http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/19/sports/baseball/cleveland-indians-toronto-blue-jays-alcs.html 2016-10-19 03:05:12 Blue Jays Punch Hole in Indians’ Bullpen and Aura of Invincibility Cleveland, which had won all six of its playoff games, missed a chance to clinch the A.L.C.S., with Toronto breaking open the game with two runs in the seventh. === TORONTO — A slight crack emerged Tuesday in the previously unblemished path that the For the first time, Cleveland’s bullpen faltered, and its defense wavered, with the The loss was the Indians’ first of the postseason, after six games in which virtually everything they did worked to perfection, from the decisions of Manager Terry Francona to the pitching of their relief corps and the sparkling defensive plays by their fielders. The Indians still hold a commanding three-games-to-one advantage in the best-of-seven series, with Game 5 scheduled to be played here on Wednesday. The Blue Jays, whose bats are finally showing signs of life, are hoping to become the only Major League Baseball team other than the 2004 Boston Red Sox to have come back from a 3-0 deficit in a postseason series. Since that Red Sox resurgence, in each of the nine instances that a team had fallen behind by that margin in a league championship series or the World Series, that team had lost Game 4. But behind a loud and supportive crowd announced at 49,142, the Blue Jays chipped away at the Indians’ aura of invincibility. Josh Donaldson, the Blue Jays’ third baseman and last season’s A.L. most valuable player, blasted a solo home run in the third inning to open the scoring and made a run-saving defensive play in the fifth to preserve Toronto’s lead. Aaron Sanchez, the Blue Jays’ starter, held the Indians to one run and two hits in his six innings on the mound, and the Blue Jays broke open the game with two runs off the Indians’ bullpen in the seventh. With Toronto leading by 2-1, Blue Jays second baseman Ryan Goins singled to lead off the bottom of the seventh, and Jose Bautista reached base on a throwing error by reliever Bryan Shaw. Until then, Cleveland’s defense had been generally solid and at times spectacular. Facing a difficult choice with runners at first and third and nobody out, the Indians elected to walk Donaldson intentionally to load the bases and bring up Edwin Encarnacion. But the move backfired when Encarnacion drilled a line drive to center field, scoring Goins and Bautista as the crowd erupted. The Indians right-hander Corey Kluber, starting on three days’ rest for the first time in his career, allowed two runs and four hits, including the home run by Donaldson, over his five innings. The Indians had few options other than to use Kluber on short rest, having had to adjust their rotation because starter Trevor Bauer cut his pinkie on the propeller of a toy drone on Friday and was unable to pitch past the first inning Francona decided to go with Kluber in Game 4 because that would enable Kluber to pitch again in a potential Game 7. Kluber encountered some difficulty in the fourth after he walked the first two batters, Troy Tulowitzki and Russell Martin, the latter of whom had entered the game with only two hits in 27 at-bats this postseason. Kluber struck out Michael Saunders for the first out, but Ezequiel Carrera, the Blue Jays’ left fielder, lofted a blooper to center that landed in front of the outfielders. Tulowitzki scampered home from second base to extend Toronto’s lead to 2-0. With runners at first and second and only one out, Kluber struck out Kevin Pillar and Goins to extinguish the threat and limit the Blue Jays to a two-run lead. In the bottom of the fifth, Kluber got Bautista, Donaldson and Encarnacion out in order to complete his day’s work. Sanchez, 24, who had made nine postseason appearances for the Blue Jays last year and one start in their division series this year against the Texas Rangers, kept the Cleveland hitters off balance with an array of sharp breaking balls. The Indians finally scored off him in the fifth, but a terrific play by Donaldson limited the damage to one run. With two outs and Coco Crisp on second after a walk and a wild pitch, Roberto Perez drilled a ball to deep center field that sailed over Pillar’s head and bounced off the wall. Crisp scored easily, and Perez slid into second with a double. That brought up Carlos Santana, the Indians’ designated hitter, with a chance to tie the score, and he ripped a sharp ground ball to the left side that for an instant appeared headed for the hole. But Donaldson dived to his left, snared the ball in the webbing of his glove, rose to his feet and fired a strike to first base to get Santana by a step and end the inning, igniting a ferocious cheer from the home fans. The Toronto fans have not had much to cheer in this series. But the first crack in the Indians’ veneer has given them hope.