CLEVELAND — The guest list for Ryan Merritt’s upcoming wedding could be growing.
Cleveland’s rookie pitcher has made a lot of new friends.
A most improbable October hero for the Indians, Merritt has been overwhelmed by the generous outpouring from some Cleveland fans for sending wedding gifts to him and his fiancee, Sarah, after the 24-year-old pitched so well in the AL pennant-clinching victory over Toronto on Wednesday.
Not long after Merritt worked 41/3 scoreless innings and the Indians earned their first World Series trip since 1997, fans found the couple’s wedding registry online and flooded them with gifts.
Now Merritt is up to his neck in blenders, wine glasses, oven mitts and muffin tins.
“At first I thought it was all a joke,” the soft-spoken Texan said Friday as the Indians prepared for Game 1 on Tuesday night. “It’s the last thing I thought was going to come out of all of this. It’s pretty emotional. Awesome.”
As he met with reporters, Merritt, an unknown to most Cleveland fans days ago, nervously struggled to express his gratitude toward the strangers who have made him feel so welcomed even though he just joined the team.
Merritt was a late addition to the ALCS roster following setbacks to Cleveland’s rotation. Handed the ball to start Game 5, Merritt, who pitched just 11 innings for the Indians during the regular season, shook off butterflies and shut down the Blue Jays on two hits before Manager Terry Francona turned things over to his devastating bullpen.
• Indians starter Danny Salazar, who hasn’t pitched since Sept. 9 because of tightness in his right forearm, has thrown well in recent bullpen sessions and might be able to pitch for the first time in this postseason.
Manager Terry Francona said Friday that Salazar has “let it go” in recent workouts and has not been restricted to throwing only fastballs and changeups.
Salazar will throw a simulated game Saturday before the Indians decide whether to have him on the World Series roster. Salazar went 11-6 with a 3.87 ERA in 25 starts, but Francona said the hard-throwing right-hander may be used in relief.
TIGERS: Detroit hired Lloyd McClendon as hitting coach.
It will be McClendon’s second stint with the Tigers after serving as bullpen coach in 2006 and hitting coach in 2007-13 before managing the Mariners for two seasons. He managed the Tigers’ Triple-A affiliate in Toledo this season.
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