty good job in eighth, ninth inning, to try to rally something up together and give us a chance to win some ballgames. Even though we weren’t able to come through, I’m sure in the back of their minds and some team’s minds, they’re going to know that in the ninth inning, the game’s not over. We’re still going to battle.” 2: Nick Goody probably felt a bit of validation Saturday night, striking out a pair of Yankee hitters in a scoreless ninth inning. Goody was drafted by the Yankees in 2011 and 2012, but he was designated for assignment over the winter to make room for Chapman on the 40-man roster. He was traded to the Tribe in December and has been a pleasant surprise in their bullpen this season, posting a 2.23 ERA (3.20 FIP) with 52 strikeouts in 40 1/3 innings this season. 9: That's how many times Indians hitters came up empty swinging against Jordan Montgomery's cutter. Overall, they whiffed on 10 of the left-hander's 65 pitches. Montgomery finished with just one run allowed in five innings, serving up a second-inning homer to Santana. As you can see here, he forced opposing batters to expand their zone on several occasions. “You know, he’s tall and he kind of leverages the ball downhill,” Francona said. “And his breaking ball, it was in and out of the zone and we had a really tough time laying off. Once a couple of them got called, then we started to chase it more. Their staff is really good. We made it probably even tougher, because we started going out of the zone more. They really took advantage of that.” Kipnis set to be activated Sunday, but how will Ind ians manage his return? T.J. Zuppe CLEVELAND — Just a short time ago, the Indians were mulling over ideas for how they would handle giving six starting pitchers five rotation slots. But in the end, that conundrum worked itself out, courtesy of Josh Tomlin's unfortunate hamstring injury. That's how these things tend to go. Now, manager Terry Francona and his staff will have to juggle another interesting situation — how will they handle second baseman Jason Kipnis' playing time upon his activation from the disabled list Sunday? And which player will lose a roster spot because of it? The first part is easy. Feeling healthy after suffering a right hamstring strain prior to the All-Star break, Kipnis is ready to rejoin the major league club for the finale of their weekend series against the Yankees. But before getting him back, the Indians wanted Kipnis to play in one final game at Triple-A Columbus on Friday night.

“He faced a left-handed knuckleballer,” Francona said. “I'm sure he was thrilled about that. He thought he was ready to go. I think he had eight at-bats. That's not very many. But, he's worked so hard, so we wanted to kind of — I don't know if meeting in the middle, if that's the right way to say it — but show him that we appreciate it. But, I just thought one more game would do him some good. And he ended having to sprint I think four times, which is good. So, he'll play second base tomorrow.” But how often will he play? Certainly they don't plan on thrusting him into the immediate rigors of playing 10 days in a row. Given the nature of his recent injury, overloading him out of the gate is the last thing they want to do. But they also want him to play regularly enough that perhaps he can get into a solid offensive groove. That was a bit of an issue for the banged-up Kipnis in 66 games earlier this season, slashing .232/.292/.402 in 283 plate appearances. Getting him back to being an impact bat would provide an obvious lift down the stretch. “I think we'll use some common sense,” Francona said. “If we have two or three in a row night games, and there's a day game, we'll use some common sense. We don't want to run him into the ground. It's not just the hitting part — it's your body. You play two, three in a row. Once you start playing, sometimes guys don't want a day off, because their bodies are used to it. But, when you've missed some time, you've got to be a little careful there. I think people think, ‘Well, why does he need a day off?' They probably need it more.” But there's a tough decision hidden in the midst of Kipnis' return. In his absence, Erik Gonzalez and Giovanny Urshela have been splitting time in the infield. Both have contributed outstanding infield defense, with Gonzalez playing a good defensive second base and Urshela turning in Gold Glove caliber plays at third. While neither infielder is capable of providing the same offensive value as Kipnis at his peak, their ability to catch the ball with incredible proficiency has provided clear value to the Indians on several occasions. On Friday, Urshela's outstanding grab and throw home on Clint Frazier's grounder to third was one Francona called a “game-saving play.” But facing reality, only one of the two young players can probably exist under the current construct of the roster. Gonzalez's defensive versatility — he's also managed to hit .263 in limited duty — might give him an advantage over Urshela. Whatever the decision becomes, it's safe to say the potential odd man out will likely return very quickly when rosters expand in September. “Their defense, it's elite defense,” Francona said. “When push comes to shove, and if you're not sure if somebody's going to hit or not, knowing that they're going to catch the ball is huge. And I think yesterday was a direct [example]. We may not win that game, if not for that defense. If you can get both, that's when you've got a chance to have a really good player. But, when you have guys out or hurting and you're trying to figure out what to do, knowing that the ball's going to get caught is a really good thing, especially when you value your pitching so much.” SPORTS Indians honor former player/manager Lou Boudre au with a bronze statue at stadium Tom Withers | The Associated PressPublished on Aug. 6, 2017 | Updated 2:04 a. m. CLEVELAND — Lou Boudreau didn’t just manage the Cleveland Indians to their last World Series title in 1948. He was also their starting shortstop — and the AL’s MVP. The club honored the late Hall of Famer on Saturday by unveiling a bronze statue that will permanently sit outside the main entrance of Progressive Field alongside Bob Feller and Larry Doby, two fellow Hall of Famers and former teammates. Boudreau was 24 when became the youngest manager in team history in 1942. He led the Indians through a golden age as the club won 728 games under him and their second World Series championship in 1948. That year, Boudreau batted .355 with 106 RBIs and struck out just nine times in 560 at-bats. Indians owner Paul Dolan recalled that his father, Larry, idolized Boudreau and made him the standard by which he judged all other players. It was almost unfair to compare anyone to Boudreau, one of the most unique players in baseball history. A seven-time All-Star, he finished with a .295 career average and led the league’s shortstops in fielding eight times. “As a child of the 1960s and 70s, winning in Cleveland was unknown,” Dolan said. “And the World Series was unthinkable. So my father’s stories of this player-manager Lou Boudreau leading our Cleveland Indians to the World Series was like me reading stories of Harry Potter to my children. Magical and heroic, but unbelievable. Yet, there’s nothing fictional about the Boudreau magic.” More than 70 members of Boudreau’s family and most of the Indians current players attended the pregame ceremony before the Indians hosted the New York Yankees. Former major league pitcher Denny McLain, Boudreau’s son-in-law, spoke of his selflessness. “Lou had no ego, none,” said McLain, who went 31-6 with Detroit in 1968. “Lou is the only man I’ve met who cared about everyone and everything.” Lou Boudreau Jr. spoke about his father’s innovation as a manager. When the Indians faced the Boston Red Sox, Boudreau often deployed a shift against the great Ted Williams, moving three infielders on the right side to stop him. That strategy is very common in today’s game, a nod to Boudreau. The younger Boudreau described his dad as a regular guy, who never turned down any fan’s autograph request. “I’m not sure I ever saw him finish a meal in a restaurant,” Boudreau said.

