While most in Northeast Ohio were gearing up for game four of the American League Championship Series Tuesday, ultra-distance runner Pete Kostelnick passed through on what could be a world record-breaking journey from the west to east coasts.

PENINSULA, Ohio - A tiny moment in athletic history transpired Tuesday in this small picturesque town on the Cuyahoga, and almost no one noticed.

While most in the region were gearing up for game four of the American League Championship Series, an ultra-distance runner passed through on what could be a world record-breaking journey from the west to east coasts.

I caught up with him and two other devoted local runners for a few miles, and I have to say, he was inspiring. I haven't cared to run long distance in quite some time, but this guy made me want to jump right back into the game.

Unless you follow ultra running, you've probably never heard of him. Insiders, however, regard him as a giant.

His name is Pete Kostelnick. He's still only 29 years old, but already he's won a 24-hour race in Arizona and the Badwater Ultramarathon, and won or completed several major 100-milers. He's also the owner of a 2:41 marathon, a 1:19 half, and shorter-distance races at a per-mile pace near five minutes.

He was no speed king when I tracked him down, a mile or so west of Peninsula on Route 303. On that rollercoaster-like stretch of road, the hilliest he'd seen since Colorado, he said, the Iowa native and resident of Lincoln, Nebraska was ticking off miles every 10 to 12 minutes and wisely conserving energy by walking up hills.

Here's the thing, though: He looked and sounded as fresh as a daisy. Not like someone averaging a mind-boggling 70 miles (nearly three marathons) a day, who started out Sept. 12 in California and had already crossed through nine states. Where I'd had a bowl of cereal for breakfast, he'd consumed 40 miles.

He was as chipper as could be, and even had what you might call a spring in his step. His stride was short, a kind of shuffle, but even and clean as could be.

Seemingly unaffected by the physical or emotional toll of untold millions of footsteps, Kostelnick described with animation how he starts every day at 3 a.m., stops running around 4 p.m., and goes to bed at 6. How he survives on protein shakes, pineapple, and steaks (and the prospect of reuniting with his wife), and has endured everything from careless drivers to mountain lions and the totaling of a crew member's car.

All I could or can do is express amazement. I ran 70 miles in a day once - once - and the effort took me a heck of a lot longer than it's taking Kostelnick. What's more, where I nearly passed out at the end and could barely walk for days afterward, he's getting up and doing it again and again and again.

If I were Frank Giannino, the current world-record holder for crossing the U.S. on foot, I'd be worried. His mark of 46 days, 8 hours, and 36 minutes, set in 1980, is in serious peril. If Kostelnick stays on pace, and it appears to me at this point that he will, he'll complete the journey some two days faster, with a daily average almost three miles longer. I will be proud to have accompanied such a master, even for a blip.

I'm not alone in my awe. Runners far more accomplished than me are also bowing down. After meeting up with Kostelnick Tuesday, even Mark Godale, the onetime American record-holder for distance over 24 hours, was practically speechless. That, to me, says it all.

Never in the long history of the Cleveland Indians have they started a pitcher in the postseason with so little experience as Ryan Merritt.

TORONTO -- Scribbles in my Cleveland Indians notebook as Game 5 of the 2016 ALCS against the Toronto Blue Jays looms:

1. In Tribe history, this has never ... ever ... happened before. By that, I mean the Indians starting a pitcher in the postseason with as little big league experience as Ryan Merritt. The lefty takes the mound in Game 5 today after pitching only 11 Major League innings -- and one big league start. I tried to find something like this in Tribe history. I came up empty.

2. In 2013, rookie Danny Salazar started the American League wild card game. But he had made 10 starts for the Tribe at the end of the season. He was in the rotation behind Ubaldo Jimenez, Scott Kazmir and Corey Kluber. He wasn't a bad choice. No one was especially nervous as he took the mound. Salazar gave up three runs in four innings. The Tribe lost, 4-0, to Tampa Bay.

3. In the 2007 playoffs, the Tribe rotation was Fausto Carmona, C.C. Sabathia, Paul Byrd and Jake Westbrook. Other than Carmona (Roberto Hernandez) pitching under a false name, no big question marks there.

4. In 1997, Jaret Wright went from starting opening day at Class AA Akron to starting Game 7 of the World Series. But he came up at midseason and made 16 big league starts before becoming a key pitcher in the playoffs.

5. Chad Ogea was a key in the 1997 postseason. It was his first full year in the big leagues. But he had thrown 132 regular season Major League innings before nearly becoming the MVP of the World Series.

6. The Tribe's postseason hero in 1948 was Gene Bearden. He was a rookie. But he also was 20-7 with a 2.29 ERA in the regular season.

7. End of history lesson, you get the point. We are in completely uncharted baseball territory with Merritt, at least when looking at Tribe history. This is not to dismiss the 24-year-old lefty. Who knows how he'll pitch? But it shows how sports is different than anything we could imagine.

8. Merritt wasn't on the postseason roster for the ALDS series against the Boston Red Sox. He was not going to be on the postseason roster for the Toronto series, but that changed when Trevor Bauer had his drone accident that cut his finger.

9. I'm not faulting the Indians. They have simply run out of starters. Injuries have wiped out Carlos Carrasco (broken hand), Salazar (sore arm) and Bauer (cut finger).

10. No one has mentioned the decline of two key prospects. In 2014, T.J. House was 5-3 with a 3.35 ERA. He appeared to be a lefty with a spot in the rotation for the next few years. He had arm problems in 2015. He struggled in 2016, and was moved to the bullpen. He spent most of the year in the minors. He is not on the 40-man roster.

11. In 2015, Cody Anderson came up from the minors and was 7-3 with a 3.05 ERA in 15 starts. The Indians were so pleased with Anderson, he opened the 2016 season in the rotation -- over Bauer, who was put in the bullpen. But Anderson has had a miserable year (2-5, 6.68 ERA). He was sent to the minors and moved to the bullpen. He had an 0-2 record 3.62 ERA at Class AAA.

12. Anderson is on the postseason roster, but he's in the bullpen and not expected to pitch unless there is a blowout.

13. The other rising starter besides Merritt is Adam Plutko. He was in the same UCLA rotation with Bauer. Plutko had a 9-8 record with a 3.79 ERA, splitting this season between Class AA and Class AAA. He pitched 3 2/3 innings with the Tribe. He's not on the roster.

14. The best starter in the minors was Mike Clevinger (11-1, 3.00 ERA at Class AAA). But he was moved to the bullpen to help with all the injuries that had hit the staff in the final two months of the season. For this season, he's a reliever. My guess is he'll go back to starting in 2017.

