ALCS MVP Miller stars among ‘pen pals

TORONTO — In the lead-up to October, Terry Francona would tell anybody who would listen that, to get through the postseason, you need to have a guy who does something “extreme.”

Andrew Miller, your all-too-obvious American League Championship Series MVP in the wake of the Indians’ clinching 3-0 victory over the Blue Jays in Game 5 on Wednesday, would certainly qualify.

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What word, other than “extreme,” describes a man whose left arm accounted for five outs in Game 1, six in Game 2, four in Game 3 and eight in Game 5 — each and every one of the Tribe’s victories over the Blue Jays?

Game Date Matchup TV/Highlights Gm 1 Oct. 14 CLE 2, TOR 0 Gm 2 Oct. 15 CLE 2, TOR 1 Gm 3 Oct. 17 CLE 4, TOR 2 Gm 4 Oct. 18 TOR 5, CLE 1 Gm 5 Oct. 19 CLE 3, TOR 0 • ALCS coverageShop for postseason gear: Blue Jays | Indians

What word better describes an otherwise indescribable pitching line: 7 2/3 innings, three hits, 14 strikeouts (tying Brad Lidge’s LCS relief record from 2004), no walks and one save?

What word better describes a 6-foot-7 dude with a wipeout slider who is as comfortable pitching in the fifth as he is in the ninth and has quickly and undoubtedly repaid an organization for dealing away a few of its most prominent prospects?

What better word describes just the fifth time a reliever has won an LCS MVP?

Yeah. This was extreme.

World Series Game 1: Tuesday on FOX

“I don’t know,” said closer Cody Allen, “if you’ll ever see that kind of performance in a series again, what he did against a lineup like that.”

Well, shoot, maybe we’ll see it in the World Series, where the Indians are headed for the first time in 19 years. Because Miller is on some kind of roll.

In the entirety of October, Miller has given the Indians 11 2/3 innings in which he’s allowed just five hits with two walks and — gulp — 21 K’s. Opponents are hitting .132 off him, and he’s posted a minuscule 0.60 WHIP.

But the only number that mattered to Miller is seven, for the number of wins they’ve compiled in this amazing October run.

“I would have given up a hundred runs if we won 101-100,” he said. “That’s all that matters is we’re going to the World Series, and that’s a special experience and I can’t wait.”

It’s not going to the extreme to say the Indians would not be embarking upon that experience if it weren’t for Miller. To best the Blue …

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