Before the statue of Boudreau, his bat pulled back as he loads up to swing at a pitch, was unveiled, Boudreau Jr. noted that his late father would have turned 100 this year. “This statue will keep him forever young,” he said. SPORTS Jim Ingraham: Indians need Andrew Miller back ... and pitching like he did last year So, the two pitchers the Indians rode the hardest last year, all the way to the American League pennant and the seventh game of the World Series, have landed on the disabled list this year. Shocked? Don’t be. The Indians can only hope Andrew Miller bounces back from his injury as ferociously as Corey Kluber did from his, because their importance to their team cannot be overstated. They are the Lennon and McCartney of the Indians’ pitching staff. Kluber spent virtually all of May on the disabled list, which makes the fact he’s third in the league in strikeouts all kinds of wacky, given that he’s started five fewer games than his competition. However, since his return from the DL, Kluber has been a cross between Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez: 12 starts, a record of 6-1 with a 1.77 ERA, an opponents’ batting average of .172, while averaging 13.7 strikeouts and 1.5 walks per nine innings. Looks like he’s Cy Younging again. Counting the postseason, Kluber last year pitched 249 innings, which is 14 more than he’d ever pitched in one season as a professional. The carryover from that may have been his first six starts this year, in which he had a 5.06 ERA and averaged 9.8 strikeouts and 3.1 walks per nine innings — plus the lower back strain that landed him on the DL. Meanwhile, red flags have been flapping around 2016 American League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Miller’s work for the last two months — with good reason. Miller’s postseason workload last year was epic. He pitched in 10 of the Indians’ 15 postseason games, and in those 15 games he pitched more innings (19 1/3) as a reliever than Trevor Bauer or Josh Tomlin did as starters, and they each started four postseason games. Nobody then, and nobody now, complained about Miller’s heavy usage. The reason the Indians traded four prospects, two of them top prospects, to the Yankees for Miller is that the Indians wanted an elite, versatile reliever who could carry a huge workload through the regular season and postseason. That’s exactly what Miller did. This is big boy baseball, and Miller and Kluber pitched the Indians to the seventh game of the World Series. But at some point, a tax bill comes due. The Indians have already paid the Kluber tax. He missed the month of May, but he’s returned with a vengeance. The Indians began paying the Miller tax last week, when he was placed on the disabled list with right knee patella tendinitis. The Indians did so with the frequently employed — in perceived non-serious injuries — verbal addendum, “He’s had this for a while.” How long is “a while”? The Indians were vague, but with a little statistical sleuthing, it’s not hard to pinpoint. In Miller’s first 23 appearances this year, he had a 0.34 ERA, opposing hitters had a .163 slugging percentage, a .363 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) and he averaged just 1.7 walks per nine innings. In his last 23 appearances, all coming in June, July and one game in August, he had a 2.93 ERA, opposing hitters had a .258 slugging percentage, a .503 OPS and he averaged 3.3 walks per nine innings. In Miller’s last 23 appearances, opposing teams had a .245 on-base percentage against him. That’s almost 100 points higher than the opponents’ on-base percentage (.155) in his 26 regular-season appearances for the Indians last year. Clearly something with Miller has been haywire for “a while.” Now it has a name: right knee patella tendinitis.

“It’s his landing leg,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “He doesn’t have anything to firm up against. He’s been yanking balls. He’s hit guys in the leg with sliders.” Miller is a notorious “gimme the ball” warrior, a trait Francona values in all relievers and worships in his best ones. So even though the numbers tell us Miller’s knee began barking two months ago, he and the team felt — wisely or unwisely — that it was a manageable condition, and not DL-worthy. “I don’t think you can just put a guy on the disabled list when it’s convenient,” Francona said. “You’ve got to do it when it’s right. And this will do him a lot of good.” The Indians better hope so. Because if Miller isn’t Miller when he returns, or if he’s gone for too long, a season could slip away. Interestingly, Miller, counting the postseason, pitched 93 2/3 innings last year. That’s the most innings he’s pitched in a season since 2008, when he was with the Marlins, and was a starting pitcher. He pitched 107 innings that year and, perhaps not coincidentally, spent six weeks on the disabled list in the middle of the season due to. . . Yep. Right knee patella tendinitis. Indians can't catch a break: Yankees use two big de fensive plays in ninth inning to stop Tribe's nine- game home winning streak Tom Withers | The Associated PressPublished on Aug. 6, 2017 | Updated 2:06 a. m. CLEVELAND — The Yankees saved Aroldis Chapman from reliving an October nightmare. On his first visit to Progressive Field since Game 7 of last year’s World Series, Chapman was bailed out by sensational defensive plays from Brett Gardner and Ronald Torreyes in the ninth inning as New York hung on to beat the Cleveland Indians 2-1 on Saturday night and stop a four-game losing streak. Last fall, Chapman (4-2) nearly blew the Cubs’ first World Series title since 1908 when he gave up a game-tying, two-run homer to Rajai Davis in the eighth inning. Chicago went on to win in extra innings but the left-hander’s meltdown — and Davis’ dramatic shot — remain two of the game’s most enduring moments. Chapman said he didn’t think about that night. “It was just another game,” Chapman insisted. It didn’t feel like one. Chapman allowed a leadoff single in the ninth before Jose Ramirez hit a fly to deep left that the 5-foot-11 Gardner grabbed with a jump on the warning track. “It’s a ball (6-foot-7, Aaron) Judge probably catches without having to jump. I was fortunate it wasn’t 6 inches higher because it could be a different result in the game,” Gardner said. As Ramirez’s ball headed to left, some of the Indians were convinced it was gone — and they had gotten Chapman again. “I’m pretty sure I saw some guys running around in the dugout,” Indians catcher Yan Gomes said. Edwin Encarnacion followed with a blooper toward right that looked destined to drop before Torreyes raced back and snared it with a diving catch before sliding on his belly across the grass. Chapman then went to a full count on Carlos Santana, who homered in the second inning, before striking him out with his 21st pitch of the inning for his 14th save. Santana had put another scare into the Yankees with a shot deep to right that just went foul. The defensive gems were a nice change for the Yankees, who made three errors in the series opener and had another error, passed ball and two wild pitches Friday. Chase Headley homered with one out in the eighth inning off Zach McAllister (1-1) for the Yankees, who have been anything but Bronx Bombers lately. Headley pulled a 0-1 curveball and his sixth homer barely cleared the wall in right. With top reliever Andrew Miller on the disabled list, Indians manager Terry Francona has limited late-game options and decided to go with McAllister, who allowed his first run in 11 1/3 innings. “I didn’t locate the pitch that I wanted to and it’s frustrating,” McAllister said. The Yankees have scored just eight runs in the past five games and they managed only four hits through seven innings against Indians starter Danny Salazar, who struck out a career-high 12.

