Cleveland eliminates Estrada, Toronto en route to series

Marco Estrada might not have been as brilliant as he had been in prior postseason appearances, but he still produced a quality start.

Unfortunately, once again his Toronto Blue Jays were unable to produce any runs and that storyline concluded Estrada and Toronto’s season on Wednesday afternoon following a 3-0 loss to the Cleveland Indians in the fifth and deciding game of the American League Championship Series at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

With the victory, the Indians, champions of the American League Central Division, won the ALCS, 4-1, advanced to the 2016 World Series and sent Estrada to his second loss in the ALCS despite some impressive numbers.

On Wednesday, Estrada, a Glendale Community College product, took the defeat after six innings and 92 pitches in which he allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits with no walks and seven strikeouts. It was Estrada’s first loss in a postseason elimination game after he went 2-0 in such contests in 2015.

Despite going 1-2 in three 2016 playoff starts, Estrada was stellar to the tune of a 2.01 earned-run average across 22 1/3 innings, with a complete game, 15 hits allowed, 19 strikeouts and just one walk.

One area that has been problematic for Estrada in the past has been his propensity for giving up home runs, as he led the major leagues in homers allowed in 2014 with the Milwaukee Brewers. It was a problem for Estrada on Wednesday, as he gave up solo home runs to Carlos Santana and Coco Crisp in the third and fourth innings, respectively. The round-trippers followed a first-inning double by Mike Napoli that pushed Francisco Lindor across.

Estrada, a 33-year-old right-hander, got no run support for the second straight time in the series as he pitched an eight-inning complete game in the series opener, which was won by Cleveland, 2-0. The Indians outscored the Blue Jays, 12-8, in the series with two shutouts. Five of the Blue Jays’ runs came in their 5-1 win in game four.

Over 14 innings pitched in the ALCS, Estrada allowed five runs (four earned) and Toronto scored none in return. Wednesday saw the Blue Jays shut out at home in the postseason for the first time in franchise history.

For the first time in its franchise history, Cleveland will host the opening game of the World Series when it welcomes the Los Angeles Dodgers or Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.

It will be the Indians’ first appearance in the series since 1997, as they look for their first series championship since 1948 against either a Dodgers team that has not won a series since 1988 or a Cubs franchise that hasn’t won since 1908.

Toronto, which lost for the second consecutive season in the ALCS, was looking to advance to the World Series for the first time since 1993 when it won a repeat championship. Toronto finished second in the AL East, winning the one-game wild-card playoff against the Baltimore Orioles before winning the American League Division Series against the Texas Rangers.

In the first game of the ALDS, Estrada and the Blue Jays won after a 10-1 thumping of the Rangers. But that scoring barrage was all Toronto had for Estrada, as the Blue Jays tallied six hits (five singles) and no walks on Wednesday against Cleveland starter Ryan Merritt and the relief efforts of Bryan Shaw, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen.

Making only his second Major League Baseball start and his first in the postseason, Merritt, 24, was perfect through the first three innings and allowed two hits and no walks over 4 1/3 innings for the no-decision. Shaw, who pitched a scoreless inning with two hits allowed, got the win.

Estrada carried a shutout in the American League Division Series against the Texas Rangers into the ninth inning and held the Blue Jays scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning in the first game of the ALCS.

But Cleveland struck early against Estrada on Wednesday when Napoli doubled in Lindor for a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. The ball was pulled to the left-field wall, but misplayed, so the run was unearned.

Estrada looked good in the second, though, striking out two in a 1-2-3 stanza, but had racked up 35 pitches after two.

The Indians struck again in the second when Santana pulled a home run over the right-field fence with one out for a 2-0 advantage. Lindor followed with a bloop single to bring Napoli back up again. Estrada was able to get a strikeout looking to end the inning, though.

Through three innings, Estrada threw 50 pitches with two runs allowed (one earned) on four hits and no walks with four strikeouts. Meanwhile, Merritt dazzled with three perfect innings with three strikeouts on 31 pitches.

In the top of the fourth, another flyball created trouble for Estrada and the Jays when Crisp pulled a 2-2 offering with two away over the right-field wall for a solo home run and a 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the inning, Toronto got its first base runner when Josh Donaldson singled with one out. But an Edwin Encarnacion 6-4-3 double play quickly quelled any thoughts of Blue Jays’ offense and extended the team’s scoreless streak to 13 innings over Estrada’s last two starts.

Estrada twirled his most efficient inning in the fifth when he retired the side in order on just nine pitches, putting his count at 79.

The bottom of the inning saw Toronto catcher Russell Martin notch a bloop single with one out, which brought upon the end of Merritt’s day. Michael Saunders followed with a single against Shaw to put runners at first and second, still with one away. Alas, the Blue Jays’ offense was still held off the scoreboard, as Shaw fanned the final two batters of the stanza.

Estrada appeared to be hitting his stride as he tallied another perfect inning in the sixth with a pair of strikeouts to retire seven in a row.

Alas, just as Estrada appeared at his most dominant, he was done after six innings, with reliever Brett Cecil taking over in the seventh.

In the regular season, Estrada was 9-9 with a 3.48 ERA and earned his first selection to the All-Star Game, though he did not play due to an injury.

Over the past two postseasons with Toronto, Estrada has made a name for himself as a clutch performer with a 3-3 record that includes two victories in elimination games last season, along with a 2.16 ERA over 41 2/3 innings with 29 hits allowed, 34 strikeouts and two walks.