The additional day off in the middle of the league championship series is affecting more than the start date of the World Series.
It’s changing how the pitching staffs are used in Games 3 and 4.
“You can extend guys a little bit more. You can maybe go to guys a little bit earlier,” Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said Monday, before the Indians took on the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of the ALCS. “It just depends on what their workload has been.”
Major League Baseball added the extra day off in the middle of the LCS this year to avoid starting the World Series on Saturday. The NLCS would end Saturday if it goes to seven games, while the ALCS could finish as late as Sunday.
The World Series starts next Wednesday, Oct. 24.
“We’re never going to put somebody in harm’s way, but it’ll allow us to maybe do things that we wouldn’t normally do, knowing we have an off day the next day,” Wedge said.
The day off Sunday—even if it was a travel day—was a factor in Saturday night’s marathon. Instead of holding a reliever or two back, the Red Sox used all seven of their relievers in the 5-hour, 14-minute game. The Indians used five.
“We most definitely took (the off day) into consideration a couple of days ago, and we will again here today and tomorrow,” Wedge said. “It’s about winning the series, it’s not just about winning one game. Having said that, without a doubt, today is the most important day, and we’re going to do everything we can to win.”
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CIRILLO STARTS:@ Jeff Cirillo, who needed 1,617 games to reach the playoffs, got the first postseason start of his career Monday night when Arizona manager Bob Melvin inserted him into the lineup at second base.
The 38-year-old utility infielder was 2-for-3 as a pinch hitter during the playoffs with two singles against the Rockies in the NL championship series.
Cirillo, who was claimed off waivers from Minnesota on Aug. 3, was the active leader for most games played without a playoff appearance until this month.
Cirillo clinched his first playoff berth on Sept. 28, when the Diamondbacks won 4-2 at Coors Field, the Rockies’ last loss.
“It was really cool, because that would have stunk if I never got to experience being in the postseason if this is my last year,” said Cirillo, who spent the bulk of his career mired in Milwaukee. “I’m not saying this is my last year. But it would have been empty, yeah, for sure.
“It would have been an experience that I missed out on.”
Cirillo said his taste of the postseason was “unbelievably special, especially when I got an at-bat when we were going to clinch against the Cubs in the ninth inning.”
Cirillo played in Colorado from 2000-01, where he became friends with Todd Helton. He said he was thrilled that Helton’s postseason drought ended this year, too.
Helton’s streak ended at 1,578 games.
“Todd was a great teammate. I loved him. We had a good time and we hung out a lot,” Cirillo said. “But, no, I want to beat him. I don’t want him to go to the World Series.”
Now that Helton and Cirillo have reached the playoffs, Damion Easley of the Mets, at 1,593 games, owns the longest streak of games without a playoff appearance. The Mets were eliminated on the last day of the season.
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HOT TO TROT:@ Trot Nixon has been much more than the Cleveland Indians’ designated pie thrower.
Nixon, who began smashing teammates in the face with whipped-cream pies following home wins early this season, dished out the big hit in Game 2.
Coming off the bench in the 11th inning Saturday night, Nixon delivered a pinch-hit RBI single off left-hander Javier Lopez, igniting Cleveland’s record-setting seven-run outburst that sent the Indians to a 13-6 win.
The clutch hit was the latest contribution by Nixon, the former Red Sox fan favorite who in his first season with Cleveland has provided leadership to a young team with little postseason experience.
“He’s been great,” reliever Jensen Lewis said. “He has kept guys loose and he’s been a great resource for the young guys like me.”
Nixon was in the starting lineup for Game 3 as manager Eric Wedge decided to play the 33-year-old in right field over Franklin Gutierrez, who has struggled with breaking pitches and figured to have trouble against Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka and his assortment of dipping, darting balls.
Nixon, who can become a free agent this winter, has enjoyed his time in Cleveland, where he didn’t need much time to bond with new teammates.
“I’ve been on teams where I didn’t want to be in the clubhouse and others where I couldn’t wait to get there,” he said.
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WEBB WAITS:@ Arizona manager Bob Melvin decided long ago that he would not bring ace Brandon Webb back on short rest for Game 4 of the NLCS, no matter what the situation.
“He’s never done it before,” Melvin explained again on Monday. “The history of it, the volume of work, all those things. We didn’t feel like it was the right thing to do for all those reasons.”
Webb, who pitched a career-high 236 1-3 innings in the regular season, agreed.
“For one, I’ve never done it,” he said. “With the innings I’ve accumulated the last couple of years, I’ve been leading the league in the innings, that’s another factor.”
Then there’s that 1-3 record with a 5.77 ERA against Colorado in six regular-season starts this year. And he was the losing pitcher in the Rockies’ 5-1 victory in Game 1 of the NLCS in Phoenix.
“You know, if I was 5-0 against these guys in the regular season, it probably would be a little bit more open to going out there and doing it today,” he said.
Webb’s lone victory over Colorado this season came on Sept. 28 at Coors Field, a 4-2 win that clinched a playoff spot for Arizona. Going into Monday night’s game, it was the lone Rockies’ loss in 21 games.
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MELVIN’S BEST:@ Arizona manager Bob Melvin says he’s never enjoyed his job more than he did with the young Diamondbacks this season.
“This has been as fulfilling a year as you could ever expect,” he said. “Even more so now that we’ve gotten along, how the group’s gotten together, the chemistry that’s involved, how we’ve come together as a group.”
Melvin, honored as Sporting News NL manager of the year on Monday, praised his coaching staff for bringing along a young team that wound up winning the NL West with a league-best 90-72 record.
“My staff’s been unbelievable in preparing our players to play every day,” he said.
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SKIPPER SAYS J.D. is O.K.:@ J.D. Drew struggled in his first season with the Red Sox. He made $14 million and drove in 64 runs—more than $200,000 per RBI. He didn’t even start the opener of the AL championship series.
But Boston manager Terry Francona is sticking by the lefty rather than start switch-hitter Bobby Kielty or exciting rookie speedster Jacoby Ellsbury.
“I would be doing our team more of an injustice by making wholesale changes,” Francona said before the Red Sox faced Cleveland in Game 3.
Fans, he knows, think setbacks demand tinkering with the lineup.
“You lose one game, it’s like the world came to a screeching halt,” Francona said. “We have to have the ability to absorb a loss and move on and then not lose.”
Kielty started the opener because of his success against lefty C.C. Sabathia and he went 1-for-2 with an intentional walk and an RBI. He’ll probably start again in Game 5 against the Indians left-hander. Drew is 2-for-7 in the ALCS and 4-for-18 in the playoffs after hitting .270 with 11 homers, both his lowest in five years.
“J.D., hopefully, carries a pretty big load for us” in the ALCS, Francona said.
If he doesn’t, starting him still gives the manager tactical options. The Indians would be less likely to bring in a lefty reliever since Kielty can pinch-hit from the right side. And Ellsbury can pinch-run, although Francona would consider starting him under one circumstance.
“If I could TiVo it and it tells me he’s going to get four hits and steal three, I’d do it,” Francona said.