Daniel Robertson (5-2) pitched two scoreless innings and Dellin Betances worked the eighth before giving way to the fire-balling Chapman. The Indians had their home winning streak stopped at nine games. For seven innings, Salazar mostly dominated the Yankees, who managed just one run. It was the right-hander’s third strong start since returning from the disabled list last month. Salazar was hoarse afterward and didn’t speak with reporters. He wriggled his way out of trouble in the first, got stronger as the game wore on, throwing a 98 mph fastball on his 110th pitch and striking out the side in the seventh to put an exclamation point on an outing that can only boost his confidence. Over his last three starts, Salazar has a 1.35 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 28 innings. “The guy comes out there, gives us seven innings, one run, 12 strikeouts,” Gomes said. “Everyone was kind of iffy on how he was going to come back. He’s healthy. We all know when he’s healthy, he’s a dangerous pitcher.” Backstop blues With starting catcher Gary Sanchez having defensive issues, Yankees manager Joe Girardi started Austin Romine behind the plate. Sanchez committed his major league-leading 12th passed ball Friday night and Girardi, who caught for 15 seasons in the majors, was critical of his catcher. Sanchez hasn’t been replaced, but Girardi is going to rest him when the schedule allows. “Our goal is to get him better,” Girardi said. “It’s our responsibility to help him and we will do that.” Judge’s chambers Judge is still struggling. He singled in the first inning, struck out twice and grounded out. The rookie slugger is hitting .178 (13-for-73) with 32 strikeouts since the All-Star break. Trainer’s room Yankees: DH Matt Holliday is headed to the disabled list with a sore lower back. Holliday tweaked his back while swinging during Friday’s game and was kept out of the lineup. Holliday is batting just .136 (11-for-81) with one homer and four RBIs since the All-Star break. Indians: 2B Jason Kipnis will come off the disabled list today and is expected to start the series finale. He’s been out since before the All-Star break with a strained right hamstring. Up next Indians RHP Carlos Carrasco didn’t get out of the second inning in his previous start against Boston. He’s 4-4 against the Yankees, who will start Luis Severino, who is 3-0 in his last five starts with a 1.36 ERA and 39 strikeouts. Jeff Schudel’s Cleveland Beat: Cleveland Indians’ i naction at trade deadline reflects confidence in te am already assembled By Jeff Schudel, The News-Herald & The Morning Journal Indians president Chris Antonetti opened himself up to second-guessing by being passive at the trading deadline, and he can live with that. The Indians were quiet players as July 31 crept closer while other contenders, particularly the Yankees and Royals, traded future assets to win now. The Indians could face one or both teams in the playoffs in October. The only move the Indians made was to ship two minor leaguers to the Blue Jays for right-handed reliever Joe Smith. Unfortunately for the Tribe, they learned after the deadline, Aug. 2, ace relief pitcher Andrew Miller will be out until at least Aug. 12 with right knee tendinitis. They learned the same day starting pitcher Josh Tomlin will be out until late September with a strained left hamstring. While the Indians were sitting back watching the river flow, the Yankees acquired third baseman Todd Frazier from the White Sox and pitcher Sonny Gray from the A’s. “I think what you need to look at is the balance of the team,” Antonetti said in a conference call to discuss the Smith trade. “We feel really good about the group of guys we have in our clubhouse and really believe in that group and its capabilities to play at a championship level. “Our approach as we headed into the deadline was to find guys that complement that group. As we tried to build this roster over the course of the last couple years, we’ve made moves in the past, going back to last year’s deadline, with our sights on a multiple-year horizon. When you look at acquiring Andrew Miller and (outfielder) Brandon Guyer, we targeted those guys in part because we thought they could have an impact in 2017 and 2018 season as well.” The Yankees, in a battle with the Red Sox for first place in the A.L. East, on July 19 shipped three prospects and relief pitcher Tyler Clippard to the White Sox for Frazier, right-handed reliever Tommy Kahnle and former Yankees closer David Robertson. One of the prospects sent to Chicago was 2016 first-round draft choice Blake Rutherford, an outfielder.

