BOSTON -- As Cleveland Indians closer Cody Allen weaved his way through the Boston Red Sox lineup in the eighth and ninth innings Monday, a little piece of him flashed back to his boyhood in Florida. Allen took the mound in Game 3 of the American League Division Series without his best fastball or command. But as he surveyed the scene around him, his head was spinning with memories.
"I remember when I was a kid, watching games in this ballpark and seeing how crazy it was," Allen said in a raucous Indians' clubhouse late Monday. "For me to stand here and say I didn't hear the crowd, that would be a lie. I heard them. I could feel it, and I'm sure their players could feel it.
"It's a really cool feeling to be part of a game like this, at Fenway Park, where there's so much history, playing against guys like Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz and that team over there. It's a really cool thing to be a part of."
Once Travis Shaw's pop fly settled into the glove of Cleveland right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall to seal a 4-3 Indians victory, Allen and his teammates experienced the ultimate in cool. They heard 39,530 Fenway fans go quiet before striking up a "Thank you, Papi!" cheer in recognition of Ortiz's final game.
In the midst of all that mourning, the Indians held an impromptu mosh pit at second base to celebrate a three-game series sweep. Boston is done, and Cleveland will move on and try to create some new memories against the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Championship Series.
The Indians entered the division series as consensus underdogs for a reason. September injuries to Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar put a major crimp in the pitching rotation, and Boston's lineup looked too deep and formidable to be stopped. Even though the Red Sox dropped five of six games to end the regular season, they led the majors with 878 runs and an .810 team OPS. Plus, they had the added incentive of trying to write a poignant final script for Ortiz.
But everything unraveled against the Indians, who took the three games in the series by scores of 5-4, 6-0 and 4-3. The Red Sox struck out 31 times in 98 at-bats and posted a .214/.278/.378 slash line. Boston's three homers in the series came from the unlikely trio of Andrew Benintendi, Brock Holt and Sandy Leon. Ortiz, Pedroia, Hanley Ramirez, Xander Bogaerts and Mookie Betts hit a combined .200 (11-for-55) against Cleveland's pitching.
The Indians' game plan from the outset was to seize the initiative. Boston has a lot of hitters who like to work deep counts, and the Tribe pitchers focused on throwing strike one to better dictate the action.
Josh Tomlin, Monday's starter, averages a tick under 88 mph with his fastball and allowed a whopping 35 homers in 174 regular-season innings. But he throws four pitches and never competes like a guy who's velocity-impaired. They don't call him the "Little Cowboy" for nothing.
"If somebody doesn't believe in our pitchers, they're gonna prove them wrong," Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway said. "That's definitely the case with Tomlin. He's had to prove himself from 'A' ball on. He's always been the underdog. He performs best that way."
Tomlin twirled one-hit, shutout ball for four innings and seemed oblivious to the notion that he should be feeling any kind of pressure. In the fifth inning, after Benintendi doubled home a run to make it 2-1, the Fenway fans struck up a "Tom-lin! Tom-lin!" chant reminiscent of the mocking cheer that Pittsburgh fans used to rattle Johnny Cueto during the 2013 playoffs. It was utterly wasted on the Little Cowboy, who struck out Leon and retired Jackie Bradley Jr. on a groundout to avoid further damage.
"I was surprised there were that many people that knew my name, to be honest," Tomlin said.
As the game progressed, everything fell into Cleveland manager Terry Francona's wheelhouse. Andrew Miller, providing a monster presence out of the bullpen, came on in the sixth inning and threw 35 pitches to record six outs. Bryan Shaw and Allen flirted with danger in the eighth and ninth, but Boston simply couldn't mount enough offense to get over the top.
True to form, Cleveland's hitters divvied up the goodies all series. Catcher Roberto Perez, a .183 hitter during the regular season, hit a big home run in Game 1. Chisenhall, who barely plays against left-handers, launched a telling three-run shot off David Price in Game 2. In the series finale, Tyler Naquin delivered an early two-run single, and 36-year-old Coco Crisp made a personal statement. With the Indians clinging to a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning, Crisp launched a Drew Pomeranz knuckle-curve over the Green Monster for a two-run shot that allowed everybody in the Cleveland dugout to exhale.
It was the second home run in 119 career postseason plate appearances for Crisp, who began his major league career with Cleveland in 2002. He moved on to play for Boston, Kansas City and Oakland before the Indians reacquired him from the Athletics in late August.
"I hit it, and I was like, 'OK, I got it. It's a homer,'" Crisp said. "And then I was like, 'Wait a second. I hit it, and that's the Monster out there, and that wasn't really a pull homer. I started running and had my head down, and I looked up and saw the second base umpire twirling his fingers. That's when I got pumped up."
The sheer joy and self-effacing nature of Crisp's quote is typical of the Indians, a likable batch of grinders who take their non-star status as a point of pride. Along with an underrated lineup, a solid defense and an effective bullpen, they have the advantage of being a unified group. Just about every media interview with an Indian includes some mention of how each player on the roster has "bought into" the team dynamic.
"Everybody in here loves each other," Tomlin said. "We love being around each other. I've never seen a group of individuals who get to the ballpark as early as we get to the ballpark. We play cards with each other and hang out with each other at night. There are a bunch of things that go into it. It's not just what we do on the field. It's what we do off the field as well."
Now that they've dispatched with Boston, the Indians have the luxury of enjoying each other's company for another series -- and possibly a World Series after that. They're enjoying the ride so much that they can't abide the thought of it coming to an end.