Cleveland Indians Baseball Team

BOSTON -- And the Angels thought they had problems with David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. Ten times Friday night, Ortiz and Ramirez came to the plate in Fenway Park, and 10 times they reached base, combining for four hits, five walks and four runs to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 10-3 thrashing of the Cleveland Indians in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series. "I've never seen anything like it -- they're unbelievable," Boston third baseman Mike Lowell said.

CLEVELAND -- The Boston Red Sox are in enough of a pickle, pushed to the brink of elimination by the surging Cleveland Indians, who have rolled to three straight American League Championship Series victories before Game 5 tonight in Jacobs Field.

NEW YORK -- They'll have today, at least. In the wacky world of the New York Yankees, where crisis is the house specialty, the day began with the team on the verge of elimination and the owner threatening to fire the manager. Then the game began, and the Hall of Fame starting pitcher limped off the field. But, thanks to a kid from Orange County and a leadoff batter that impersonated one of the big guys, Joe Torre and his Yankees will play again today.

BOSTON -- Beloved in Beantown, he isn't. Fans thought the Red Sox overpaid for J.D. Drew, who opted out of his Dodgers contract to sign a five-year, $70-million deal with Boston in January, and the right fielder did little to endear himself to Red Sox Nation during the regular season. Not only did Drew underachieve, hitting .

CLEVELAND -- The Indians' top two pitchers, Cy Young Award candidates C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona, have been anything but dominant in the American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox.

BOSTON -- The Cleveland Indians withstood several long balls and curtain calls to emerge from a grueling 5-hour, 14-minute, 11-inning game with a 13-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series at Fenway Park.

BOSTON -- Red Sox Manager Terry Francona said Saturday that his decision to pull Josh Beckett after six innings and 80 pitches in Friday's 10-3 Game 1 win had nothing to do with a plan to bring his ace back on three days' rest to start Game 4. "It was a long [sixth] inning, it was cold, we had a big lead," Francona said. For those who follow the Red Sox regularly, he wasn't very convincing.

It's a sight most American League pitchers would find hard to imagine: David Ortiz, the Boston Red Sox's hulking slugger, the man whose clutch postseason performances have become the stuff of legend, blubbering like a baby. And it was a bunch of 12-year-olds who brought him to his knees. During an off-season visit to a hospital in the Dominican Republic, Ortiz was led into a ward where indigent children with heart diseases were being treated.

The Angels started the season by sending a message to the Yankees that they plan to be contenders in 1998, but Cleveland delivered one of its own: the Indians are still the defending American League champions until proven different. Sunday's 6-4 victory completed a three-game sweep for Cleveland and gave the Indians a 5-0 record. The five victories have come on the road against the Mariners and the Angels. And in Anaheim, the Indians were missing catcher Sandy Alomar Jr.

The Cleveland Indians and Oakland Athletics finished off two games quicker than it takes most teams to play one. Kenny Rogers pitched seven strong innings at Oakland and A.J. Hinch singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh as the A's defeated Cleveland, 3-1, on Wednesday, sending the Indians to their first loss of the season.