Indians-Blue Jays ALCS: Tomlin unhittable, Miller not human, Indians speed pays off

The Indians have had everything go their way in the first two games of the series

Three thoughts on the Indians' 2-1 victory in ALCS Game 2, while pondering how a sellout crowd can chant "Cody! Cody!" and not have it sound absurd...

This is not the Josh Tomlin you were looking for.

Glance at Josh Tomlin's career numbers (4.48 ERA, 4.48 FIP, 1.6 homers per 9 innings) or even his full-year 2016 numbers (4.40 ERA, 4.88 FIP, 1.9 homers per 9 innings), you wouldn't expect much. Going up against a Blue Jays lineup with tons of power, on an unseasonably warm autumn afternoon, you might've expected Toronto's big bats to deliver a bunch of presents to souvenir city.

Didn't happen. Not even close. Tomlin faced 22 batters, throwing 85 pitches. Just two(!!!) of those 85 pitches were hit in play, in the air. The end result was a gem, 5 2/3 innings of one-run, three-hit ball.

The last time he pitched, in Game 3 of the ALDS against the Red Sox, Tomlin excelled by firing first-pitch strikes, usually fastballs on the corners. As CBS Sports colleague Mike Axisa documented in his summary of Saturday night's game, Tomlin's bread-and-butter this time was a terrific curveball, one he threw far more often than usual, low in the zone and out of Jays' batters reach. The result was tons of weak contact, including 10 groundball outs for a pitcher who's never been much of a wormburner.

It's amazing to think how good Tomlin has looked over the past few weeks, given where he was at the end of August. On August 30, the lowly Twins beat up the soft-tossing right-hander, piling up four runs and seven hits and knocking Tomlin out before he could even complete the second inning. After that disastrous start, the Indians held him back from starting again for 15 days, as well-regarded pitching coach Mickey Callaway worked with Tomlin on everything from mechanics to pitch location. In his past six starts since then -- including the two standout outings against Boston and Toronto during these playoffs, Tomlin has posted an even 2.00 ERA over 36 innings, walking just three batters and allowing just one home run.

The Indians have now played six games this postseason, and the only reliever other than the big three of Andrew Miller, Cody Allen, and Bryan Shaw to take the mound was Dan Otero, throwing one inning against the Sox. If Cleveland starting pitchers not named Corey Kluber are going to pitch this well, opposing teams won't get many cracks at the lesser members of that pen. That's an excellent formula for the Tribe to be a big threat to hoist a trophy a couple weeks from now.

Andrew Miller might not be human.

The Indians shutdown reliever has now faced 28 batters this postseason. He's struck out 17 of those 28, allowing just three hits and two walks over 7 2/3 scoreless innings. Of the six Jays batters Miller faced Saturday night, five struck out; Ezequiel Carrera deserved a Nobel Prize for making enough contact to weakly ground out to second on the first pitch he saw in the 8th.

When you see a tall, long-limbed left-hander with a big slider, you assume that lefties have no shot against him, but right-handers might (on a good day) bang out a few hits against it. Miller's mid-90s fastball and vicious slidepiece certainly inspire plenty of sweats among lefty hitters, even if we haven't yet seen any of them try the full Larry Walker All-Star Game rout against Miller. But the wicked spin and movement that Miller gets on his slider can make right-handed hitter look weak as kittens too. Right-handed batters hit a microscopic .153/.195/.279 against him this season.

Andrew Miller has been a difference-maker since being acquired near the trade deadline. USATSI

Mike Vorkunov's post-ALDS feature detailed the hoops Cleveland's front office went through to acquire Miller, including convincing a dubious owner that shooting the moon with a huge package of prospects made sense for a guy who might not even pitch in the ninth inning. Now, both the trade, and Terry Francona's insistence that Miller be used to get as many outs as possible -- sometimes starting as early as the fifth inning -- look like strokes of genius.

It's theoretically conceivable that the Blue Jays will finally solve Miller in the games to come, back in their home park and after having a few looks at the lanky lefty. Just don't bet on it.

The Indians' speed finally paid off.

Lost amid the Indians' impressive run to a 2-0 series lead is the excellent performance by Jays pitchers. With just four runs and 13 baserunners allowed in 16 innings, Marco Estrada, J.A. Happ, Joe Biagini, and Roberto Osuna have pitched well enough to give the Jays the series edge instead, were it not for the Tribe's airtight run prevention so far. Toronto's stingy pitching has also mostly curtailed Cleveland's efforts to get their excellent running game going.

Still, the Indians did take advantage of one running opportunity in Game 2. And while Cleveland's pitchers are deservedly getting most of the love, we might be locked in a 1-1 tie around the 19th inning right about now if not for one act of basestealing derring-do.

With the score tied at 1 in the bottom of the third, Indians catcher Roberto Perez led off by falling behind in the count 0-2...then coming all the way back to work a walk, no mean feat for one of the worst hitters in the majors. When Rajai Davis followed with a force play, everyone in the stadium knew what was coming next. Reading Happ quickly, Davis broke for second, making it in easily when Russell Martin's throw was well off target. Davis would advance to third on a Happ wild pitch that should have been a passed ball (Martin made a weak stab at the ball rather than blocking it), then scored on a two-out single by Lindor, giving the Indians their winning run.

Despite being born on the exact same day and year as Jose Bautista, Davis continued to be a master thief this year, leading the American League with 43 steals. With Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor, and others offering additional basestealing threats, and Martin looking banged up this year in the year, look for the Indians to continue to run whenever they can.

Cleveland's aggressiveness in the basepaths might show up in other situations too. By Fangraphs' baserunning runs, a stat that measures both baserunning and teams' ability to go first to third and second to home on singles, first to home on doubles, and so on, the Indians rated as the third-best team in the majors. The Jays, with the second-oldest roster in baseball and a lineup build on methodical boppers rather than spry speedsters, ranked 25th.

It's possible that Game 1 of this series might've gone differently had Josh Donaldson scored from first on Edwin Encarnacion's booming double in the top of the first Friday night. And Davis' fleet feet played a huge role in Cleveland's win on Saturday. In a series that's been tightly contested, the Indians have found yet another little edge to exploit.