15. So it's Merritt, who was 11-8 with a 3.70 ERA at Class AAA. He hardly walks anyone -- 1.4 per nine innings. He's a control pitcher, sort of a lefty Josh Tomlin. He was not a prospect when drafted -- the 488th pick in 2011.

16. I saved the best for last. I found one comparison to Merritt. In 2011, Tampa Bay turned to a lefty named Matt Moore to pitch against Texas in the playoffs. Moore split most the year between Class AA and Class AAA (12-3, 1.92). He threw only 9 1/3 big league innings in the regular season. Manager Joe Maddon handed Moore the ball, and he fired seven scoreless innings in his first playoff start against Texas.

17. You can argue Moore had better stuff than Merritt. Moore averaged 12.4 strikeouts per nine innings in the minors in 2011. Merritt was at 5.8 strikeouts per nine innings in the minors.

18. Merritt did pitch a clutch game at the end of the season, holding Kansas City to one run in five innings for his first big league win. He did not walk a batter in 11 big league innings.

19. I was talking with a Toronto writer about Merritt, and he told me how the Blue Jays don't hit finesse pitchers very well. They love fastballs. It's why so many Tribe pitchers have been attacking them with off-speed stuff in this series.

20. While Toronto has mostly a right-handed hitting lineup, the Blue Jays were better against righties (.257) than lefties (.226) this season. So perhaps that will help Merritt. Certainly, Merritt on the mound gives Tribe fans yet another reason to watch the game.

21. But this is just as important -- will the Indians hit? They have scored only nine runs in four games against the Blue Jays -- 2-2-4-1 runs in the first four games.

22. Toronto is pitching well. Today's starter is Marco Estrada, who is 3-2 with a 2.59 ERA in nine postseason starts. He pitched eight innings in the ALCS opener, losing, 2-0.

23. The best thing the Indians can do is score some runs early. Manager Terry Francona can get the bullpen ready. Andrew Miller and Cody Allen both rested Monday, so they should be fresh.

 

They might end the day with some champagne. Or, they might head back to Cleveland, feeling the heat of a 3-0 series lead shrinking to a 3-2 advantage.

TORONTO -- The Indians will play north of the border for the final time this season on Wednesday afternoon. 

They might end the day with some champagne. Or, they might head back to Cleveland, feeling the heat of a 3-0 series lead shrinking to a 3-2 advantage.

On Wednesday, they'll send Ryan Merritt, a rookie with 11 career innings to his name, to the mound. 

Here are the lineups and the pitching matchup for Game 5 of the American League Championship Series.

Pitching matchup: LHP Ryan Merritt vs. RHP Marco Estrada

Lineup

Indians

1. 1B Carlos Santana

2. 2B Jason Kipnis

3. SS Francisco Lindor

4. DH Mike Napoli

5. 3B Jose Ramirez

6. RF Lonnie Chisenhall

7. LF Coco Crisp

8. CF Tyler Naquin

9. C Roberto Perez

Blue Jays

1. RF Jose Bautista

2. 3B Josh Donaldson

3. 1B Edwin Encarnacion

4. SS Troy Tulowitzki

5. C Russell Martin

6. DH Melvin Upton

7. LF Ezequiel Carrera

8. CF Kevin Pillar

9. 2B Darwin Barney

After losing Game 4 in Toronto, the Indians are still in control of the American League Championship Series. But the rotation isn't lined up quite how you would want it. Watch video

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Up on the Toronto Blue Jays three games to one in the American League Championship Series, there's certainly nothing for Indians fans to be too worried about.

Right?

Right?

Obviously, the Indians are still in control. But with the pitching rotation off-kilter, with a rookie, Josh Tomlin and Corey Kluber on short rest lined up for games five, six and seven, this isn't exactly where they'd like to be. Especially with Toronto's rotation on schedule and regular rest.

All the Indians need to do is get a lead in one of these games and get to Andrew Miller in the bullpen to feel in control. But until that happens, how will you be feeling.

Bud Shaw and I debated that in the latest Prepare for List Off before Game 5 gets underway.

Terrelle Pryor loves Jordan Poyer like a brother and incensed that Antonio Andrews posted video of his hit while Poyer was in the hospital with a lacerated kidney. Watch video

BEREA, Ohio - Terrelle Pryor said the most vicious thing about Antonio Andrews' illegal blindside hit on Jordan Poyer is that he posted it on Instagram.

With the caption "Relentless'' no less.

Andrews posted it while Poyer was still in a Nashville hospital -- possibly intensive care -- with lacerated kidney that will likely end his season. He's on injured reserve and might need up to four months to heal. He was also checked for a concussion, but so far there's no definitive word on if he suffered one.

The blast occurred during the second quarter of Sunday's 28-26 loss to the Titans and Poyer was rushed to the hospital by ambulance.

"I don't want to get into it because right now it's about Cincinnati but I love Poyer like a brother and that really angered me,'' Pryor said. "That was bullcrap."

Poyer saw the post when he was being driven home from Nashville Tuesday because it was too risky to fly. It was more than eight-hour drive.

"For me, when I first saw it it kind of angered me because to hit a guy blindside, if you're going head up with a man face to face and he sees you, you see him, all right, cool,'' said Pryor. "But if you're a special teams guy and you're popping that stuff on there like you're some type of super hero or something just because you're hitting a guy blindsided and you think that's cool, that's where the problem comes in.

"So I think he should stay to his special teams and what he does and don't post stuff when a man's not looking and taking a hit like that."

Pryor can see how such a hit would occur in the heat of the moment. Andrews drilled him helmet-to-facemask when Poyer was covering a punt return. It was the posting of it that has Pryor incensed. Andrews has since made his Instagram account private.

"Obviously it's a game,'' Pryor said. "I was fine with it because it's a game, it's what happens. We put ourselves in that situation by signing the contract to play here, but the only thing that I didn't like was when the guy posted about it bragging 'Relentless.' What is relentless about that? Hitting a guy, another man when he's not looking.''

Left tackle Joe Thomas also took exception to the post.

"Certainly you'd hope that there was some sensitivity involved when a guy does go to the hospital because of a hit,'' said Thomas. "That's one thing that I'd like to see the NFL do is not use highlights of plays that were penalties, like celebrating, you know.

"They like to use that as a way to market the game but yet they fine and penalize players for it. Same thing with the big hits. There was an issue a few years ago actually on Mohamed Massaquoi, browns player, where James Harrison had a big hit across the middle. It was a penalty and then they were using that as like the cover photo of something they were trying to sell.

"So I think it's a double standard that I'd like to see the NFL look at a little bit. And if they're going to try to legislate something out of the game, they shouldn't also try to promote it from a marketing standpoint.''

