Michael Brantley kept his cool and delivered for the Cleveland Indians

CLEVELAND (AP) —Brantley singled in the winning run in the 11th inning Josh Harrison Jersey , and Cleveland beat the Red Sox 5-4 on Saturday night to delay Boston’s bid for a club-record 106th victory and home-field advantage throughout the postseason.The sellout crowd of 35,095 was on its feet when Brantley came to bat, but the All-Star said he felt no pressure.“I try to take every at-bat the same,” he said. “I go to the plate trying to make sure I get a good pitch to drive and make it possible to get that runner in from third.”Brantley did exactly that and was mobbed by his teammates, who dumped the contents of the dugout water coolers over his head.“It’s a little cold out tonight to be getting Gatorade baths,” he said.Yan Gomes started the 11th with an infield hit off Drew Pomeranz (2-6), sliding to the bag ahead of first baseman Brock Holt’s tag after third baseman Rafael Devers‘ off-line throw.Greg Allen singled pinch-runner Rajai Davis to second, the runners executed a double steal and Francisco Lindor was intentionally walked. Brantley hit a 1-1 pitch over left fielder Andrew Benintendi and in front of the warning track.Tyler Olson (2-1) pitched two scoreless innings.AL East champion Boston (105-50) has matched the team wins record set in 1912. One Boston win or Houston loss would give the Red Sox home field throughout the postseason and ensure a Division Series matchup against the wild card winner.“We’ll turn the page tomorrow http://www.piratesfanproshop.com/authentic-gregory-polanco-jersey ,” manager Alex Cora said. “Drew threw Brantley a breaking ball up in the zone.”Benintendi tied the score 4-4 with a two-run single in the eighth off Brad Hand after Mitch Moreland’s leadoff single and Jackie Bradley Jr.’s double against Andrew Miller, who had pitched a scoreless seventh. Benintendi was thrown out trying for a double by Brantley in left.Mike Clevinger struck out six in five innings and raised his total to 202, making the Indians the first team in major league history to have four pitchers reach 200 in the same season. Carlos Carrasco (217), Trevor Bauer (215) and Corey Kluber (205) are the others.“It was kind of a cool thing to see,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. “It kind of sneaked up on me tonight when it happened, but those guys ought to be proud of themselves.”Devers and Blake Swihart hit solo home runs off Clevinger, who walked five and threw 103 pitches.Francisco Lindor had run-scoring singles in the second and fourth. Josh Donaldson had two hits, including an RBI single in the third.Rick Porcello allowed four runs — three earned— in five innings.Mookie Betts was out of the lineup for the second straight night. Xander Bogaerts http://www.piratesfanproshop.com/authentic-jung-ho-kang-jersey , Benintendi and Bradley returned after not starting Friday. Martinez, the major league leader in RBIs, was in right field after being a designated hitter Friday.Betts, who leads the majors with a .339 batting average, hasn’t played right field since leaving Sunday’s game with soreness in his left side. He didn’t play Tuesday and was the designated hitter Wednesday and Thursday.Devers homered for the second straight night in the third. Swihart led off the fourth with a line drive that cleared the wall in right field.LOOKING AHEADCora was encouraged by Boston’s rally against Miller and Hand.“Those were good at-bats,” he said. “Who knows, we might face them later on in October, so it’s good to face them — and also good to be successful against them.”TAKE A BREAKCody Allen Francisco Cervelli Jersey , the Indians’ closer most of the season, hasn’t pitched since Cleveland clinched the division a week ago. Francona wanted he right-hander to rest to prepare for the postseason. Francona said Allen will throw a bullpen in the next couple of days and resume a normal workload during the final trip.MANAGER’S SUMMITFrancona and Cora talked briefly on the field during batting practice. Cora played four years in Boston while Francona managed the Red Sox, and the two have become close friends.STILL A GOBauer is scheduled to start Tuesday in Kansas City and is expected to throw between 60-65 pitches. He pitched 1 1/3 innings and threw 34 pitches Friday in his first appearance since Aug. 17, when his right leg was broken by a line drive.UP NEXTIndians RHP Adam Plutko (4-5, 5.27 ERA) is to take the mound in Cleveland’s regular-season home finale. RHP Hector Velazquez (7-2, 3.18 ERA) will start for the Red Sox. ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Houston Astros manager AJ Hinch does not expect Lance McCullers Jr. to rejoin the starting rotation this season when he returns from a forearm injury.Hinch said Sunday it is unlikely McCullers, who is 10-6 with a 3.93 ERA John Jaso Jersey , would be able to rebuild his stamina to the point where he could start.“I guess never say never ’cause once you get on the mound and get going things can progress a different way, but I think the focus will be and probably should be shorter stints,” Hinch said.McCullers has been on the disabled list since Aug. 5, one day after he left a start against the Los Angeles Dodgers early because of a muscle strain.Hinch also said McCullers’ rehabilitation program was being slowed down because of a “continued lack of progress,” but he is still targeting September for him to resume throwing off the mound.“We knew it was September until we were going to consider doing anything. Then we thought we could be a little bit more aggressive with him, but we’re going to put that on pause and just have him do a throwing program,” Hinch said.“He’s feeling pretty symptom-free. I think his throwing has been fine, but kind of the re-evaluation of him http://www.piratesfanproshop.com/authentic-jordy-mercer-jersey , we’ve decided to push it back.”Hinch is not sure how he will structure his rotation down the stretch without McCullers. Left-hander Framber Valdez could be an option to start after allowing one run in 4 1/3 innings to earn the win in his major league debut at Seattle on Tuesday. The Astros could also take advantage of September call-ups to address the vacancy.“As the rules change where we can expand the rosters, you could see a spot going to somebody that steps up and takes the ball and is very reliable for every five days. You could see that spot change. You could also see us be creative with the bullpen and have a bullpen day every now and then,” Hinch said.But Hinch is wary of being too experimental given how closely contested the AL West is.“We’ve got to continue to put really good pitchers out there and not be too much trial and error because of the race that we’re in, but I could see it being used a lot of different ways. My preference would be for somebody to step up and throw the ball very well and have our normal rotation,” Hinch said.