CLEVELAND -- When the ball disappeared over the outfield wall, Francisco Lindor raised his right fist and took off.Smiling with every stride, Clevelands superstar-in-the-making shortstop sprinted around the bases like he was being chased.He and the Indians arent slowing down for anything this October.Lindor hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning and Corey Kluber silenced Torontos booming bats, giving the Indians a 2-0 win over the Blue Jays in Game 1 of the AL Championship Series on Friday night.Lindor connected on an 0-2 changeup from Marco Estrada and tore around the basepaths as the bend-but-dont-break Indians won their fourth straight playoff game in this most unexpected season.I believe in my team. I believe in what we have, said Lindor, the talented 22-year-old who plays as if hes been part of postseason games for a decade. Were just trying to do our thing.Kluber, Clevelands solid and stoic ace, pitched 6 1/3 spotless innings before manager Terry Francona turned things over to the Indians best weapon -- their bullpen. Andrew Miller made the Blue Jays look silly , striking out five of the six batters he faced, and closer Cody Allen got the save with a perfect ninth as the Indians extended their longest postseason winning streak since 1920.The Blue Jays wasted some early scoring chances -- they had six runners in the first three innings -- against Kluber and their frustration only grew as the night went on. Toronto slugger Jose Bautista struck out three times and Edwin Encarnacion lost his cool when he was fanned in the eighth, jawing at plate umpire Laz Diaz.It wasnt like we faced the average Joe out there, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said of Kluber. Hes one of the elite pitchers in the game, as is Miller, as is Allen. We got some guys on base early. We couldnt get that big hit.After getting their first ALCS win since 2007, the Indians will try to take a 2-0 lead Saturday with Josh Tomlin facing Torontos 20-game winner, J.A. Happ. Tomlin was originally scheduled to start Game 3, but was moved up when Trevor Bauer sustained an odd injury as he sliced open his right pinkie while repairing a drone.Kluber kept flying in the postseason.The right-hander has not allowed a run in 13 1/3 innings this October and he kept the Blue Jays inside Progressive Field after they teed off against the Texas Rangers in the Division Series.Estrada carried a four-hit shutout into the sixth before walking Jason Kipnis with one out. Lindor was in an 0-2 hole before the shortstop, who could become a household name before this series ends, drove his homer over the wall in right-center and ran like Usain Bolt wearing a Chief Wahoo cap.I thought (Kevin) Pillar was going to catch it, Lindor said. As soon as it went out, I put my hands out. I looked at the dugout and everybody was going insane.Estrada allowed six hits in Torontos first complete game all year, but made one costly mistake.I was trying to bounce it, to be honest with you, Estrada said. Good hitters are going to hit it out and hes a good hitter.Kluber dodged some early trouble and held the Blue Jays, who hit eight home runs and scored 22 times in their ALDS sweep of Texas, to six hits in the first six innings. The Indians needed every out they could get from Kluber, who shut out Boston for seven innings in his postseason debut 10 days after he injured a quadriceps in a start against Detroit.The 2014 AL Cy Young Award winner, who will certainly get votes this season after winning 18 games, has been the only dependable starter all season for Cleveland, which lost Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar to injuries in September and is now dealing with Bauers bizarre mishap.I laughed when I heard, Kipnis said. I dont care, as long as he can pitch for us. Its not as funny if he cant pitch. If he can, (Ill tell him), `Youre an idiot, but go get some outs for us now.ODDS AND ENDSKluber became the fifth pitcher to throw at least six scoreless innings in his first two postseason starts. The others were Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson (1905), Joe Niekro (1980-1981), Dave Righetti (1981) and Steve Avery (1991). . Indians 3B Lonnie Chisenhall went 3 for 3 and owns a franchise-best .529 batting average in five career playoff games. . Cleveland OF Coco Crisp equaled the LCS record with two sacrifice bunts. . Torontos only other postseason complete game was by Jack Morris in the opener of the 1992 ALCS.COMEBACK KIDBlue Jays lefty Francisco Liriano will be eligible to pitch Saturday after recovering from a concussion sustained in the ALDS when he was struck in the head by a line drive. Toronto played with a 24-man roster in the opener as Liriano remained in baseballs seven-day concussion protocol. As a result, RHP Marcus Stroman -- Torontos projected starter in Game 3 -- was available in relief for Game 1.TRAINERS ROOMTravis will have an MRI on Saturday after re-injuring his right knee when covering first base in the fifth. He sat out the final two games of the Division Series with a bone bruise and is worried its worse.It hurts pretty bad, he said. I jarred my knee a little bit. I felt a sharp pain in my knee.UP NEXTBlue Jays: Happ struck out 11 and allowed one run over seven innings in beating the Indians on July 3. He was second in the AL in wins, going 20-4 with a 3.18 ERA. Happ picked up the victory in Game 2 of the ALDS against Texas, allowing one run in five innings.Indians: Tomlin gave up three homers -- to Martin, Melvin Upton Jr. and Encarnacion -- in a loss to the Blue Jays on Aug. 20. Tomlin went 0-5 in August, but has bounced back and given up seven earned runs in 31 2/3 innings over his last six appearances. Kurt Warner Jersey .ca NBA Power Rankings, ahead of the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs. Eric Dickerson Jersey . Jane Virtanen scored two, and Alex Roach and Elliott Peterson rounded out the offence for the Hitmen (40-15-6). Brady Brassart chipped in with three assists. Colton McCarthy scored twice, Brayden Point had a goal and two assists, and Jack Rodewald also scored for the Warriors (15-35-9), who were 2 for 5 on the power play. http://www.laramsfootballshops.com/joe-namath-jersey/ . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. Todd Gurley II Youth Jersey . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Marshall Faulk Rams Jersey . With the first unit struggling of late and Amir Johnson - one of the teams iron men - hobbling on an injured right ankle, Patterson knew he could get the nod in a challenging matchup against one of the leagues up and coming players at his position. England 103 for 5 (Stokes 12*, Bairstow 12*) trail India 455 (Kohli 167, Pujara 119, Ashwin 58, Moeen 3-98) by 352 runs Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAt every critical juncture of this typically subcontinental Test match, Englands cricketers have inadvertently been telegraphing their sense of impending doom. It was visible in Alastair Cooks body language after losing a vital toss; it resurfaced on the first afternoon when Virat Kohli was dropped at fine leg by Adil Rashid, and there were tremors again this morning, when Moeen Alis offbreaks began to find the purchase necessary to check Indias innings before it could run away.But it wasnt until the second afternoon at Visakhapatnam that their deep-seated pessimism began gushing to the surface like an Andhra Pradesh oil strike. By the close of a gripping and debilitating third session, with Indias trio of spinners tormenting both sides of a succession of stick-or-twist blades, the destiny of this contest was all but pre-ordained.England limped to the close on 103 for 5, in reply to Indias 455, having contributed massively to their own downfall with a succession of hare-brained departures, but equally, having had their minds and techniques scrambled by the dripping-tap accuracy of, in particular, the offspinners R Ashwin and debutant Jayant Yadav.Ravindra Jadejas left-arm spin played its part as well, darting the ball in flat and fast to challenge the front pad and leave Englands batsmen no time to gather their thoughts between deliveries. But it was Ashwin who applied the surgical strikes, his 12 overs yielding 15 runs and two wickets, including the crowning scalp of Joe Root for 53 and the hapless Ben Duckett for 5.Meanwhile Jayant, shrewdly handed a debut in response to Englands selection of a record seven left-handers, showcased a tall and tidy technique, and accounted of one of that number as his maiden Test wicket. Moeen Ali, one of Englands four centurions at Rajkot, was struck on the shin as he pressed forward to another wicket-to-wicket delivery, and sent on his way lbw for 1 after Virat Kohli made a correct call for the DRS.Soon afterwards, Jayant should have had a second when he bounced an offbreak off the top of Ben Stokes off stump and into the keepers gloves without dislodging it. It was a memorably bizarre footnote to a fine first day of Test action from the new boy, that had earlier included a key role - once again in tandem with Ashwin - in a 64-run stand for Indias eighth wicket, but was perhaps most notable for the athletic slide and throw from deep square leg that ran out Haseeb Hameed for 13 and wrecked what little poise Englands innings had managed to generate.It hadnt looked too promising in the early moments of Englands innings either, and Cook in particular had lived dangerously in his 11-ball stay. He all but popped a leading edge back to the bowler in Mohammad Shamis opening over, but could do nothing about the beauty that bowled him in his second. After being lined up by two deliveries that curled away to the slipps, Cook was beaten by a sensational nipbacker that smashed the off stump in two as it nipped back through the gate.dddddddddddd But despite such a seismic shock to Englands system, there had been a glimmer of hope, in the form of a 47-run stand for the second wicket between Hameed and Root, that England might somehow extract enough runs from a still serviceable wicket to haul themselves close to first-innings parity. Root, in particular, had been responding impressively to the challenge of a skiddy low surface, and at one stage during a probing new-ball spell from Indias seamers had advanced on Shami to clip him aggressively through midwicket for four.But he was entirely culpable in the moment of madness that sold his younger partner down the river. Chivvying for the second run as he clipped Jadeja off the pads, he hurtled halfway down the track only to turn abruptly on his heels as Jayants throw fizzed in from the deep. Wriddhiman Saha did brilliantly in front of the stumps to gather and flick backwards in one moment, clipping the bails as Hameed tumbled for the crease in vain.At 51 for 2, the door was ajar and Indias spinners did not require a second invitation to bring out the battering ram. Duckett, whose stroke-laden technique had been an asset when counterattacking against Bangladesh, proved as a leaky as a fishermans net when facing the best spin bowler in the world, and having consistently exposed his stumps in a bid to attack Ashwin out of the rough, it was to nobodys great surprise when they duly were splattered for 5.Two overs later, and Ashwin had the big one. Root had been playing a blinder in the circumstances, galvanised by his own supreme form and the knowledge of his role in Hameeds demise. But, against Ashwin, even his free-scoring methods had been tempered, until Kohli tempted him fatally by removing his long-on and inviting a hoick over the top. He took the bait but failed to get to the pitch, and Umesh was on hand at long-off to cue Indias delirium.The familiar failings with the bat made Englands determined efforts with the ball earlier in the day somewhat redundant. Moeen, who had been underused on the opening day of the match, claimed three quick wickets in the second hour of the morning before Rashid and Stokes mopped up the resistance after lunch.Ashwin, Indias main source of runs on the day, was lucky to benefit from a drop at slip by Stokes when he had made 17, but the unlikely let-off had a spin-off benefit for England. India ran a single as the ball ricocheted off Stokes knee at slip, and one ball later, Stokes made amends by snaffling a faster, lower edge to his right to see off Indias main man, Kohli, for 167 instead.Kohlis early dismissal enabled England to keep Indias innings closer to 450 than 550, but by the close, in spite of a spirited 15-overs of resistance from Stokes and Jonny Bairstow, it was looking like more than enough. ' ' '
