Wild Card Game at Progressive Field sold out
Indians will host winner of Rays-Rangers tiebreaker game on Wednesday night
CLEVELAND -- With a champagne bottle in hand, Indians first baseman Nick Swisher had one hope as the Tribe prepared to head home to host the American League Wild Card Game on Wednesday night.
"It's been a long time since Cleveland's had something like this," Swisher said amidst Sunday's Wild Card-clinching celebration. "I hope the fans are as excited as we are."
Indians fans have already issued a response.
Shortly after the Tribe's 5-1 victory over the Twins, the Indians announced that Wednesday's AL Wild Card Game, which is scheduled for a first pitch of 8:07 p.m. ET, is sold out of individual tickets. The Indians still have tickets available for potential AL Division Series home games against the Red Sox.
To reach that point, the Indians must first get through either the Rays or Rangers, who will play a tiebreaker game on Monday to determine the second Wild Card team. Given the many scenarios that existed within the past few days, the Indians are grateful to be heading back to Progressive Field.
"It's an extraordinary moment for this franchise," said Paul Dolan, the Indians' chairman and chief executive officer. "To win 92 games and to do it the way they did it with the people who did it, that was great for the franchise and the community. We're thrilled we can bring a playoff game back to Cleveland again."
The Indians announced that there are a limited number of suites remaining for Wednesday's Wild Card Game. Interested fans can call the team's premium seating department at 216-420-HITS on Monday to inquire about those tickets.
Fans can visit indians.com/postseason to obtain available ALDS tickets for Progressive Field games.
Indians fans can still receive priority access to possible AL Championship Series and World Series games in Cleveland by placing a deposit on 2014 season tickets through the team's Playoff Payoff program. More information is available at indians.com/playoffpayoff.
"I don't think you can ever really exhale until the season's over," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "We have an opportunity to keep playing. We'll embrace it and see how we do."