A Look Back At This Date In Cleveland Indians Playoff History; Oct. 7

October 7

1920 World Series Game 3, Ebbets Field: Robins 2, Indians 1

With this series a best of nine, the game schedule was set up in a 3-4-2 setup, with the NL getting home field advantage. So game three was the third in three days in Brooklyn. Sherry Smith walked Bill Wambsganss in the first, but retired Joe Evans, Tris Speaker and George Burns all on ground balls. Speaker's choice to pitch game three was Ray Caldwell. He walked Ivy Olson and then Jimmy Johnston sacrificed him over. An error by Joe Sewell on Tommy Griffith's grounder put runners at the corners with nobody out. Zach Wheat singled in Olson and Hi Myers singled in Griffith. Already down 2-0, Speaker called on Duster Mails to relieve and he quenched the fire, popping up Ed Konetchy and getting Pete Kilduff to fly out.

The Tribe went in order in both the second and third. Mails worked around an Otto Miller walk and an Olson single in the fourth by getting Smith to double up Miller and Steve O'Neill caught Olson stealing. Tris Speaker doubled down the left field line in the fourth and ended up scoring when Wheat misplayed the ball. It's a good thing too, because the other three batters all grounded out. But the score had been cut in half, 2-1. From the fourth through the seventh, Mails only allowed a leadoff walk to Konetchy in the fourth and two walks to Kilduff and Olson in the seventh, but none of them scored.

The Indian offense was just as inept against Smith. The only batter to reach from the fifth through the seventh was a one out Sewell walk in the fifth. In the eighth, the dry spell was broken when O'Neill singled with one out. Charlie Jamieson pinch ran for O'Neill and Les Nunamaker pinch hit for Mails. Nunamaker promptly hit into a 5-4-3 double play. George Uhle pitched the eighth, with Wheat the only hitter getting on base via a single. Smith continued his dominance by retiring Evans, Wamsbganss and Speaker all on ground balls. Smith had allowed just three hits and two walks all game and recorded 19 of them on grounders. The Indians had to be thinking they were lucky only to be down 2-1 in the series as their offense had been anemic in Brooklyn, scoring just four runs on 15 hits, and a putrid .165 average and just eight walks. After a travel day, the next four would be back home in their hitter's paradise, Dunn Field, the reverse Fenway.

1948 World Series Game 2, Braves Field: Indians 4, Braves 1

After a duel in game one, more of the same was expected as Bob Lemon took on Warren Spahn. This time, only one of them would fulfill those expectations. After the Tribe went 1-2-3 to start the game, the Braves struck first on a Joe Gordon error on an Al Dark grounder and back to back singles by Earl Torgeson and Bob Elliott. Spahn worked around a two out double by Larry Doby and Eddie Robinson walk in the second. Lemon also worked out of a mini jam in the second with a leadoff single by Bill Salked and a one out walk to Eddie Stanky.

The only runner in the third was a Al Dark single, but the Tribe finally solved Spahn in the fourth. Lou Boudreau led off with a deep double down the right field line and scored on a Gordon single, Gordon taking second on the throw home. Ken Keltner fouled out to left, but Larry Doby singled in Gordon and the Tribe had their first lead of the series, 2-1. The Braves almost tied it in the bottom half on a leadoff walk by Salked, a single by Mike McCormick and a sacrifice by Eddie Stanky. But Spahn grounded out and Tommy Holmes flew out, stranding them at second and third.

In the fifth, Dale Mitchell singled to start things off and was sacrificed over by Allie Clark. After Boudreau singled him home, Spahn was pulled for Red Barrett. This was the right call as Barrett only allowed a single in the sixth to Robinson (who was doubled up) and two runners in the seventh on a pair of errors by Stanky and Dark. Bolstered by the two run lead, Lemon settled in and retired nine of the next ten hitters. A leadoff single by Torgeson was wiped out on a 4-6-3 double play. The second Dark error on a Jim Hegan grounder in the ninth got him to third on subsequent groundouts by Lemon and Mitchell. Bob Kennedy singled in that last insurance run off Nels Potter. A Stanky double in the ninth went for naught, and the Tribe had evened up the series, heading back to Cleveland.

1998 ALCS Game 2, Yankee Stadium II: Indians 4, Yankees 1, 12 innings

After a lackluster first game, workhorse Charles Nagy took to the rubber to try and even the series against David Cone. This one developed into a very good pitching duel. David Justice got a walk in the first off Cone and Derek Jeter was stranded after a one double in the bottom half. The only other baserunner was a Shane Spencer single in the second until the Indians got their best scoring chance in the fourth. Justice hit a solo shot after one out and the Indians had their first lead of the series. A walk to Manny Ramirez, a single by Travis Fryman and another walk to Brian Giles loaded eh bases for Sandy Alomar with two out. He grounded out to end the inning.

