Elliott: Rookie, Cleveland bullpen put up nine zeros to oust Jays

Troy Tulowoitzki tosses his bat after poping up the final at-bat in foul ground by first base as the Cleveland Indians celebrate winning the American League Championship Series in the background.

By Bob Elliott
Canadian Baseball Network

It is only a good season if you win your last game.

Your Toronto Blue Jays 2016 season came to an end Wednesday night in a quiet whisper as Troy Tulowitzki’s foul pop was gathered in by Cleveland Indians first baseman Carlos Santana, who sank to his knees a la  George Bell in 1985 bringing down the curtain on the American League Championship Series after five games.

Was it a good or bad season for the Blue Jays?

As the Jays hugged one another, unpacked their bags for the Cleveland bound charter and Game 6 which never came, remember there were only three teams out of 30 still alive: the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Chicago Cubs and the Clevelanders, who were in tight without injured starters Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar.

It says here that it was a good season -- winning the final two games at Fenway, taking the wild card game against the Baltimore Orioles -- but it was a terrible finish. 

The Jays saw nothing but curve ball, curve ball and for a change of a pace another Curve Ball to go with a variety of off-speed pitches. As the Jays rolled over on outside pitches, tried to muscle up in an effort to hit five-run homers and failed to stay back on the variety of slow, slow and slower offspeed offerings. they often went down swiftly and silently.

A close-up look on how the Jays fared at the plate:

Seven hits and zero runs in Game 1.

Three safeties and one run in Game 2.

Seven hits and two runs in Game 3.

Nine hits provided five runs in Game 4, the Jays only win.

And finally, six hits and zero runs. 

Altogether, 32 hits and eight runs as the Jays hit .201 in the series, while the Indians batted .168, lowest ever by a winning LCS team. So now instead of hitting coaches saying ”Look you can still be a success if you fail seven times out of 10,” will they say “You can still be success if you fail more than eight times?”

So which is it? You have three choices: A) Bad hitting by the overzealous and overaggressive Jays hitters; B) outstanding pitching with pinpoint control by the Cleveland pitchers C) a little of both. 

“Obviously, I’m a little disappointed in the result but I’m not disappointed in anybody in this clubhouse,” Josh Donaldson told reporters. “I know how much work these guys put in. I know the sacrifices each and everybody made. We left it out on the line. They played better than us.

“I put everything I had into it. I love this game, have a passion to play this game, have a passion to compete. And I love playing with the teammates in this clubhouse.”

The Indians secret weapon lefty Andrew Miller pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings allowing one hit. Miller earned ALCS MVP honors after striking out 14 and walking none in 7 2⁄3 innings in four appearances. Cody Allen earned his third save of the series after allowing a lead-off double to Jose Bautista in the ninth. 

They followed rookie lefty Ryan Merritt to the mound. Merritt had one major-league start, 11 innings on his major-league belt buckle, had not pitched in a game since Sept. 30 and who did not throw harder than 87 MPH. Bautista predicted would Merritt would “shaking in his boots” after Game 4, but it was the Jays who scuffled in the batter’s box.

Merritt worked 4 1⁄3 scoreless retiring the first 10 hitters he faced. His fastball was complemented by a looping, low to mid-70s curve.

“There’s never any disrespect meant. I simply gave my opinion on what I thought could’ve happened,” Bautista said. “I never said that he wasn’t good enough.

“I also stated that those type of matchups can go either way. Sometimes people step up to the occasion and he certainly did, and he did tremendous tonight.”

Merritt said he had heard Bautista’s line. 

“I guess he’s got a right to say it. It’s my first start,” Merritt said. “But the emotions were kind of crazy at first, a little nervous, but it settled down.”

The lefty threw first-pitch strikes to 13 of the 15 batters faced.

And then the bullpen took over.

A good season, but a terribly bad finish with the bats. 

THE GOOD: Fans gave Bautista and Encarnacion lengthy ovations in the bottom of the ninth knowing it was likely their final at-bats ... Bautista doubled and singled in his final game ... Brett Cecil, Joe Biagini and Roberto Osuna each had a scoreless inning.  

THE BAD: Jays were hitless in five at-bats with men in scoring position ... LF Ezequiel Carrera was charged with a tough error in the first fielding Mike Napoli’s liner off the fence as Francisco Lindor scored making the run unearned. Yet, we always thought the question a scorer asks is: why did the runner advance? Lindor headed home because the ball was off the wall -- not because Carrera dropped the ball. No biggie, but it cost Napoli an RBI ... 

NUMBERS from Game 5 of the ALCS ...
2 -- Hits or less for the Jays Ryan Goins (1-for-5, .200), Troy Tulowitzki (2-for-18, .111), Russell Martin (2-for-17, .118), Darwin Barney (1-for-8) and Kevin Pillar (1-for-16, .063).

5 -- Blue Jays free agents: R.A. Dickey, Brett Cecil, Michael Saunders Bautista and Encarnacion.

5 -- More hits in the ALCS by the Indians Nos. 3-4 hitters Francisco Lindor (7-for-19 .368 with a double, homer and three RBIs) and Napoli (4-for-16 .250 with two doubles, a homer and three RBIs) compared to Encarnacion (4-for-19, .211 with a double, two RBIs) and Troy Tulowitzki (2 for 18 .111).

6 -- Hits including a double, homer, two RBIs and two walks in 18 at-bats for the Jays best performer, Donaldson AND Saunders, who had a solo homer and an RBI.

19 -- Seasons since the Cleveland was in the World Series losing to the Florida Marlins. Cleveland has not won the World Series since 1948. 

31 -- Wins in 37 games for Cleveland this season (including the postseason) when leading after the first inning.