The Indians did their part to keep their post-season hopes alive by beating Tampa Bay 1-0, but Oakland would not play along, as they defeated the Texas Rangers to eliminate the Indians from the Wild Card race. There are now four teams for three spots as Kansas CIty and Detroit will battle for the AL Central crown with the loser getting a Wild Card game against either Seattle or Oakland.
Recaps
Kluber dominates and Ramirez provides all the offense | Let's Go Tribe - Corey Kluber pitched 8 dominant innings, leading the Indians to a 1-0 victory over the Rays.
Tampa Bay Rays at Cleveland Indians - September 26, 2014 | MLB.com CLE Recap - Indians.com recap (Bastian)
Corey Kluber fantastic in victory, but Cleveland Indians eliminated from playoff contention | cleveland.com
Indians righty Corey Kluber struck out 11 in eight shutout innings Friday.
Another Pitching Record
Tribe sets MLB single-season strikeout record - When Tampa Bay's David DeJesus swung through the 95-mph two-seamer from Cleveland's Cy Young Award candidate, the Tribe established a benchmark for team strikeouts in a single season.
More Indians-Related News
Will Z-Mac be in bullpen for Cleveland Indians in 2015? Hey, Hoynsie! | cleveland.com - Zach McAllister impressed the Indians with the way he worked out of the bullpen at the end of the season.
R.I.P., Cleveland Indians' 2014 season - CBSSports.com - The Indians are officially out of playoff contention. Let us now bid them farewell.
I know it's a sensitive topic, but I felt I needed to include the following article since it will appear (has appeared?) in ESPN Magazine. Play nice, everybody:
Cleveland Indians should say goodbye to Chief Wahoo - ESPN - In ESPN The Magazine, Steve Wulf writes about why it's time for the Cleveland Indians to say goodbye to Chief Wahoo.
Cleveland's improbable postseason run ends with A's win | indians.com - On Friday night, the Indians picked up a 1-0 win over Tampa Bay behind a strong performance from Corey Kluber, but this was hardly a case of payback. This was a win built on desperation, and it still led to another night of deflation as Cleveland saw its improbable road to the postseason officially end.
Jim Ingraham: The good, the bad and the ugly for the 2014 Cleveland Indians - With the regular season ending this weekend, let’s take a timeout to recognize the good, the bad, the ugly — and everything in between in this Indians’ season
Around the Horn
Kansas City Royals at Chicago White Sox - September 26, 2014 | MLB.com KC Recap - Royals clinch playoff spot, now 1 game back of Tigers with 2 to play.
Tony La Russa cleans house, Diamondbacks fire Kirk Gibson and Alan Trammell | HardballTalk - There will be a lot less "grittiness" in Arizona.
Trout stuns ex-Angel Morales with sick catch | MLB.com - Sick indeed.
Bobby Abreu announces his retirement | HardballTalk - He was an on-base machine who racked up 2,469 hits with 288 homers and 400 steals.
The Physics of the Pop-Up – The Hardball Times - What goes up, must come down.
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And finally, the pop culture list. While I was putting this column together I heard a music clip that prompted the following list of Five Favorite Comedic Songwriters:
- 5 - Mark Russell: Although no longer on PBS four times a year, some of his work on those PBS specials was hilarious,
- 4 - Julie Brown: Best known for "The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun."
- 3 - Mojo Nixon: Because Elvis is everywhere.
- 2 - Weird Al Yankovic: Still in top form. "Tacky" ranks in the top level of anything he's ever done.
- 1 - Tom Lehrer: Still funny after all these years. Look him up, kids.