http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/15/sports/baseball/alcs-game-1-cleveland-indians-toronto-blue-jays.html 2016-10-15 05:47:21 After an Odd Injury, Indians Strike First in A.L.C.S. Against Blue Jays Cleveland won Game 1, the importance of which was underscored by the news that their Game 2 starter had cut the pinkie on his pitching hand while fixing a drone. === CLEVELAND — Before he reported to the ballpark for the opening game of the American League Championship Series on Friday, Terry Francona faced a crisis. His boss, Chris Antonetti, desperately needed to contact him. “When I got out of the shower, my phone was blowing up,” said Francona, the manager of the The urgent bulletin: Francona’s starter for the second game, Trevor Bauer, had cut the little finger on his pitching hand while fixing a drone. Of course he had. This was a new injury for the Indians, but they are used to medical misery. They simply find a way to keep winning. The Indians expect Bauer to be ready to pitch by Monday. But his fragile condition only underscored the importance of Game 1 against the Kluber stifled the Blue Jays for six and a third innings of a 2-0 victory in Game 1. Another Indians All-Star, the 22-year-old shortstop Francisco Lindor, gave him all the offense he needed with a two-run, 413-foot homer off Marco Estrada in the sixth inning. Kluber, who tossed seven scoreless innings against Boston in the division series, is lined up to pitch a potential Game 5 in Toronto. The Indians have no plans to use him three times in this series, but after Kluber threw a manageable 100 pitches on Friday, they might at least consider starting him on short rest in Game 4. The rookie Mike Clevinger, who has pitched just two and two-thirds innings during the past three weeks, is scheduled to make that start now. The Indians scored just enough off Estrada, who worked an eight-inning complete game for the Blue Jays. Estrada’s fastball averaged just 88.1 miles per hour this season, according to Fangraphs. Of the 73 pitchers who qualified for the earned run average title, only seven had a slower fastball. But Estrada’s fastball works well because of its excessive backspin; it does not drop as much as the hitter expects. He pitches confidently up in the zone, generating weak pop-ups and harmless flyouts, and keeps hitters guessing with his best pitch, the changeup. “The changeup is just an equalizing pitch,” said Jonathan Lucroy, the Texas catcher, after Estrada beat the Rangers in the division series opener. “It looks like a fastball — especially his. He was locating it, throwing it down and in to righties, far side of the plate to righties. And when a guy has a really good changeup and he’s locating it, it’s pretty tough to be balanced throughout your at-bat.” With four days off after sweeping the Rangers, Blue Jays Manager John Gibbons could have used any starter. The Indians generally hit changeups well — their .263 batting average off the pitch ranked third in the majors — but Gibbons stuck with Estrada, and for a while, it worked. Cleveland managed only four singles and no walks through five innings, but Estrada walked Jason Kipnis with one out in the sixth. He got ahead of Lindor, 0-2, then tried a changeup, down and in. In his previous at-bat, Lindor had pulled a fastball for a sharp ground-ball single. He hit the changeup to the same side this time — but high in the air. It carried over the outfield, landing well beyond the wall in right-center field for a two-run homer. Lindor shot his fist into the air between first and second. The Indians had a 2-0 lead in the sixth inning. With a top starter on the mound and a well-rested bullpen, that is precisely their formula for success. The Blue Jays had managed six hits off Kluber, including Edwin Encarnacion’s first-inning double to the wall in right-center field. But they failed repeatedly in the clutch, going hitless in five at-bats with runners in scoring position off Kluber. Over and over again, Kluber fooled the Blue Jays with his curveball, using it to finish five of his six strikeouts. The Indians’ Josh Tomlin said other pitchers envy Kluber for the movement on his pitches — and the way he prepares. “He’s got unbelievable stuff,” said Tomlin, who will start Game 2 on Saturday. “He knows how to use it. And the days leading up to his starts are pretty impressive. He’s probably one of the more routine-oriented people I’ve ever seen in baseball. He does things pretty basically the same way every single time, so he knows how his body is going to feel. And he works his butt off.” With that methodical approach — and dry public persona — Kluber’s nickname makes sense: Klubot. After the first out of the seventh, though, Francona called for an upgrade. He summoned Andrew Miller, the versatile left-hander he uses for the game’s most important outs. Miller preserved the shutout through the eighth, his sweeping slider breaking under the Blue Jays’ futile swings. He got five outs, all by strikeout, before Cody Allen finished up in the ninth.