Todd Porter: Indians stayed awake longer to defeat Red Sox in 11th
This was, essentially, an elimination game. The Indians couldn't come back down two games to none against the Red Sox. In the history of seven-game series in League Championship Series, 14 of the 17 teams that went up two-zip went to the World Series.
Cleveland, in the biggest games and the grandest stage of the season, threw their best starting pitchers at Boston's lineup. The Red Sox chewed up C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona and spit them out.
Game 2 at Fenway Park was a long, arduous journey that lasted into Sunday morning. When it was over, the Indians stayed awake longer, and Trot Nixon broke the hearts of the Red Sox Nation who still adores him. His pinch-hit single in the 11th broke the tie, and maybe worse, Boston's back.
Boy, how sweet this 13-6 win was. The Indians not only evened the series at a game each, they completely sucked the momentum away from Boston and swung it in their favor heading back to Jacobs Field for the next three games.
Red Sox Nation was feeling pretty confident. Not overconfident, but they walked with a little more arrogance than typical New Englanders on Saturday. Believe me, typical arrogance here - home to Harvard and Boston universities - is enough to make you want to snap someone's bow tie.
And here's why you love, and hate, these Indians. They're don't have a Big Papi to cover their pimples. They have Tom Mastny sitting down the heart of Boston's order in the 10th. They have Jensen Lewis and Rafael Betancourt combining to pitch more than four innings of one-hit baseball.
Everyone on this roster plays some vital role. Like Nixon, stone cold on the bench, coming through with the biggest hit of the season to start a seven-run 11th.
What makes these Cleveland players special is how interdependent they are on one another.
The Tribe threw their aces in Games 1 and 2, and the best they could get was a tie game late Saturday. But Carmona and Sabathia both were picked up by 23-year-old Jensen Lewis.
The offense? Boston gets 90 percent of its production from two players, Ramirez and David Ortiz. Cleveland got a little throughout.
Grady Sizemore led the game off with a double and scored in the first. His solo home run in the fifth gave the Indians a 5-3 lead. Victor Martinez had three hits and an RBI. Jhonny Peralta belted a three-run homer in the fourth. Franklin Gutierrez hit another in the 11th.
"That's one of the great stories here is what these guys have been through together," General Manager Mark Shapiro said. "They've been through pain and been through times when nobody believed in us. Their wives have had kids together."
What Shapiro is saying is his young players have grown - on and off the field - together. The cogs and links don't stop in the clubhouse. Kate Wedge, the wife of Manager Eric Wedge, brought all the wives and girlfriends of the players together.
She organized them. She stressed how important it is the guys have no distractions in the playoffs. The wives are making sure ticket requests are filled.
"We've got a lot of guys the same age, and now they're kids are playing together," Shapiro said. "These guys had a chance to celebrate a championship and now a division series victory. This core that's stayed together has been through tough times, and now a good time.
"They've taken ownership of our organization and our direction."
Every link in the chain is important. From Lewis pitching like a kid who's been here before - he hasn't - to Betancourt blowing a fastball past Ramirez in the seventh inning of a 6-6 game.
Cleveland is doing this with less than half of Boston's payroll. That's why this means more to these players. They're not hired guns.
"It's such a different job," Shapiro said, comparing the haves and the have nots of baseball. "I know the way we have to do it there is definitely more of a personal attachment from every link in the operation: From the role of the trainer, the role of the strength coach. ... Every cog is so important to us, and everybody feels so strongly vested in what we're trying to do that the moments of celebration are amplified."
Reach Canton Repository sports writer Todd Porter at (330) 580-8340 or e-mail: todd.porter@cantonrep.com