The Yankees on July 31 sent three of their top-12 prospects to Oakland for Gray. Gray made his debut against the Indians on Aug. 3 and lost a pitching duel to Corey Kluber, 5-1. The Indians did discuss deals other than the one resulting in Smith rejoining the Tribe, but nothing happened. A rumor floated July 31 had the Indians thinking about trading catcher Francisco Mejia to the Rangers for starting pitcher Yu Darvish. Antonetti deserves credit for not making that trade; Darvish would be a three-month rental because he will be a free agent in 2018. “It’s hard to say whether or not you’re close (to a trade),” Antonetti said. “I can say there wasn’t a player of magnitude traded or discussed that we didn’t have some dialogue about. “Part of the responsibility Mike (General Manager Mike Chernoff) and I have is to balance the near term and long term. What was encouraging for us to hear is we have a lot of players in our organization that a lot of other teams value. That gives us the ability to make deals — especially when we traded significant prospects last year to still have a system deep enough and well-regarded enough to make trades is encouraging.” The Indians sent four prospects to the Yankees at the deadline last year for Miller, who is under contract through 2018. One of them, outfielder Clint Frazier, has played in 26 games since being called up by the Yankees on July 1. He is hitting .243 with four home runs and 17 RBI. The Indians gave up two prospects for Guyer. Guyer is signed through 2018 with a club option for 2019. Jeff Schudel: Lou Boudreau had to be special as pla yer-manager at age 24 By Jeff Schudel, The News-Herald & The Morning Journal Many things Lou Boudreau did in his 13 years with the Indians deserve admiration, but the most incredible of all is he was only 24 when he was named player-manager in 1942. Seventy-five years later, with a record of 728-649, Boudreau remains the all-time winningest manager in Indians history. Boudreau’s story is topical because prior to the game between the Indians and Yankees on Aug. 5, a statue of the Hall of Fame shortstop outside Progressive Field was unveiled. More than 70 members of the Boudreau family were on hand for the ceremony. Denny McLain, who in 1968 won 31 games pitching for the Tigers, has been married to Boudreau’s daughter, Sharon, for 53 years. As one of the guest speakers, McLain talked of how humility made Boudreau a successful player and manager in baseball and a successful person after baseball. “Lou had no ego — none,” McLain said. “He was a manager at 24 years old. He could have had an ego then. A major-league shortstop in his early 20s — no ego. His 1948 Indians won the World Series. Lou was the MVP of the season in ’48 — still no trace of ego. “When anyone would ask him about his superstar exploits, all Lou would say is, ‘We had a great team. We had the best second baseman (Joe Gordon). We had the best third baseman (Kenny Keltner). We had Bob Feller. Those are the guys that won this thing for us.” Indians current third baseman Jose Ramirez is 24. Shortstop Francisco Lindor turns 24 in November. Every other player in the starting lineup Aug. 5 is older than Boudreau was when he was named manager. “That’s unbelievable,” Indians current manager Terry Francona said. “I just think a lot more goes into managing now than it used to. I don’t mean guys didn’t know the game; it’s just a little different. I can’t imagine Lou sat in a room with the media every day. “But that’s unbelievable. You’re running the bases and you have to think about a pitching change. Guys are 10 years older than you.” Francona played for Cincinnati in 1987 for Pete Rose, who became the Reds’ player-manager in 1984 when he was 42. Francona recalled Rose taking batting practice and playing in spring training games in 1987. Rose retired as a player before the season began. “If I had to pick somebody (to be a player-manager), Pete would be it because he could see the game in slow motion,” Francona said. “Paul Molitor (now managing the Twins), I always felt, he saw the game like it wasn’t going very fast for him. Pete would notice things during the game. He’d see things from left field.” Boudreau was 22 in 1940 in his first full season as the Indians shortstop. The Indians finished 89-65, a game behind the first-place Tigers, but players revolted against Manager Oscar Vitt and Vitt was fired by team owner Alva Bradley. Roger Peckinpaugh, who managed the Indians from 1928 from 1933, was rehired in 1941 to calm the storm. The Indians fell to 75-79 and finished 26 games behind the Yankees, causing a storm of a different kind. “It was no secret the ballclub was seeking a skipper for the 1942 season,” said Indians play-by-play announcer Tom Hamilton and M.C. of the Boudreau unveiling. “Enter a 24-year-old shortstop who was confident in his leadership abilities. Following the 1941 season, Lou Boudreau wrote a letter to Mr. Bradley, asking that he be considered for the job as player-manager.

“The story goes that immediately after mailing that letter, Lou wished he could have crawled into that mailbox and retrieve it. Thank goodness, he did not.” Boudreau played in 152 of 154 games in 1948. He hit .355, homered 18 times and drove in 106 runs. All were career bests, all while managing the Indians to the World Series championship over the Boston Braves. Boudreau deserves a statue just for what he did as a player, but he is the last and only the second manager in Indians history to win the World Series. The other was Tris Speaker in 1920. Boudreau already has his statue. Next should be changing a portion of East 9th Street to Boudreau Boulevard. Chase Headley’s homer in eighth gives Yankees win o ver Indians

By Erik Boland [email protected]

CLEVELAND — The last time Aroldis Chapman pitched off the Progressive Field mound, he allowed one of the most memorable home runs in World Series history.

Then with the Cubs, Chapman surrendered Rajai Davis’ stunning two-out, two-run shot in the eighth inning, allowing the Indians to tie Game 7 and momentarily plunge much of Chicago into depression.

The lefty closer, pitching on fumes, eventually earned the win in the 10-inning victory that gave the Cubs their first Series championship since 1908.

The stakes didn’t compare Saturday night when Chapman, wearing the road grays of the Yankees, came on in the ninth to protect a one-run lead. But drama swirled around him again.

Aided by highlight-reel glovework by Brett Gardner and Ronald Torreyes, Chapman nailed down his 14th save in a 2-1 victory over the Indians that ended the Yankees’ losing streak at four games in front of a sellout crowd of 34,651.

“No, not at all,” Chapman said when he was asked if last November’s Game 7 entered his mind.

Chapman — who struck out Carlos Santana on a slider to end the game one pitch after he nearly hit his second homer of the night — likely was in the minority on that front.

The crazy ninth nearly obscured Chase Headley’s tie-breaking homer in the eighth as the Yankees (58-51) remained three games behind the AL East-leading Red Sox. “That’s a big win for us,” Joe Girardi said.

After Michael Brantley’s leadoff single in the ninth, Jose Ramirez launched a drive toward the 19-foot wall in left-center, where Brett Gardner made a leaping catch to rob him of an extra-base hit that very likely would have tied the score.

Off the bat, Chapman said through his translator, “I thought it was going to hit the wall.” He added, “That play right there probably saved the inning.”

“Off the bat I, we, I don’t think anybody was sure what was going to happen,” Gardner said. “So it was a big relief to haul it in and get the ball back in and get that first out of the inning, especially after you had the leadoff single. Torreyes made a huge play right after that.’’

He was referring to Edwin Encarnacion’s flare to rightfield, which second baseman Torreyes dived for and grabbed for the second out.

Santana — who homered in the second to tie it at 1 and nearly hit a full-count pitch over the rightfield fence in the ninth but saw it go foul — then struck out looking at a slider.

Headley’s sixth homer, on a hanging 0-and-1 curveball from Zach McAllister, gave the Yankees the 2-1 lead. He entered the game with a .329/.407/.455 slash line in his previous 44 games and had 11 hits in his previous 31 at-bats.

A bullpen that Girardi called on in the sixth inning — even after starter Jordan Montgomery struck out seven in five dominant innings and retired the last nine he faced — got the job done.

David Robertson pitched two scoreless innings and, after Headley’s homer, Dellin Betances struck out two in a perfect eighth.