Receiver Andrew Hawkins, who was sent to the hospital with a concussion last season after a nasty hit by Pittsburgh's Jarvis ones, understands how Poyer feels but noted it's not uncommon.

"I've seen it happen before,'' Hawkins said. "It's unfortunate. We're just praying Jordan makes a speedy recovery and joins us back in the locker room."

He stopped short of saying Andrews crossed the line.

"It's up to discretion,'' he said. "It's a very violent sport. It's what we're taught. It's what we make our money doing. I've obviously been hit illegally very hard and it's just kind of the game we sign up for."

Poyer reacted to the post Tuesday in a series of tweets.

Buddy posted the hit to his Social Media page? [?] [?] [?] [?] [?]

— Jordan poyer (@J_Poy33) October 18, 2016

Wow [?]

— Jordan poyer (@J_Poy33) October 18, 2016

Not complaining about the hit... its football.. stuff happens... but dam.. idk why but thats wild to me.. good for him tho[?] [?]

— Jordan poyer (@J_Poy33) October 18, 2016

A closer look at J.T. Barrett's passing numbers through Saturday's win at Wisconsin.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Maybe you jumped right to Ohio State's win at Michigan State in 2014.

A redshirt freshman J.T. Barrett performed about as well as could be expected: 300 yards passing, 86 yards rushing, 5 total touchdowns. It all added up to a huge win that propelled the Buckeyes on their road to a national championship.

Is it possible that the game Barrett just played against Wisconsin was better?

Before we get into the numbers on the win over the Badgers, let's compare the stat lines from both games.

* Michigan State, 2014: 16 of 26 passing (62 percent), 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, 196.5 rating; 14 carries, 86 yards, 2 touchdowns.

* Wisconsin, 2016: 17 of 29 passing (58 percent), 1 touchdown, 1 interception, 128.6 rating; 21 carries, 92 yards, 2 touchdowns.

On the surface, clearly the Michigan State game looks better. And maybe it actually was. But is there an argument for Wisconsin's defense being much better than the one Barrett saw in 2014 in East Lansing?

Is there an argument for the Wisconsin performance being more gritty, and more impressive, given that everything wasn't clicking offensively for the Buckeyes the way things were two years ago?

In both games Barrett made incredible plays with his arms and his legs. In both games he didn't start great, but finished strong and found a way to get Ohio State a win. You could try to lump his 2014 game at Penn State into the fold for best game, but the passing numbers simply weren't there.

Perhaps it's a case of the Wisconsin game being a very good performance, but not quite to the level of that Michigan State game. But ponder that question as we take a look at Barrett's passing numbers through six games.

Barrett vs. Wisconsin

You saw the line breakdown from the game above. Here's how that looked in Barrett's passing chart:

Bill Landis, cleveland.com 

It was again another game where Barrett didn't use the intermediate throws. It was either short, or long. Those are the throws that Wisconsin wanted to force Barrett into.

"We had some very set plays against them, and they zoned us off instead of playing man like we expected," Urban Meyer said. "It was just a chess match that they had some good calls there. What happens when that happens? It happens all the time. The guy with the ball in his hand has to be creative and make a play, and J.T. is as good as anybody."

What were those plays? Barrett buying time with his legs and pushing the ball downfield. We highlighted those plays here:

How Barrett beat Wisconsin with his legs

Overall with the deep ball last week, Barrett was 3 for 8 for 97 yards, but here's something to consider: There was a ball off Terry McLaurin's hands in the end zone, and another good end zone throw on which Curtis Samuel adjusted poorly and let it fall incomplete. 

Connect on those two and Barrett's completion percentage jumps up by eight points, he's got about 60 more yards passing and two more touchdowns. From a statistical standpoint, that would have made this game feel much more like that game against Michigan State in 2014.

Barrett's interception against the Badgers came with a wet ball that slipped out of his hands in the 30 seconds it rained hard during the game.

He's always going to be good with his legs, it's when he combines the throw game with it that Barrett becomes a truly great quarterback. We're three throws way from Barrett being truly great against Wisconsin, and maybe the best he's ever been in a Buckeye uniform.

Barrett's season numbers

Barrett went over 1,00 yards passing in the win over Wisconsin. Here's how his season passing line looks: 96 of 152 (63.2 percent), 1,207 yards, 16 touchdowns and four interceptions.

Barrett is 10th in the country with a passer rating of 159.34.

Here's what Barrett's season-long passing chart looks like:

Bill Landis, cleveland.com

And here are Barrett's top five targets through six games:

1. Curtis Samuel: 33 targets, 28 receptions

2. Noah Brown: 24 targets, 16 receptions

3. Dontre Wilson: 21 targets, 16 receptions

4. Marcus Baugh: 16 targets, 7 receptions

5. Parris Campbell: 12 targets, 8 receptions

The Battle of Ohio between the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals began in 1970.

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Battle of Ohio -- the rivalry between the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals -- was easy to develop because of the two major cities in the state, but also because Bengals coach Paul Brown was unceremoniously let go by Browns owner Art Modell.

So it was on between the Browns and the Bengals as soon as the NFL-AFL merger was completed in 1970 with Brown as the new Bengals head coach.

The two teams were not even playing on the day when former Bengals coach Sam Wyche grabbed the stadium microphone on the field in 1989 (the Bengals were hosting the Seattle Seahawks) and told fans "You don't live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati," in his attempt to calm the crowd that threw debris onto the field during the game.

The Bengals lead the all-time series 46-39. The Bengals sweep of the Browns last year was their first season sweep in the series since 2011.

The series has generated some incredible games. The Bengals beat the Browns, 58-48, on Nov. 28, 2004. It was the second-highest scoring game in NFL history. QB Kelly Holcomb passed for 413 yards and five touchdowns.

In 2007, the Browns defeated the Bengals, 51-45, for the eighth-highest scoring game in league history. The Browns' 554 yards was the third most in franchise history. Derek Anderson passed for more than 300 yards and five touchdowns. Running back Jamal Lewis had 216 yards. Carson Palmer led the Bengals with 401 yards and six touchdown passes.

Click here for the complete series results.

See the photo gallery of the Browns vs. Bengals through the years.

In this Prepare for List Off, Bud and Doug debate football celebrations. One of us is young and cool. Watch video

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- How can America's most popular sports league take the fun out of a game that could be growing a bit stale?

That seems to be the question the NFL is trying to answer. Fining every potential fun celebration by every fun player who reaches the end zone remains part of the league's DNA.

Broadcaster Sean McDonough created a bit of a stir with his reasonable rationale about poor officiating and lower TV ratings. What was a bit odd was that he said those things during a Monday Night Football broadcast this week.

