Indians let 3-1 lead, World Series slip away

BOSTON -- With Kenny Lofton racing around third, Cleveland's comeback -- and a season stuffed with them -- came to an abrupt halt.

More heartache, decade upon decade of it, persists for the Indians.

Months of surprises, whipped-cream pies in the kisser, late-inning rallies and an unexpected jaunt through October ended short of a World Series title for Cleveland, which lost 11-2 to the Boston Red Sox in Game 7 of the AL championship series Sunday night.

So close. So tantalizingly close. Again.

Lofton, the speedy 40-year-old outfielder who had returned in a July trade for a third try at winning an elusive Series ring with the Indians, was on his way to scoring the tying run in the seventh inning when third-base coach Joel Skinner cautiously held him up in a 3-2 game quickly turning Cleveland's way.

It was Skinner who stopped Lofton, not the Red Sox.

"I didn't know what was going on," Lofton said. "The ball was behind me. It's not my job. My job is to pick up the third base coach. He stopped me. I just got to do what he says. He's the third base coach."

If Lofton had scored and tied it, then who knows?

Instead, another year passed in Cleveland without a championship, a soon-to-be 60-year-old dry spell crossing generations in a city still waiting for one of its three professional sports teams to finally deliver the biggest trophy.

The longing endures.

There were hugs and tears in Cleveland's clubhouse. At one end, Casey Blake, Grady Sizemore and Jason Michaels talked in a close circle, while at the other end, catcher Victor Martinez's shoulders heaved as he choked back emotion.

"We needed something special to happen," Blake said. "We needed things to go our way, and they didn't."

With three chances to get one win and a World Series date with Colorado, the Indians whiffed -- big time. After taking a 3-1 lead in the series, they were outscored 30-5 in the final three games.

"It's a tough loss to take right now," said ace C.C. Sabathia, who lost twice to the Red Sox. "We had the upper hand, and then let it slip away."