“A little disappointed when they pulled me, but we got the win and the bullpen did great,” said Montgomery, who might lose his rotation spot when the Yankees go back to a five-man rotation the next time through. “The plan worked.”

Indians starter Danny Salazar allowed one run and struck out a career-high 12 in seven innings.

In the first inning, Gardner worked a leadoff walk, Aaron Judge lined a one-out single to left and Didi Gregorius sent a 2-and-0 fastball off the top of the centerfield wall for an RBI double and a 1-0 lead.

Gardner led off the third with a walk but was stranded as Headley, Judge and Gregorius struck out. It was the 23rd straight game in which Judge struck out, the longest such streak in the majors this season.

A Yankees offense that scored three runs and struck out 31 times in its previous three games hardly erupted. The Yankees had five hits, including two doubles by Gregorius, and struck out 15 times.

“That’s baseball,” Robertson said. “Just because you’re not scoring runs, it doesn’t mean you can’t win ballgames.”

Newsday LOADED: 08.06.2017

Struggling Yankees DH Matt Holliday 'probably' head ed to DL after tweaking lower back

BY MIKE MAZZEO

CLEVELAND — The Yankees are “probably” going to put Matt Holliday on the disabled list, Joe Girardi said, after the 37-year-old veteran DH tweaked his left lower back on a swing in Friday night’s loss to the Indians at Progressive Field.

Holliday received treatment on his back on Saturday.

“We have to decide what we’re going to do with him,” Joe Girardi said. “He’s had some left lower back issues before. We hope it’s not too long. We have to make an evaluation of the severity of it, but he’s had it before. We’ll take a day to see where he’s at.”

No tests were scheduled for Holliday at this point. He will be evaluated by trainer Steve Donohue.

“A lot of times it’s just rest and treatment,” Girardi said.

Holliday has dealt with lower back injuries in the past with St. Louis. He has two of the Yankees’ most important hits of the season.

On April 28, Holliday hit a walk-off, three-run homer that enabled the Bombers to complete an eight-run comeback against Baltimore.

And on July 15, Holliday hit a game-tying homer in the ninth off Craig Kimbrel at Fenway Park that ultimately allowed the Yankees to win in 16 innings.

Matt Holliday hasn't been the same since going on the DL with a viral infection.

But Holliday hasn’t been the same since going on the DL with a viral infection — and it’s perplexing how the accomplished Holliday could go from being a borderline All-Star to being completely unproductive in the middle of the year.

On June 21, Holliday’s batting line stood at .275/.379/.536 (65 games). Since then, he’s at .120/.155/.174 (23 games).

“I don’t think he’s lost it in a month. I just don’t,” Girardi said. “I just think that he’s off. Physically, he was unhealthy there for a little bit, and it seemed to kind of mess him up, and we haven’t been able to get him back on track.”

Girardi doesn’t think there have been any lingering effects from Holliday’s viral infection.

“I think he’s kind of in-between the fastball and the breaking ball,” Girardi said.

“He just seems a little bit off. He’s a guy that is really a left-center to-right-field hitter, and he’s pulled (the ball) a little bit more. We’re trying to get him back on track, because you look at the first half this guy had, he was really important, and I think we have a lot of belief in him that he’s going to play a big part for us. Right now, we have to get him back healthy and get him on track.”

The manager said Aaron Hicks (oblique) isn’t ready to come off the DL.

New York Daily News LOADED: 08.06.2017

Aroldis Chapman Escapes an Eerily Familiar Tight Spot in Yankees’ Victory

By BILLY WITZAUG. 5, 2017

CLEVELAND — Rajai Davis may be long gone, but for Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman, the ghost of Davis was present and accounted for here Saturday night.

In Chapman’s first appearance at Progressive Field since last November — when he was here with the Chicago Cubs and gave up a game-tying, eighth-inning home run to Davis in Game 7 of the World Series — he had some more late-game jitters against the Cleveland Indians.

This time, though, Chapman had some help, mostly from left fielder Brett Gardner, who helped preserve a 2-1 victory with a leaping catch at the wall that robbed Jose Ramirez of perhaps a game-tying extra-base hit.

Chase Headley’s solo homer in the eighth gave the Yankees the lead and ultimately the win, which ended a four-game losing streak and kept the Yankees within three games of first-place Boston in the American League East.

When Chapman went to the mound in the ninth, and Michael Brantley greeted him with a line-drive single, the sellout crowd rose to its feet, rekindling memories of that chilly night last fall.

“It’s a natural thing,” Indians right fielder Brandon Guyer said. “It went through our minds. It’s a new year, a new game, but it definitely brought some memories back.”

In Game 7, it was Guyer who greeted Chapman with a run-scoring double with two outs in the eighth and then scored on the Davis homer — a line drive down the left-field line that just cleared the wall.

While Davis, now with the Oakland Athletics, was missing from the scene, Ramirez acted as something of an understudy. Ramirez followed Brantley’s single by connecting with an 0-2 pitch from Chapman and sending a high drive toward the 20-foot-high left-field wall. Gardner drifted back and leapt to make the catch, sending Brantley scurrying back to first instead of racing closer to home.

“It was fortunate it wasn’t hit six inches higher, because it could have been a different result in the game,” said Gardner, who pounded his glove after he had made the catch. “Off the bat, I don’t think anybody knew what was going to happen.”

Edwin Encarnacion followed by lacing a soft liner to right field that second baseman Ronald Torreyes was able to chase down with a diving catch. With two outs, Carlos Santana — who had lined a solo homer off starter Jordan Montgomery in the second inning — worked the count full and lined a fastball down the right-field line that at the last moment sliced just wide of the foul pole.

Chapman finally struck Santana out with a slider.

“How packed it was, how we quickly got somebody on base and then Ramirez almost hit a home run, and Santana almost hit a home run,” Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor said, recounting the ninth inning. “It kind of takes you back to those moments, those pretty cool moments.”

Chapman, however, brushed away a question about any memories he had of Game 7 with a terse “No.”

Headley said Chapman must have been feeling a great deal of emotion and adrenaline.

“It’s good that he’s been in those spots and had to make pitches in big spots, but I’m sure coming back here — it didn’t go as well the last time he pitched here,” Headley said. “I’m sure it was in the back of his mind. He’s also one of the best in the world at what he does, so I’m sure he had a lot of confidence as well.”