But the truth hurts. And the truth is that the NFL, known forever as the No Fun League, might need to let some life back in the game.

That's what Bud Shaw and I discussed in the latest Prepare for List Off, as we addressed our thoughts on the league's disdain for touchdown celebrations and its proclivity for fining excited superstars.

Sean McDonough Mentioned Bad NFL Ratings and Blasted Officiating on #MNF pic.twitter.com/8eknpQBSTq

-- SportsCast (@SportsCast_THN) October 18, 2016

The Cleveland Indians outpitched, outsmarted and outscouted the Toronto Blue Jays in advancing to the World Series for the first time since 2007. OK, so that still doesn't totally explain Coco Crisp outhomering Jose Bautista. Watch video

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Destiny didn't propel this run to the World Series. Magic played no part either, though the temptation is to say one or the other remains the most reasonable explanation for Coco Crisp outhomering Jose Bautista.

Even "circumstances" might not cover that.

During Wednesday's celebration in Toronto, owner Paul Dolan allowed that this was one of those years that "even when something goes wrong it turns into something right."

That list seems endless.

Jose Ramirez springing from the same batter's box dirt where Michael Brantley blossomed as an All-Star.

Roberto Perez turning the tables on the expression, "He's no Jonathan Lucroy." I know, Jonathan Who?

A bullpen forced into action the day Carlos Carrasco broke his hand -- smaller in numbers than in its expanded September version - doing it again in the ALCS, proving not just steadier than the drip of blood from Trevor Bauer's finger but dominant.

Ryan Merritt, hardly shaking in his boots (oh, Joey Bats, you were the gift that kept on giving), soft-tossing four shutout innings in the clincher. Then meeting the owner for the first time after the game.

"I don't think anyone could've written this script," Chris Antonetti told the media in Toronto.

He's right. But the risk in embracing what the Indians accomplished for its Hollywood script is it sells them short for the qualities that distinguished them as one of baseball's best teams all year long.

They were at the top of the American League in runs scored even as we wondered how they hoped to win big with that outfield. Even as we wondered why anyone could expect Ramirez or Tyler Naquin to do this once October rolled around.

Maybe the '90's spoiled everyone? John Hart's "All-Star at every position" made the Indians teams that followed, this one included, look worse for wear.

The fallacy, of course, is those '90s teams, built to compete in the Steroid Era, made lots of teams all over baseball look inferior.

Maybe years of payroll-bashing the Dolan ownership for what it couldn't provide made it too easy to conclude that losing Brantley, then Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar couldn't possibly allow the Indians to stand up for long against well-heeled Boston or Toronto.

(Full disclosure: I picked the Indians to lose to Boston in five, then to beat the Blue Jays in six.)

The Indians scored 12 total runs against the Jays and beat them four of five games. They did it with superior pitching, tremendous advance scouting that served up a five-course meal of breaking pitches, smarter base running (Mike Napoli, for example) and better defense.

Things turned out right because they acquired Andrew Miller and Crisp at the trade deadline, because Miller and Cody Allen didn't care which one of them got to hang the "Closer" shingle at their locker, because nobody in the lineup carried the extra baggage of obligation to produce, because Terry Francona has never stopped understanding what it takes to play the game.

Look at how many regular-season games the Indians won after August. (18). Look at Mike Napoli's numbers (.153) for September. Throw in Francisco Lindor's late-season brush against the wall (.238).

Before the Game 4 loss in Toronto, the last defeat was the rain-shortened game in Detroit that threatened their push to gain home-field advantage. The Indians are 10-1 since.

It's a similar run to what they did in late June, early July, when they won 14 consecutive games and 16 of 18. The difference: six of those wins came from Salazar and Carrasco.

Now the World Series opens here Tuesday. It opens here because a team of American League All-Stars beat a team of National League All-Stars in San Diego in July.

Corey Kluber pitching a scoreless inning aside for the All-Star win, that was out of the Indians' control. That's the only part of this run that truly feels like destiny. (Six of the past seven World Series champs enjoyed home-field advantage.)

Everything else has been earned (and earned the hardest way possible), not given.

To borrow a phrase.

When the postseason began, Roberto Perez was pretty much the last catcher standing for the Indians. He stepped in behind the plate and made all the right calls for the World Series-bound Tribe. Watch video

TORONTO - Jonathan Lucroy didn't want to come. Yan Gomes was all in, but couldn't stay healthy.

Which left the Indians at playoff time with Roberto Perez as their starting catcher. Perez, who played just 61 games during the regular season because of a broken right thumb that needed surgery, has caught every inning of the Tribe's eight postseason games, and things couldn't have gone much better.

Tribe pitchers are headed to the World Series at 7-1 with a 1.77 ERA (14 earned runs in 71 innings); and six saves in seven chances. They've struck out 81 batters, walked 19 and have a .206 batting average against.

Lefty Andrew Miller, named MVP of the American League Championship Series after the Tribe's pennant-clinching win Wednesday over Toronto, took time during his post-game press conference to acknowledge Perez.

"We have a bullpen that's getting a lot of notoriety right now," said Miller. "The constant behind all that is Roberto Perez. I think having him back there, having him put down the pitch that I had in my mind . . . that gave me a lot of confidence to just execute (the pitch) and trust my defense."

Perez has done it all in October. He put down the fingers for Tribe ace Corey Kluber, who went 2-1 with a 0.98 ERA in three starts. On Monday in Game 3, in the turning point of the ALCS, he caught six different relievers as manager Terry Francona used his secret weapon - the bullpen game - to replace Trevor Bauer, who left a pool of blood on the mound from his gashed right pinkie finger two outs into the game.

Finally, he told raw rookie Ryan Merritt to "follow me" in Game 5 against Toronto's big hitters. Merritt, one cool customer, nodded and threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings in just the second big league start of his career.

When Merritt was done, Perez caught the heart of the team - Bryan Shaw, Miller and Cody Allen - over the final 4 2/3 innings as they completed the third shutout of the postseason to put the Indians in the World Series for just the sixth time since 1901.

"We played eight playoff games and Roberto caught three shutouts," said pitching coach Mickey Callaway. "He didn't try to trick a hitter once. He was unbelievable in the games he called. He was fantastic."

In Perez's first postseason at-bat, he homered in Game 1 of the ALDS against Boston. He singled in his next at-bat as the Indians beat the Red Sox, 5-4. The rest of the time he earned his money behind the plate.

"In the first series against Boston, I thought we had our hands full with that lineup because they're a good offensive team," said Perez. "Then we had to play Toronto and they're a good offensive team as well.