Paul O'Neill had a leadoff double to start the fourth, but Nagy sat down the next nine hitters. Bernie Williams singled to start the seventh, Tino Martinez walked and then Tim Raines struck out. Spencer's fly ball got Williams to third and Scott Brosius brought him home with a double, Martinez stopping at third. Mike Hargrove brought in Steve Reed, who kept the game tied with a weak grounder back to the pitcher.

In the eighth, Omar Vizquel tripled with one out but was stranded against Cone. Reed walked Jeter with one out and Jim Poole came in to get O'Neill to fly out, albeit deep to left. After Paul Shuey was summoned, Jeter stole second. Williams walked but Martinez struck out. The Tribe went in order in the ninth through eleventh innings against Mariano Rivera, Mike Stanton and Jeff Nelson. The Yankees got two on against Shuey in the ninth, but Jorge Posada hit an inning ending double play.

The tie was broken in the twelfth. Jim Thome singled off Nelson and Enrique Wilson pinch ran for him. Fryman laid down a bunt single to Martinez, who threw the ball wildly, scoring Wilson with Fryman ending up on third. After striking out Brian Giles, Nelson hit Sandy Alomar and walked Joey Cora. In came Graeme Lloyd and Kenny Lofton singled in the lead two runners. Mike Jackson would have had a three up three down in the bottom half, but Fryman dropped a liner. Jeter struck out to end the game and the teams were tied, heading back to Cleveland.

1999 ALDS Game 2, Jacobs Field: Indians 11, Red Sox 1

After taking the first game, Mike Hargrove slotted Charles Nagy to face Bret Saberhagen. Jose Offerman singled to start the game, but was caught stealing by Sandy Alomar. Robbie Alomar's double in the first went nowhere. Both Nagy and Saberhagen erased singles in the second by Troy O'Leary and Harold Baines respectively, by getting double plays on the next batters. Trot Nixon doubled with one out in third when Offerman singled him home, with Ramirez throwing out Offerman at second.

With the Tribe down 1-0, they went to work on Saberhagen in the third. Travis Fryman walked but was forced by Sandy Alomar. Kenny Lofton walked and he and Sandy scored on Omar Vizquel's triple. Robbie Alomar doubled in Omar and the Tribe led 3-1. Manny moved Robbie to third on a flyball, Jim Thome walked and Harold Baines parked one, to make the score 6-1. John Wasdin got the last out of the fourth, but contributed to the deficit in the fifth. Fryman walked, as did Lofton. Omar singled to load the bases. Robbie had a sac fly and Manny walked to load the bases for a Jim Thome granny. The game was now a laugher 11-1.

Nagy retired 12 of 13 from the fourth through the seventh. Steve Karsay allowed a walk and single in eighth and Mike Jackson had a perfect ninth. With a 2-0 series lead, the Indians headed to Boston, needing just one more win to move onto the ALCS.

2007 ALDS Game 3, Yankee Stadium II: Yankees 8, Indians 4

After a travel day, the Tribe headed to the Bronx to try and sweep the Yankees out of the playoffs. And things looked pretty decent in that regard as the Indians scored single runs in the first three innings against Roger Clemens. In the first Asdrubal Cabrera singled, moved to second on a Travis Hafner walk and came home on a Ryan Garko single. Trot Nixon homered in the second and an RBI double by Jhonny Peralta scored Hafner in the third after Phil Hughes relieved. Staked to a 3-0 lead, Jake Westbrook had perfect first and second frames. The Yankees got one back in the third on a Hideki Matsui single, grounder by Robinson Cano and a fielder's choice that resulted in a first and third by Melky Cabrera. Johny Damon scored Matsui but Derek Jeter hit into the proverbial double play.

Westbrook wouldn't be as fortunate in the fifth. Matsui singled and Cano doubled him to third. Melky Cabrera singled in Matsui and Johnny Damon parked one in the stands, making it 5-3 Yankees. After a leadoff single by Alex Rodriguez in the sixth, Eric Wedge signaled for Aaron Fultz. But Jorge Posada also singled. After a Doug Mientkiewicz sacrifice and Matsui intentional walk loaded the bases, Cano singled in Rodriguez, but Posada and Matsui both scored on Nixon's error in right, pushing the lead to 8-3. After 3.2 innings of solid relief work by Hughes (two hits, no walks and four strikeouts), Joe Torre called upon Joba Chamberlain. Free of the midges, he had a perfect seventh frame.

Jensen Lewis struck out the side in the seventh (Jeter, Abreu and Rodriguez). Chamberlain was all over the place in the eighth. Victor Martinez singled but Garko grounded into a double play. Peralta walked and moved to second on Kenny Lofton's single. Nixon tried to atone for his previous error by doubling in Peralta, but Blake ended the inning on a flyball. Joe Borowski walked two in the ninth but no further damage occurred. Torre was not going to risk a four run lead to anyone but his closer, and Rivera retired them in order, with Asbrubal and Hafner both striking out. The Yankees got their first win of the series, but needed two more in succession to come back.