Chapman seems to have somewhat steadied himself lately after blowing a lead at Fenway Park to start the second half of the season and being chided by Manager Joe Girardi for relying too heavily on his fastball. That Game 7 appearance might have been an instructive one — after Guyer and Davis hammered fastballs, Chapman came back out for the ninth inning and relied on his two off-speed pitches, a slider and a changeup, to carry the game into the 10th inning, where the Cubs won it and the World Series.

“If he’s not wild, he’s a great reliever,” Lindor said. “If he’s wild, this is the big leagues — guys aren’t really going to swing at it. That’s when he gets in trouble, when he’s not throwing strikes.”

It also may have helped Chapman to have Austin Romine behind the plate Saturday night. Romine has counseled Chapman to trust his off-speed pitches more, since his fastball is a few ticks slower this season — rarely getting above 101 miles per hour since he returned from the disabled list in June. Romine was in the lineup in place of Gary Sanchez, who had a desultory game behind the plate Friday night and moved to designated hitter in place of the slumping Matt Holliday, who could be headed to the disabled list.

New York Times LOADED: 08.06.2017

Ken Davidoff / Baseball’s middle class shrinking and there’s no relief in sight

By Ken Davidoff August 5, 2017 | 3:57PM

CLEVELAND — Jay Bruce: Affable slugger. Durable veteran.

Face of a class struggle.

Bruce, a free-agent-to-be, remains a Met, a team looking to the future, because, quite simply, the Mets shopped him around twice — last offseason and in the run-up to the July 31 non-waivers trade deadline — and discovered minimal interest both times.

Maybe a contender will lose an outfielder to injury this month and liberate Bruce, via a waivers trade, from meaningless September games at Citi Field. Regardless, the die is cast for him, his strong 2017 performance notwithstanding, when he hits the open market this winter. By virtue of what has transpired, his free agency will be of great interest to the industry at large.

For Bruce has come to represent the good-to-very-good-but-not-great commodity that seems to have hit an earnings plateau. Baseball’s “one percent,” to use that term non-literally, continues to do just fine. It is the middle to upper-middle class that finds itself in relative distress.

“It’s going to be what it’s going to be,” Bruce’s agent, Matt Sosnick, said Friday in a telephone interview. “You figure it’s just the nature of the business that there’s going to be multiple teams that could use a guy who hits a lot of home runs and drives in a lot of runs and plays good defense in the corner.”

You would have figured similar enthusiasm last winter about Edwin Encarnacion, who entered free agency last winter having compiled multiple monstrous campaigns with the Blue Jays. Encarnacion, entering his age-34 season, signed with the Indians for three years and $60 million, fewer years and dollars than folks anticipated.

Only one player, the Mets’ Yoenis Cespedes, hit the nine-figure mark last winter, getting $110 million over four years. Super-closers Aroldis Chapman (five years and $86 million with the Yankees), Kenley Jansen (five years and $80 million with the Dodgers) and Mark Melancon (four years and $62 million with the Giants) did great, and a select few others — Dodgers re-signees Justin Turner (four years, $64 million) and Rich Hill (three years, $48 million), and new Cardinals center fielder Dexter Fowler (five years, $82.5 million) — walked away happy given their histories. In the small community of lefty relievers, Brett Cecil (four years, $30.5 million with the Cardinals) and Mike Dunn (three years, $19 million with the Rockies) raised the roof.

Virtually everyone else out there scuffled. Teams waited out free agents until the asking prices dropped accordingly. It turned into a bloodbath for the players, right after they signed a new collective bargaining agreement.

Fast-forward to the month we just completed. The White Sox brought in a haul of young talent from the crosstown Cubs in return for Jose Quintana, the durable starting pitcher with a team-friendly contract. Aside from that, the buyers prevailed handsomely. The Dodgers protected their two top prospects (pitcher Walker Buehler and outfielder Alex Verdugo) and still landed Rangers stud Yu Darvish, an impending free agent, to their starting rotation. The Yankees likewise preserved their top tier of youngsters and dealt two players recovering from serious injuries (Dustin Fowler and James Kaprielian) plus the raw and athletic Jorge Mateo to the A’s for Sonny Gray. The surplus of available relief pitchers ensured no team would reboot its farm system the way the Yankees did last year by dealing Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs and Andrew Miller to the Indians.

For teams looking to trade position players, the pain proved even worse. The Tigers’ return on the shipment of J.D. Martinez to Arizona underwhelmed, and that turned out to be as good as it got. In addition to Bruce, Asdrubal Cabrera, Curtis Granderson and Neil Walker found themselves tethered to the Mets despite their walk-year statuses on a bad team.

You can attribute some of this to circumstances. The lack of parity this season created an abundance of sellers, thereby making life easier for the buyers. We all knew last year’s free-agent crop looked weak, particularly on the starting-pitching side.

Yet no one would contend it all is circumstantial.

“There’s such a good amount of young players that going with the minimum salary guy is not as big an issue as it used to be,” a player representative said on the condition of anonymity. You saw that last winter, for instance, when the Yankees largely left right field and first base open for Aaron Judge/Aaron Hicks and Greg Bird (one good decision out of two ain’t bad).

Echoed a front-office official from an American League team: “Teams value young players more than they used to.”

There is, of course, another reason the Yankees didn’t seriously pursue Encarnacion or Cespedes.

“I know teams have no interest in getting near that luxury-tax threshold,” the player representative said. “I definitely heard that a bunch last offseason. They wanted to have flexibility to make July trades [without going over the threshold].”

That new CBA, containing harsher penalties for surpassing the threshold (which increases incrementally over the course of the agreement), sure seems to have hurt the players.

Looking ahead to this winter, you would think Darvish and the Cubs’ Jake Arrieta will score nine figures, and also the Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka if he keeps pitching better and opts out. After that, though?

Maybe Royals corner infielders Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas, by virtue of being in their 20s, will do OK. The Tigers’ Justin Upton can opt out, too, though he would be giving up four years and $88.5 million to do so, and his former Detroit teammate Martinez will be out there.

There is your “one percent,” at maximum. Encarnacion would’ve belonged to the same group a year ago, then he dropped. We will see how everyone does. We will pay special attention to Bruce.

“I think we’re pretty comfortable taking our chances,” Sosnick said “There are trends that run through the industry. The trend right now is that prospects and draft picks are way over-prioritized and at their highest value. The consistent, very good players — position players in particular — are somewhat undervalued.”