"But you know what, I prepared a lot. I was ready for any situation. I felt we had a really good game plan going in each series. I think I followed the game plan and the pitchers executed pitches. That was big."

Rookie Ryan Merritt helps pitch Tribe to World Series

On Tuesday, following the Indians' only postseason loss, Perez was asked about Merritt. Instead of sizing the skinny lefty for a blindfold and final cigarette, Perez said he believed Merritt would throw strikes and not be intimidated by Toronto's big right-handed hitters.

"Merritt was awesome, man," said Perez. "I told you Tuesday that I was very confident about Merritt. I told you he's not overpowering, but he was going to get the job done.

"I just told him, "Keep the ball down and just follow me. I have a lot of confidence in you, and trust me behind the plate and just make pitches.' That was the bottom line."

Merritt listened. He struck out two and allowed two hits, while never breaking 87 mph on the radar gun.

"We just pitched," said Perez. "We kept guys off balance. Against that lineup, you have to make pitches. Oh, man, he was in and out. He threw his breaking balls, he threw everything for strikes.

"Then we got on the board early and they started swinging. They got over aggressive and made outs."

It was time for the Blue Jays to fly home and the Indians to move on to the World Series.

"I like aggressive guys," Meyer said. "Everything about our program is somewhat aggressive. I think there's a difference between non-intelligent and over-aggressive, and we have to watch that." Watch video

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Had Dontre Wilson lost the punt he muffed early in the third quarter of Ohio State's 30-23 win at Wisconsin on Saturday, that win may be a loss. 

"We won," Meyer said. "We're fine." 

It was easy for Meyer to say that Wednesday evening with Ohio State's unblemished record still intact, but Wilson remembers looking over to the sideline after that play and seeing a very concerned coach. 

The entire fanbase was concerned. 

Wilson swears that it looked at lot worse than it actually was, that he never lost control of the ball even for a second. But the senior is upholding what is becoming an annual tradition at Ohio State: Scary punt returners. 

Jalin Marshall was responsible for a few heart attacks last year.

It turns out there's a reason for it. 

"I like aggressive guys," Meyer said. "Everything about our program is somewhat aggressive. I think there's a difference between non-intelligent and over-aggressive, and we have to watch that. We have a culture mentality around here that we're going to go after it and be very aggressive."

There were two returns by Wilson Saturday that seemed at least questionable, and concerns build up quickly  when the ball comes loose because of a questionable decision. 

Meyer reviewed the tape closely and didn't remember anything alarming about Wilson's decision-making. 

"I am so tied up into (the Penn State game), I can't even remember," Meyer said. "I think he did OK, and if he didn't, we corrected him." 

Wilson said he wouldn't have changed anything, either. 

"I was trying to get us the best field position as possible," Wilson said. "On that one that everybody thought I fumbled, I pretty much had the whole time. When it bounced, I tried to catch it and get down real fast, but they were already on me. I had the ball the whole time. I was on my back, too. I know it scared everybody. Coach Meyer had his had down like 'Ah, we gave the game away.' But no, I wasn't going to do that to my team.

"They tell me to be aggressive. In a game like that, man, every inch counts. I was just trying to get the best field position as possible for our offense. We weren't clicking that well, and I felt like if I would have let that ball roll, it may have gone an extra 10 or 15 yards. Every inch counted in that game, as you can see." 

The next time a punt is hanging in the air and you're bracing yourself for a close play, remember this: Wilson is built to scare you. 

Because aggressiveness is encouraged. 

The Cleveland Indians had to keep changing their pitching plans, and Mickey Callaway was a key to making it all work out.

TORONTO -- In the corner of the Cleveland Indians clubhouse, I found Mickey Callaway.

The champagne was still flowing about 30 minutes after the Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-0, to earn a trip to the 2016 World Series.

Terry Francona should be Manager of the Year, but a piece of that award also should go to Callaway.

Francona knows that.

In the press conference before Game 5, Francona brought Callaway along. He wanted everyone to know the value of his pitching coach.

Francona hired Callaway before the 2013 season. Francona had just become the Tribe's manager. He had no prior relationship with Callaway.

The Tribe front office was excited about Callaway, who was the team's minor league pitching coordinator. But the choice was Francona's, and he picked Callaway.

"We're on the same page," said Francona. "We're going to make a pitching change and he'll walk over ... I'll start to say who it is (to come in from the bullpen) and he knows who it is ... he'll probably spit it out before I ever get there."

Francona said he'll ask Callaway about a certain hitter/pitcher matchup "because I think he certainly has a better feel than I do."

Francona had that kind of a special relationship with John Farrell, his pitching coach during most of his years in Boston.

Now, it's the Francona/Callaway combination that has helped give the Indians a special edge.

That's why I wanted to talk to Callaway as the Tribe celebrated its first trip to World Series since 1997.

ABOUT RYAN MERRITT

The rookie lefty held Toronto scoreless for 4 1/3 innings, allowing only two hits.

He was the emergency starter, a 24-year-old who had thrown only 11 innings in the Majors. He was handed the ball because of injuries to three Tribe starting pitchers.

"Before the game he played catch," said Callaway. "Then in the bullpen, he warmed up and executed all his pitches. In the minors, he was in the top 99 percentile throwing strikes. That's part of why we went with him."

Was Merritt nervous?

"Not as much as I was," said Callaway. "Looking at him calmed me down. His demeanor calmed all of us down."

Did Callaway say anything special to him?

"No," he laughed. "He should have said something to me to calm down."

Merritt's first pitch was clocked at 83 mph. The lefty is a control pitcher and his fastball is well below the big league average of 91 mph.

But 83 mph?

"Was that his fastball?" asked Francona.

"I think it was," said Callaway.

And they wondered if perhaps anxiety had a grip on Merritt.

But the lefty stayed calm. His fastest pitch was clocked at 87 mph. His very slow curve was 71 mph. He walked no one.

Merritt was the 488th pick in the 2011 draft. Before the game, Toronto's Jose Bautista said Merritt would be "shaking in his boots" pitching against his team in the playoffs.

Instead, Toronto hitter after Toronto hitter went back to the bench, shaking their heads after they failed to make good contact on a variety of pitches from the lefty.

Merritt threw 49 pitches, 33 strikes.

According to Brooks Baseball, he threw 20 fastballs (16 strikes) -- the average was 86 mph.

He threw 13 cutters, 9 changeups and 7 curves.

"It was remarkable," said Callaway. "We gave him a game plan and he executed it."

ABOUT ANDREW MILLER

The lefty reliever was the MVP of the ALCS. He threw 7 2/3 scoreless innings. He recorded 23 outs, 14 by strikeouts.

