TORONTO -- A most unlikely pitching performance helped put a most unexpected team into the World Series.Cleveland rookie Ryan Merritt came out of nowhere and coolly delivered a lead to the Andrew Miller-led bullpen, and the Indians won their first pennant since 1997 by blanking Toronto 3-0 Wednesday in Game 5 of the AL Championship Series.Cleveland, which has never hosted a World Series opener, will play Game 1 at Progressive Field on Tuesday night against the Chicago Cubs or Los Angeles Dodgers.Manager Terry Franconas team will try to augment whats already been a scintillating year in Cleveland after LeBron James and the Cavaliers earned the citys first major pro sports championship since 1964. The Indians title drought dates to 1948.We always said if we could do it with this group it would be so special because this is as close to a family feel as you can get in a professional setting. So for that part of it, it is beyond feeling good, Francona said.The Dodgers led the Cubs 2-1 going into Game 4 of the NLCS on Wednesday night. Cleveland didnt play either club this season.Miller, acquired from the New York Yankees in a midseason trade, was selected the ALCS MVP as the Indians took their sixth pennant.I feel like Ive said the word `special a million times in the last 20 or 30 minutes. But its the truth. Its a blast to be a part of, Miller said.With all of 11 major league innings under his belt -- and only one start, on Sept. 30 -- Merritt took the mound and looked just like a seasoned vet. The 24-year-old lefty retired the first 10 batters and allowed a mere two hits before being pulled after 4 1/3 innings.I know they were counting on me, Merritt said. Before the game, they came and told me they had my back, everybody had my back, good or bad. So that takes some pressure off, and I just went out there and pitched and trusted my team.Merritt got taps on his heart and hat from teammates when he left the mound. Then it was up to Clevelands tireless relievers to hold a three-run lead against the wild-card Blue Jays.Miller again did most of the heavy lifting, going 2 2/3 innings before Cody Allen worked the ninth for a save. Winning pitcher Bryan Shaw tossed an inning before Miller came in.Carlos Santana and Coco Crisp homered for the Indians.With starting pitchers Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar and Trevor Bauer dealing with injuries, the Indians kept defying the odds.Cleveland overtook defending World Series champion Kansas City and topped a $196 million Detroit team to win the AL Central, then put an abrupt end to Big Papis career, sweeping David Ortiz and the Boston Red Sox in the Division Series.The Indians stayed on a roll in the ALCS, shutting down the banging Blue Jays. Cleveland won despite hitting .168 in the series, with slick-fielding shortstop Francisco Lindor leading the way in going 7 for 19.Toronto lost in the ALCS for the second straight year.Im sure there will be some disappointments and grumbling and complaining about how you fell short again, but thats not coming from me, manager John Gibbons said. Because I know what these guys did, and I think its a pretty good accomplishment. The key is we want to take that next step one of these days. Hopefully, its next year.Merritt -- a Texas native drafted in the 16th round by Cleveland in 2011 -- hadnt pitched in a game since his late September start, although hed gotten some work in this month in the instructional league at the Indians spring training complex in Arizona.A day after Toronto averted a sweep, the crowd at the roaring Rogers Centre expected the Blue Jays to roll over the rookie.Maybe the Blue Jays did, too.With our experience in our lineup, Im pretty sure hes going to be shaking in his boots more than we are, Toronto slugger Jose Bautista said after Game 4.After the Blue Jays were eliminated, Bautista took a different tone.He seemed to make the right pitches at the right time, Bautista said. Hats off to him.Merritt struck out three batters in the first two innings -- all looking -- and didnt allow a baserunner until Josh Donaldsons one-out single in the fourth. After Russell Martins bloop single with one out in the fifth, Francona leaned again on a bullpen that soaked up 8 1/3 innings in a Game 3 win Monday.Shaw pitched an inning, and Miller came on with one out in the sixth and a runner on. Donaldson bounced into a double play on Millers first pitch, and the tall lefty made it through the seventh and eighth with little trouble before giving way to Allen.Cleveland took a 1-0 lead in the first when Mike Napoli doubled and left fielder Ezequiel Carrera misplayed the ball off the wall for an error. Lindor scored from first on the play.Santana and Crisp added solo shots in the third and fourth off Toronto starter Marco Estrada to put the AL Central champions up 3-0.TRAINERS ROOMIndians: Francona said before the game that Bauer was supposed to have his lacerated right pinkie looked by a doctor again. The idea was to see if the right-hander could potentially pitch out of the bullpen at all during this series after being lifted when he was bleeding in the first inning of Game 3.Now the question is whether Bauer can be of any help in the World Series.Obviously, he needs to heal, but he cant just not throw, Francona said.Bauer sliced his pinkie last week repairing one of the drones he enjoys flying as a hobby. During the boozy clubhouse celebration after Game 5, Bauer had his right arm wrapped in protective plastic.UP NEXTIndians: Cleveland returns home and rests up for the World Series.Blue Jays: Toronto faces an uncertain offseason after making the postseason as a wild card. Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Michael Saunders are in the final year of their contracts.Best Custom Shirts .ca! Hi Kerry, Its another day and here we are looking at another dubious hit to the head. In this case Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky elbowed Saku Koivu in the head about a second after he dished off the puck to a teammate, knocking him unconscious. Custom Shirts China . Vokoun departed practice on Saturday morning after discovering swelling in his thigh. He was taken to a local hospital where the clot was revealed. The club announced the surgery following a 5-3 exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. http://www.shirtscustom.us/ . Miller finished in two minutes, 6.09 seconds, one day before the first medal race on the Alpine schedule. The 36-year-old American also turned in the top time in Thursdays opening training session. Custom Shirts Fast . Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty good place to start laying the groundwork. "They are a very good defensive team," Penguins forward Brandon Sutter said. Custom Shirts Outlet . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday.Long Beach States murderers row type of schedule on the road to start the season continues Sunday at No. 16 UCLA.After winning the season-opener at home against Cal State Los Angeles, Long Beach State embarked on an arduous road trip that has included blowout losses to Wichita State (92-55), North Carolina (93-67) and Louisville (88-56). The average margin of defeat in those three games is 28.3 points.In the last game at Louisville on Thursday, Long Beach States confidence was subdued from the start allowing an 18-0 run in a four-minute span early in the first half.We just werent able to withstand that first blow to stay in the game, said Long Beach State head coach Dan Monson. Once we got comfortable, it was too late, and the game was over. You come on these road trips to give the team some adversity, to help make them better, and I dont think we handled it any better than we did on Tuesday (against North Carolina).While Long Beach State has taken its lumps on the road, UCLA has won its first three games at Pauley Pavilion by lopsided scores. The Bruins improved to 3-0 Thursday night after defeating San Diego 88-68, which followed a 119-80 win over Pacific and 102-82 victory over Cal State Northridge.The Bruins are scoring 103 points a game with five players with at least 14 points a game, led by freshman forward T.J Leaf and senior guard Bryce Alford, both of whom are averaging 20 points. Freshman point guard Lonzo Ball is averaging close to a triple-double at 15 points, 7.7 assists and 8.3 rebounds a game.Leaf had 22 points and 15 rebounds in the opener against Pacific and tallied 26 points and 10 rebounds against San Diego. Junior center Thomas Welsh allso had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.ddddddddddddI thought TJ was really good, said UCLA coach Steve Alford, who has lauded his teams versatility to shoot from the perimeter and score in the paint. We wanted to attack inside. I thought we really started executing on offense that was geared towards getting the ball inside.It was a season-low for us in threes (5 of 22 performance against San Diego) but it was a game where our emphasis was really getting -- I thought all three of our bigs (including reserve center Gyorgy Goloman) did a really good job.Long Beach State is averaging 68.2 points a game while shooting 36.8 percent from the field and 23.8 percent from 3-point range. Only two players are averaging scoring in double figures, forward Gabe Levin (13.3 points a game) and guard Evan Payne (10.8), both of whom are Loyola Marymount transfers.Levin also leads the 49ers win rebounds with 7.5 a despite being a wing player at 6-foot-7 and 215 pounds.After the game against Long Beach State, UCLA leaves Pauley Pavilion but stays in southern California to play in the Wooden Legacy in Anaheim, Calif., on Thursday, Friday and Nov. 27. The field includes Dayton, Virginia Tech, New Mexico and Texas A&M.The 49ers difficult road trip continues with a game at Washington on Tuesday.Well get better from this, watching it, and our guys will grow, Monson said of the early-season schedule. We have to get into our league and be the best team in our league, and thats why we challenge ourselves as best as we can with this schedule. ' ' '