Consider that among Bruce’s “Similarity score” comparables on Baseball-Reference.com is Jason Bay, the outfielder who signed a four-year, $66 million contract with the Mets entering his age-31 season.

Bruce will be entering his age-31 season in 2018. One agent predicted, on the condition of anonymity, Bruce will land a three-year, $48 million package.

Yeah, even in baseball’s lucrative universe, living outside the one percent has lost some luster.

NY Post LOADED: 08.06.2017

Nick Cafardo / SUNDAY BASEBALL NOTES / Which playe rs may be available in trade after going through wai vers?

By Nick Cafardo

A bevy of major leaguers will go through waivers this month as teams try to gauge which high-priced veterans might draw interest and could be traded. Last-minute shopping, so to speak.

By now you know the rules, but let’s review them briefly.

Most players this month will go through revocable trade waivers. If it’s an American League player, he’ll go through the AL first, being offered to the team with the worst record first.

If he passes through the AL without being claimed, he goes through the NL. If a team claims him, his current team has the right to pull him back, negotiate a trade with the claiming team, or award the player to the claiming team.

Higher-priced players go through waivers and usually clear without being claimed. Once they clear, they can be traded just as they could before the non-waiver trade deadline of July 31.

The poster child for this process in 2017 will likely be Tigers righthander Justin Verlander, who already has cleared waivers.

Teams such as the Astros, Rockies, Brewers, and Dodgers could be in the mix. Verlander is owed $28 million for each of the next two seasons, plus $9 million for the remainder of 2017. The Tigers would have to eat that and then somehow reduce the $28 million owed so they could get significant prospects in return.

If you go down the line of teams not likely to make the playoffs that would like to shed payroll, here’s what you come up with:

Baltimore Orioles — Adam Jones is a 10-5 player and may veto any deal, but would he want to go to a contender? Jones is due to become a free agent after next season. It’s doubtful that closer Zach Britton would get by both leagues without a block, but stranger things have happened. The Orioles could also flip newly acquired Jeremy Hellickson if they feel they’re out of it.

Toronto Blue Jays — Jose Bautista can still hit the long ball, though he’s really struggling right now. Bautista will likely get through waivers, and a team such as the Mariners could bite. Hard to fathom that Josh Donaldson wouldn’t get claimed and then taken back by Toronto, but if a team claims him, the Jays could negotiate a trade. Righthander Marco Estrada can be a free agent after this season and he might get claimed. If that’s the case, the Jays may let a team take him.

Minnesota Twins — Ervin Santana, Brian Dozier. The Twins didn’t deal Santana at the deadline, a sign they may want to keep him around for next season. Yet if they could get salary relief (owed $13.5 million and $14 million over the next two seasons) and acquire prospects, they might be tempted. Dozier has long been rumored to be on the block, but he survived another deadline. One problem is there’s not much demand for second basemen. But Dozier’s bat might cause teams to consider him.

Detroit Tigers — Ian Kinsler, Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, Justin Upton, Jordan Zimmermann, Verlander. As we said, Verlander is the interesting one. He can be a game-changer for a contender, but the remaining money is the elephant in the room. Ditto Cabrera, who has shown signs of decline this season but is a bat worthy of consideration if the money was reconfigured. Martinez is a strong DH bat, but he’s slowed considerably and would likely clear waivers. Upton is intriguing, but there’s big money left on his deal and the Tigers would want a significant haul in return. He’s got $95 million remaining through 2021 and has an opt-out after this season. Zimmermann has simply been a bust, so it would take a leap of faith for anyone to take him on. Kinsler could stabilize anyone’s infield.

Texas Rangers — Cole Hamels, Mike Napoli. Hamels is a professional pitcher with a year left at $23.5 million (plus a $6 million buyout of a 2019 option) and a list of only nine teams to which he can be traded. Napoli has hit 22 homers and still punishes lefthanded pitching (.856 OPS). There’s a good chance he’d pass all the way through, making him a possible target for the Brewers and Cardinals, as well as the Mariners.

Oakland Athletics — Jed Lowrie, Rajai Davis, Yonder Alonso. Lowrie’s name was oft-mentioned at the deadline, but he didn’t go anywhere. He could be that missing piece for a team looking for a consistent bat, second/third baseman. Davis can still run, so if you need to swipe a late-game base, he could be your man. Alsono has fallen off the cliff. On June 10, he was hitting .314 with 16 home runs and 36 RBIs. Since then, the free agent-to-be has hit .218 with six homers and 13 RBIs in 45 games.

New York Mets — Curtis Granderson, Jay Bruce, Asdrubal Cabrera. These are three reliable veterans. Granderson and Bruce are free agents after this season. Granderson still gives you decent defense in center and lefthanded power. The Mets did not receive one call on Bruce at the deadline despite the fact he now has 29 homers. Cabrera is still a pretty good hitter who can cover second, shortstop, and third.

Miami Marlins — Dan Straily, Martin Prado, Giancarlo Stanton. Prado probably would have been traded to the Red Sox had he stayed healthy, but he just had a minor knee procedure. As for Stanton? If the Marlins know that a team would take on the remaining $309 million on his contract through 2027, they’d drive him to the airport. He’s had a good year and lived up to expectations. The Marlins nearly pulled off a deal for Straily at the deadline, but they’re reserving the right to change their mind.

Philadelphia Phillies — Daniel Nava, a switch-hitter who gives you quality at-bats, likely gets through waivers. He’s hitting .303.

Atlanta Braves — Jim Johnson, Nick Markakis, Matt Kemp. Johnson has blown more saves (eight) than any closer in baseball, but it’s all about being hot at the right time. Markakis has had a solid year (.284 average, .759 OPS) but didn’t get much action at the trading deadline and may not on waivers. But he’s a solid leadoff type who has one more year at $11 million. It doesn’t appear anyone would take a chance on knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, who has already gone on waivers. Kemp is injured (hamstring) and has fallen off after a good start, but he’s a righthanded power bat worthy of consideration.

San Francisco Giants — Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija. Both have big money remaining on their deals — $60 million for Samardzija, and Cueto can opt out of his six-year, $130 million deal after the season. Yet a big-market team could absorb some of it.

San Diego Padres — Brad Hand, Yangervis Solarte. Hand would get blocked for sure, and there would have to be a specific infield need for Solarte, a second/third baseman, to go anywhere. The Padres, by all accounts, were asking way too much for Hand.