"This guy's preparation is outstanding," said Callaway. "You see him watching video (of opposing hitters). He looks at the scouting reports."

Miller entered Game 5 with one out in the sixth inning. Bautista was on first base. Josh Donaldson came to the plate. The Toronto crowd was trying to raise the roof of the Rogers Centre.

Callaway explained how Miller had struck out Donaldson on a nasty slider when they faced each other earlier in the series. Donaldson was the one Toronto hitter who seemed the most relaxed in the series.

He was hitting .448 in the playoffs heading into Game 5.

"First pitch. Miller threw Donaldson an inside fastball," said Callaway. "He knew Donaldson would be looking for the slider."

Donaldson swung at it and bounced into an inning-ending double play.

"It was a jam shot, an inside fastball," said Callaway. "Normally that would not have been good pitch to Donaldson, but it was this time."

Because Donaldson was looking for the slider.

One pitch, two outs.

ABOUT JOSH TOMLIN

"We would not be here without Josh," said Callaway.

The pitching coach talked about how Tomlin had troubles in August (0-5, 11.48 ERA).

"He took a little time off, then he came back and was great," said Callaway.

After September 1, Tomlin had a 1.93 ERA in the regular season.

In the playoffs, he's 2-0 with a 2.53 ERA.

"He is all heart," said Callaway. "He has the biggest heart I've ever seen."

ABOUT CODY ALLEN

Allen saved Game 5.

Bautista opened with a double, then Allen retired the next three hitters. It was his fifth save in the playoffs. He did not allow a run in 7 2/3 innings -- striking out 12.

"If the guys pitching behind Miller don't step up, then all of Miller's good work goes for naught," said Callaway. "Cody is not scared. He'll throw a 3-and-2 curveball in the biggest situation of the game. He did that over and over."

In the playoffs, the Tribe bullpen is 3-0 with a 1.67 ERA. It's 6-of-6 in saves.

ABOUT ROBERTO PEREZ

I didn't bring up the Tribe catcher, Callaway did.

"He caught three shutouts in our seven wins," said Callaway. "That's amazing. Roberto is a guy who learns the game plan, then sticks with the game plan. He does it exactly how we plan it. He doesn't try to trick people."

Perez batted only .143 in the playoffs.

He is starting because Yan Gomes was injured -- and because Jonathan Lucroy vetoed a trade to the Tribe.

"He doesn't worry about his hitting," said Callaway. "He worries about his defense and his pitchers, and that's exactly what a catcher should do."

ABOUT THE GENERAL APPROACH

Several times, Callaway said his pitchers are "unflappable."

He praised their poise under pressure.

"Before each series, we talked about not getting rattled," said Callaway. "If you get a bad (umpire's) call, don't acknowledge it. Don't acknowledge bad calls. Go on to the next pitch."

It's simple to say that, hard to follow in the heat of a playoff game.

"But our guys did that," he said. "They didn't get caught up (in umpire's calls). They kept moving on to the next pitch. That was very important for us."

The Massillon-McKinley mural is the fourth in the Ohio History Barns project, an ongoing series that focuses on Ohio history. Earlier versions include tributes to 19th President Rutherford B. Hayes and sharpshooter Annie Oakley. Watch video

PERRY TOWNSHIP, Ohio - Ohio's most historic high school football rivalry has moved from the playing field to the farm field, immortalized on a big white barn halfway between Massillon and Canton.

Historic mascots from Canton McKinley and Massillon high schools face off on a barn in Perry Township, not far from where the two teams will gather next week for their 127^th match-up. They first played each other in 1894.

The Massillon-McKinley mural is the fourth in the Ohio History Barns project, an ongoing series that focuses on Ohio history. Earlier versions include tributes to 19^th President Rutherford B. Hayes and sharpshooter Annie Oakley.

All are the creations of Scott Hagan, the Barn Artist, who figures he's painted as many as 600 barns in the past 20 years - though perhaps none quite as sensitive as this one.

The Ohio History Connection, the project sponsor, had to make sure the barn was on "neutral" territory - not too close to Canton, not too close to Massillon. It found the perfect spot in Perry Township, roughly equidistant between the two rival communities.

"Especially right now, at this time of year, this rivalry can get pretty intense," said Alexandra Nicholis Coon, executive director of the Massillon Museum, which helped with research on the project.

The two teams square off at Massillon's Paul Brown Tiger Stadium next week. But first: Players from both teams will gather with other members of their communities this afternoon to dedicate the barn, which celebrates the historic nature of Ohio high school football.

The project began last year in an effort to make Ohio's history more accessible to more Ohioans.

"Each features an iconic image of Ohio: a person, a place, invention, accomplishment or symbol," said Stephen George, senior advisor at the Ohio History Connection. "The idea is to take Ohio history into the landscape of Ohio, to tease people with it."

The Hayes barn, located outside the president's hometown of Fremont, came first, in early 2015. Next up was the Oakley barn, near her hometown of Greenville, and then a barn celebrating the bicentennial of the separatist community of Zoar, in Tuscarawas County.

George and Hagan have collaborated before, during the state's bicentennial in 2003. Over a period of several years in the early 2000s, Hagan painted 88 barns - one in every Ohio county - with Ohio's bicentennial logo, in celebration of the state's 200^th birthday.

Hagan, now 39, was 19 when he first started working on the project, and had no formal art instruction. On a lark, he had painted the Ohio State University logo on his parents' barn in Southeast Ohio's Monroe County. The newspaper in nearby Barnesville ran a picture of it, which caught the eye of Nichola Moretti, who was working for the bicentennial commission and was looking for a barn painter.

Hagan didn't intend to make a career of it, but word spread of his work. He's been at it for nearly 20 years.

He's painted barns all over the United States and in Canada. And not just barns: He'll paint silos, the sides of buildings, river walls - "anything on a big scale," he said. In the winter, he moves indoors, working on school gymnasiums (walls and floor), along with the other projects.

Hagan typically charges $2,500-$3,500 per barn, depending on the difficulty, and  travels with a camper so he doesn't have to pay hotel bills when he's on the road.

His biggest challenge, he said, is the weather. "It's either way too cold or too hot or too windy," said Hagan, as he rubbed his hands together on a cool autumn afternoon last week.

A typical project takes two or three days from start to finish, though these history barns take about twice that. Hagan usually draws his own designs, though the history barns are being designed by an artist in Columbus.

The project is being paid for with private donations.

George, with the Ohio History Connection, said he's not sure how many barns will be included in the project.

One of the challenges: Barns in good condition in Ohio are getting harder to find as family farms consolidate or go out of business.

