Indians add another choke story to tell the grandchildren

For about 30 seconds.

Then Cleveland quit. There's no other way to say this. That's what they did. They flat out gave up.

This was as painful an unraveling amid a comedy of errors as you will ever see in any sport.

In the end, as it turns out, the Indians were lucky to make this a seven-game series. In the division series, they were aided by a swarm of bugs and a pitcher on HGH. Suddenly the bugs and HGH and luck all ran out.

They Indians turned J.D. Drew into a hero. That's how bad this was for Cleveland.

Losing three consecutive ALCS games is an embarrassment this franchise might not live down for years.

The final game was almost symbolic of this series. The Red Sox started hot, Cleveland rebounded and then the Indians disintegrated late. There was third base coach Joel Skinner mistakenly stopping Kenny Lofton from what would have been a certain game-tying score. That play changed the momentum of the contest.

"Well, it's a tough corner out there when the ball heads down that way and ricochets off," said Cleveland manager Eric Wedge. "It's tough to read if it's ricocheting back to the shortstop or to left-center. I think it was just a tough read for him."

Wedge has to back his staff but that was not a tough call. Even Lofton at the time gave Skinner a look that said: What are you doing?

Later Casey Blake and Jhonny Peralta collided while tracking a fly ball. Things that should have been routine became an adventure for the Indians.

"You knew that whoever took advantage of opportunities, or if mistakes were made and they took advantage of opportunities, that was probably going to be the difference," said Wedge, "and I think it probably was today."

Series over for the Indians.

Are the Cavs playing yet?