Apropos of nothing

1. The question of whether media should be allowed on team charters has come up since the David Price/Dennis Eckersley incident. I was the last print reporter to be allowed on the Red Sox charter, after the 1990 playoff loss to Oakland. Prior to that, I traveled extensively on the team charter. The Red Sox have continued to allow their broadcast teams to travel with the players.

There has always been a “what are they doing on our flight?” mentality by players, but I never saw what Eckersley went through with Price happen to a broadcaster in my years traveling with the Red Sox. Things never got that ugly.

There’s also always been a “what happens on the plane, stays on the plane” mentality. When I broke the Eckersley/Price story, there was more concern from the team that someone leaked the information, rather than the incident itself. Manager John Farrell said as much recently, indicating how unfortunate it was that the story got out. We’re guessing that other things have happened that have stayed in-house.

Team charters back then were a haven for high-stakes card games, drinking, and a lot of kidding and prodding that sometimes got out of hand.

The feeling by players always has been that team broadcasters should be part of the team. They should be supportive of the team. For the most part that’s the case, but a baseball analyst also needs to be candid about what he’s seeing or he comes off like a homer or a fraud. Eckersley, a Hall of Famer, tells it like it is. NESN executives, as well as Red Sox owners to their credit, want the analysts to be honest but surely not over the top, which Eckersley is not.

In doing some research on Price, he also had a few minor confrontations with broadcasters while he was with the Rays. But they blew over. This one with Eckersley has legs. Given his low approval rating among Red Sox fans, Price wouldn’t win this one against Eck, who has a high approval rating among fans.

2. Since 2000, the Red Sox have made more July trades (53) than any team in baseball. The fewest number of deals in July since 2000 belongs to the Tigers with 24.

3. Councilman Joseph A. Botelho Jr. has proposed a new waterfront stadium for the Pawtucket Red Sox in the South Quay area of East Providence that would be surrounded by other businesses and amenities. Botelho has a plan for a JetBlue Stadium replica with 4,000 parking spaces. So far, the plan has not gained much traction with PawSox owners, who are first concentrating on the Ballpark at Slater Mill to see if funding will go through when the legislature reconvenes in September. Worcester also continues to be very interested in the PawSox.

4. Jerry Remy continues to recover from his fifth lung cancer surgery. It seems a long shot that Remy returns to the NESN booth this season. Remy sounded strong and upbeat, though, when I spoke to him recently.

5. Red Sox chairman Tom Werner is very excited about his new “Roseanne” TV series, which starts shooting in October. The ABC series will have mostly its original cast and is expected to be extremely political. Roseanne Barr is a big supporter of President Trump.

Updates on nine

1. Mike Matheny, manager, Cardinals — After the dust-up with Yadier Molina, there had been some whispers that Matheny may pay for it with his job. But Matheny signed an extension that takes him through 2020, so the answer is likely no.

2. David Wright, 3B, Mets — Wright has begun light baseball workouts in the hopes of getting back before the end of the season. It’s still a long shot as Wright, who has been out all season with a degenerative spinal condition, will still have problems fielding his position. The Mets still owe Wright about $47 million after this season. If he is able to return, the feeling is he’d be best suited to DH, but it would even be hard for an American League team to commit to that. The Mets have recently been impressed with Asdrubal Cabrera’s third base play and are mulling picking up his option of $8.5 million.

3. Chad Mottola, hitting coach, Rays — Mottola is getting a lot of kudos from the Rays and is being noticed all over baseball for the work he’s done to revitalize Corey Dickerson and Logan Morrison in particular.

4. Bryce Brentz, RF, Red Sox — Will Brentz be one of those guys the Red Sox regret not taking advantage of given the hot season he’s had? Brentz has hit 24 homers for Triple A Pawtucket and is a threat every time he steps to the plate. The suggestion PawSox hitting coach Rich Gedman made to go to a toe tap to set the timing on his swing was the coaching job of the year in the Red Sox organization.

5. Jeff Luhnow, GM, Astros — Luhnow is earning the reputation of being the stingiest GM in baseball in terms of not giving up his top talent to acquire veterans. That can be seen two ways: a badge of honor since that’s how the Astros got where they are, but also a little foolish

considering they are so close to being a complete team. Why not part with a prospect or two if they help you get the players needed to win it all?

6. Aaron Judge, RF, Yankees — We’re not supposed to buy into the Home Run Derby slump, but how else to explain that Judge hit .164 (11 for 67 with 29 strikeouts) in his first 19 games after the break? He was going so bad that Joe Girardi benched him against the Indians’ Corey Kluber so he wouldn’t fall into a deeper funk.

7. Jose Altuve, 2B, Astros — Sure, Judge and Chris Sale are going to get MVP consideration, but Altuve does it all, and he entered Friday leading the AL with a .365 average after a 12-game stretch in which he hit .460 (23 for 50) with nine extra-base hits and four steals.

8. Madison Bumgarner, LHP, Giants — The Giants aren’t concerned about Bumgarner’s reduced velocity since his return from the disabled list. Before his dirt bike accident he was averaging 92.1 miles per hour on his fastball, and he’s at 90.3 in his first four starts since coming off the DL. “He’s just getting the feel back,” said one team official. “You’ll see an uptick the more he pitches, and he’s performed very well even with the reduction.”

9. Sandy Alderson, GM, Mets — Alderson’s contract is up at the end of the year. By all indications, he’d be welcomed back by the Wilpons, the owners of the team. Alderson will turn 70 on Nov. 22 and you wonder how much longer he’d want to remain the GM.

Extra bases

From the Bill Chuck files — “In 2014, the Orioles’ team ERA was 3.43; in 2015, it was 4.05; in 2016, it was 4.22; and this season, it is 4.98.” . . . Happy birthday, Justin Germano (35), Keith Mitchell (48), Stan Belinda (51), Jim Pankovits (62), and Ray Culp (76).

A big shot

Eric Christian/AP

Astros second baseman Jose Altuve is putting together another outstanding season. The 5-foot-6-inch spark plug is on his way to topping 200 hits and 40 doubles and batting over .300 for the fourth straight season. He also stands a chance to finish with an OPS over 1.000 for the first time. If he does he’d be the shortest player since 1960 to accomplish that feat and just the fifth player to do it who is 5-10 or shorter.

Boston Globe LOADED: 08.06.2017

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