George has been looking, so far unsuccessfully, for a barn near Warren to feature a tribute to the Packard Motor Car.

Also in the works for 2017: a barn featuring Northeast Ohio native and 20^th President James Garfield. George is looking for a spot in either Lake or Portage counties, both of which Garfield called home.

But first: the dedication of the Massillon-McKinley barn, which takes place this afternoon at 5:30 p.m. The barn is located on 52-acre Windy Way Farm, where five generations of the Klick family have been cultivating corn, beans, hay and wheat for a century. The barn was added in 1923.

The barn design features mascots of the two teams taken from a 1947 program: a teeth-baring Massillon Tiger facing a tough-posturing McKinley Bulldog. An earlier version of the design featured actual players on the field - rejected because one of the teams was punting, which could have been viewed negatively by their fans, said Hagan.

Officials from the Massillon Museum and Canton Museum of Art were enlisted to help keep the project historically accurate -- and 100 percent neutral.

Coon, with the Massillon Museum, said she's thrilled with the final product, and she hopes contemporary fans of the football rivalry are too.

"I hope it installs in these high school players that they're part of the history of these communities," she said.

And that's true no matter what the final score is.

Interested in visiting the barns? Here's where you'll find them:

Massillon-McKinley barn: 3424 Stump Ave., Massillon; best seen from Richville Drive SW

Rutherford B. Hayes barn: 3675 Fangboner Road, Fremont

Annie Oakley barn: 10313 Greenville-St. Marys Road, Ansonia

Zoar bicentennial barn: Towpath Road NE, Bolivar

Ohio State allowed big yards to Wisconsin last week, and now faces Penn State's Saquon Barkley.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Urban Meyer said an interesting thing this week about Wisconsin's defense that could potentially be applied to Ohio State's.

"They played LSU, Michigan State, our rivals, and they played -- and still they ranked that highly in defense after playing those kinds of teams," Meyer said Monday. "Usually, sometimes you play lesser teams early, and the stats get a little padded. This team did not play soft games, so that's how good their defense was."

Meyer's point was Wisconsin's defense was as good as he thought it would be based on the teams it had held in check coming into last Saturday.

So let's apply that logic to the Buckeyes' defense.

Ohio State came into that game against Wisconsin ranked No. 9 in the country in rushing defense, allowing fewer than 100 yards per game. The Buckeyes also hadn't played against a Murderers' Row of rushing attacks.

They played Bowling Green (92nd in rushing offense), Tulsa (33rd), Oklahoma (38th), Rutgers (71st) and Indiana (91st). After giving up a season-high 236 rushing yards to the Badgers you could ask two questions:

Were those gaudy numbers against the run a mirage created by playing sub-par rushing offenses for five games?

And should you be nervous about that defense going against Penn State's Saquon Barkley this week?

Let's answer that second question with a simple yes. Barkley is one of the best running backs in the country. Any defense should be nervous about facing him.

"That's No. 1 on the hit parade as far as Penn State, to stop them -- you won't stop him, but minimize the impact the running back has on us," Meyer said.

So then let's dig deeper into the first question: Does Ohio State have a good rushing defense, or was Saturday's performance indicative of a larger issue?

Wisconsin running back Corey Clement ran 25 times for 164 yards against the Buckeyes, the longest of which came on this 68-yard run in the first quarter:

You'll see that the Buckeyes look a little confused by the tight formation, and that everyone gets sucked up inside to allow Clement to get to the edge. The last man back, Malik Hooker, makes a failed diving attempt at a tackle and it's over.

You can't miss tackles against Barkley, or he'll do the same, just like he did last year when he had five runs of 10 yards or more, and finished with 194 in a Penn State loss.

"You've got to tackle well and make sure your gap is sound," Meyer said.

Clement had three runs of 10 yards or more, and two came out of this kind of tight formation. Those runs hurt, and the miscues that led to them need to be fixed by making sure the Buckeyes' defensive linemen and linebackers aren't getting too far up the field trying to make a play.

"We're a very aggressive defense, and we always like to make plays in the backfield," linebacker Raekwon McMillan said. "Sometimes the offense hits one on us, or hits the gap that somebody isn't in and it's off to the races."

Take the those three runs out of the equation and Clement had 22 carries for 64 yards, an average of 2.9 yards per carry.

A lot of Clement's night looked like this stop where Dre'Mont Jones got good penetration and made the initial stop:

Or like this, where Robert Landers stands his man up in his gap and makes the initial contact to stop Clement for a 1-yard gain:

Clement had 15 carries where he averaged 4 yards or fewer, including two negative runs. Clement's three carries in the overtime period all went for no gain.

Here's Clement's final run of the game. Nick Bosa flies up field to force the run all the way to the outside, where Jerome Baker is waiting to stop it for no gain:

Clement had his big hits, and receiver Jazz Peavy torched the Buckeyes with six jet sweeps for 68 yards. Penn State has the skill players to use that play well too. But Ohio State cleaned up its jet sweep defense in the second half, allowing one for 3 yards.

The Buckeyes certainly have things to improve on when it comes to stopping the run, and Wisconsin helped point those out. But they're also allowing 3.18 yards per carry, which right now is 18th in the country and would be the best mark for any of Meyer's defenses since 2012.

It's possible the long runs Clement hit were an aberration, and the stout rushing numbers we've seen otherwise are more of a real depiction of how good this run defense is.

Cleveland.com columnist Doug Lesmerises has strong feelings about Trevor Bauer's drone repair accident. Fellow columnist Bud Shaw disagrees. They hash it out as part of the video debate series, Prepare for List Off. Watch video

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Baseball's postseason turns heroes into goats (Bill Buckner) and goats into, well, less than goats (Trevor Bauer).

Bauer's drone repair mishap gave us one of the most memorable images in postseason baseball history - a major league pitcher dripping blood on the mound.

 Fortunately for the Indians, it didn't cost them a game, let alone the American League Championship Series.

Cleveland.com columnist Doug Lesmerises a conducted a Twitter poll on how fans viewed Bauer's accident. The fill-in-the-blank multiple choice let readers decide if it was 1) Irresponsible 2) Bad, but part of life; 3) Fine, relax or 4) Delete Your Account, Doug.

No matter how many times I voted "Delete Your Acount, Doug," the winner was "Bad, but part of life."

That's how I saw it when we tackled the topic as part of our video debate series, Prepare For List Off.

How about you?

Hear us out and come back and tell us who got it right on how Bauer's drone accident will be remembered when we talk about it over a beer 10 years from now.

The World Series begins Tuesday at Progressive Field, but first, you're going to need some new gear. Check out the best of the official and unofficial merchandise celebrating the Indians' first appearance in the Fall Classic since 1997.

