The Cleveland Indians look to finish a sweep of the new york yankees on Sunday night (Oct. 8). The 2017 ALDS has been very one-sided so far, with the American League Central champions taking a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series. It could all come to an end this weekend, even though Yankee Stadium will play host to the decisive game. Can the Yankees fans provide the team some much-needed momentum to avoid the sweep?
The Yankees actually held an 8-3 lead in Game 2 back on Friday (Oct. 6). Fans were already celebrating on social media and the broadcasters were discussing how good the bullpen of the Yankees has been this year.
Then, Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor hit a grand slam, bringing the lead to just one run for the Yankees. The Indians would then tie the game late and win it in the 13th inning on a walk-off hit by catcher Yan Gomes.
Game 3 pitching matchup
The Cleveland Indians will send Carlos Carrasco (18-6, 3.29 ERA) to face Masahiro Tanaka (13-12, 4.74 ERA) of the New York Yankees on Sunday. This has been a career-year for Carrasco with the Indians, as he has set personal bests with 32 starts, 200 innings, 226 strikeouts, and 18 wins. That includes an 11-2 record and a 2.65 ERA in 17 road starts. For Tanaka, he has a 3.22 ERA at Yankee Stadium, showing how much better he pitches at home as opposed to on the road.
So can Tanaka stop the Indians from completing the three-game sweep of the Yankees? It’s a tough task to ask at this point, especially with the Indians riding a tidal wave of momentum. The Indians are likely without power hitter Edwin Encarnacion, though, who was injured in Game 2 of the series. That could hurt the team on offense, but they did just prove in Game 2 that they could overcome adversity and the vaunted bullpen of the Yankees.
Game time and Game 3 outlook
In game 1 of the 2017 ALDS, Trevor Bauer and the Cleveland Indians shut out the New York Yankees. The 4-0 finish put the Indians on track to return to the World Series again, but first, they have to finish dealing with the Yankees. After muting Aaron Judge and striking out the big man four times in the first game of the series, he was able to start getting on base again in Game 2.
In order to get the win on Sunday, Carlos Carrasco needs to keep Judge and Gary Sanchez from leaving the yard. Aaron Judge did set a new record for home runs by a Yankees hitter at Yankee Stadium and he would love to add to that legacy.
Game time is 7:30 PM ET on Sunday (Oct. 8) and it will be the nightcap for the American League. Earlier in the day, the Houston Astros will try to complete their own sweep of the Boston Red Sox. It’s possible that by the end of the night, an American League Championship Series will be set between the Cleveland Indians and Houston Astros, but first, the two teams have to take care of business on the road.