The Cleveland Indians announced Thursday that World Series home game tickets are sold out.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland Indians announced Thursday that the team has sold out the remaining allotment of tickets for its home games in the 2016 World Series. 

A limited number of World Series tickets went on sale to the general public via indians.com at 10 a.m. on Thursday. By 10:17 the club announced all remaining tickets were sold out.

Some tickets were made available to Indians Insiders on Wednesday, prior to the remaining public on-sale.

Average resale prices for World Series tickets climbed past $2,400 online within hours of the team winning the American League pennant, according to TicketIQ.

World Series schedule
Game 1 (at Cleveland): Tuesday, Oct. 25
Game 2 (at Cleveland): Wednesday, Oct. 26
Game 3 (at Chicago/Los Angeles): Friday, Oct. 28
Game 4 (at Chicago/Los Angeles): Saturday, Oct. 29
Game 5 (at Chicago/Los Angeles): Sunday, Oct. 30
Game 6 (at Cleveland): Tuesday, Nov. 1
Game 7 (at Cleveland): Wednesday, Nov. 2

Indians begin selling World Series tickets online

Merritt is the talk of the town in Cleveland, a town that will host Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday. Watch video

TORONTO -- Cigar smoke started to fill the room, making it even more challenging to identify every drenched, goggles-wearing individual in a navy American League Champions shirt.

Paul Dolan just wanted to get acquainted with the guy who lifted the Indians to a World Series berth.

"I'm spending this time trying to find him," the team owner said. "I've never met him."

The "him" is Ryan Merritt, and for eternity, his moniker will satisfy trivia questions and trigger fond memories for those in Cleveland. For the Blue Jays, who barely recognized his name before his astonishing performance in Game 5 of the ALCS, Merritt will be hard to forget.

"He's kind of unflappable," said pitching coach Mickey Callaway. "He's the unflappable Ryan Merritt. He probably doesn't even know their names."

They knew his, though.

With the Indians absent two of their starting pitchers -- and one of their starting pitcher's fingers -- it's the 24-year-old with 11 career major-league innings under his belt who secured the club's World Series spot. It was Merritt, the kid targeted by Toronto's Jose Bautista, who claimed Merritt would be "shaking in his boots" when he took the hill at Rogers Centre.

"I heard it," Merritt said. "But I didn't let it affect me or get to me."

Those boots, brown Cowboy boots worn to the park by the native Texan, sat on the clubhouse floor with a bottle of champagne tucked inside. One teammate shouted that Merritt ought to sign them and send them to Bautista.

Merritt felt jitters in the first inning, but who could tell? He painted the corners with his mid-80s heater and his tantalizing slow stuff and he retired the first 10 batters he encountered.

Not too shabby for a guy who most recently was pitching to instructional league hitters in Goodyear, Arizona.

The Indians haven't gone according to script this postseason, though. At least, not a script anyone would believe. Only Corey Kluber in Game 1 of the ALCS started a game he was supposed to this October.

"Everybody else kind of pitched whenever," Callaway said. "Like, 'Surprise! Tomlin, you're throwing tomorrow.' It's been unbelievable."

Even Hollywood would reject this script

So it figures that Merritt's second career start came in the contest that clinched Cleveland its first AL pennant in 19 years.

Tribe manager Terry Francona met with Merritt a few hours before Game 5. He told him the start wasn't "life or death." Merritt proceeded to sit at his locker and play "Clash of Clans" on his iPad. Then, he shut down a powerful, pompous lineup for 4 1/3 innings.

"It is absolutely fitting, because it just demonstrates this was an organizational win," Dolan said. "We've built a system, so when we needed somebody to step up in a crucial moment, we have people behind them."

The plan was for Merritt to get through Toronto's order once. Anything else was playing with house money. Jeff Manship warmed up in the early innings. Bryan Shaw finally took over in the fifth.

"I loved it," said fellow starting pitcher Josh Tomlin. "I loved every second of it. ... I realize how tough it is for guys like us to do what he just did."

Behind the scenes of Cleveland's celebration

When the Indians gathered to pop champagne in the center of the clubhouse on Wednesday night, players yelled for Merritt to give a speech. Who could have imagined this scene?

"It almost is an appropriate ending to the American League Championship Series, with a guy that nobody counted on being here coming in and doing his job," said team president Chris Antonetti. "I think that's really been the story of our season."

Merritt is from Celina, Texas, a town known for its football.

"He's the face of that damn town right now," Tomlin said.

And he's the talk of the town in Cleveland, a town that will host Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday.

You'll probably need a drink or two to enjoy the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals matchup this Sunday. Luckily, there's no shortage of bars that cater to fans of each. Here's a look at 15 of them.

Terrelle Pryor and Joe Haden both sat out Thursday's practice, but the Browns are still hoping they can rally for the Bengals. Watch video

BEREA, Ohio -- Browns receiver Terrelle Pryor and cornerback Joe Haden both sat out practice Thursday for the second day in a row.

Pryor suffered a hamstring injury during Sunday's 28-26 loss to the Titans, and Haden pulled a groin muscle the Thursday before the game.

Coach Hue Jackson said Wednesday he's hopeful both can play Sunday in Cincinnati.

Left tackle Joe Thomas also sat out for the second straight day with his sore knee, but is expected to play.

Pryor said Wednesday he's doing everything he can to be ready to go.

"I feel good,'' he said. "I believe we have a great training staff, so I'm putting all my faith in them and God obviously. He'll get me up and ready to go."

 
Pryor said the hamstring is nowhere near as serious as the one he suffered in training camp last year.

"We're just being precautious and taking the right steps for the team,'' he said.

He played almost every snap in Tennessee and caught one of his two TDs late despite the painful hamstring.

Pryor says Antonio Andrews post is "bullcrap''

"It happened in the third quarter, and then it got worse in the fourth,'' he said. "Someone pushed me when I was going to block for Duke (Johnson). I got pushed out of bounds and I was trying to catch myself and then someone hit me. So that's when it grabbed like that. But it's football."

Pryor takes advantage of alternative treatments at the Browns facility, including cryotherapy, or sub-zero temperatures for healing.
 
"I'm going to take advantage of it every day, stay here as late as possible and continue to keep on getting stuff done because I'll do whatever it takes to win,'' he said. "Now it comes back onto my statements. So we're going to see how it goes. I'm going to try to go 'cause we owe this to the city. We've got to get a win. This whole team, we work so hard, so I'm going to do everything I can possible to make sure I'm ready to go."
 
In addition to Haden, cornerback Jamar Taylor was limited in practice on Wednesday with a knee injury.