News » CLEVELAND (AP) — Rajai Davis has his name cemented

in October baseball lore.But it might not be on Cleveland’s playoff roster this year.Indians manager Terry Francona has one spot left on his 25-man roster for the AL Division Series against the Houston Astros and it will go to either Davis or utility infielder Erik Gonzalez.“We’re debating the last spot http://www.marinersfanproshop.com/authentic-alex-colome-jersey ,” Francona said Wednesday. “We’re going back and forth.”The Indians will open the ALDS in Houston on Friday and Francona must submit his roster to Major League Baseball by 10 a.m. that morning for the best-of-five series.Many of the other tough decisions were made days ago, and now Francona and his coaching staff have to decide whether to keep Davis as the club’s sixth outfielder or go with Gonzalez, who can play anywhere in the infield.“Gonzie gives you a little bit of a safety net if something happens to somebody,” Francona said. “Raj gives you the ability to maybe influence the game with his legs, as we’ve seen. So, we’re all just trying to figure out what’s the right thing to do.”Davis has also shown he can influence a game — and maybe a season — with his bat.The veteran is best known for hitting a tying, two-run home run in the eighth inning of Game 7 of the 2016 World Series against the Chicago Cubs. Davis’ dramatic, line-drive homer off closer Aroldis Chapman pulled the Indians even before they eventually lost in 10 innings as the Cubs ended their 106-year Series title drought.Davis spent last season with Oakland and Boston before re-signing with Cleveland as a free agent in February. He batted .224 with 21 stolen bases in a reserve role.Gonzalez has been cleared from concussion protocol after he was struck in the helmet with a pitch last week in Chicago. The 27-year-old played in 81 games for the Indians and batted .265 with one homer and 16 RBIs.Francona’s decision could come down to whether it’s more important to have an extra infielder if either All-Star Francisco Lindor or Jose Ramirez gets hurt. Gonzalez can play shortstop or second base.“If Frankie went down and he didn’t go down enough to be a DL, it’s kind of an issue,” Francona said. “But do we gamble a little bit and think that Raj might be able to change a game with his legs?”Francona will carry 11 pitchers — three left-handers — as the Indians try to dethrone the defending World Series champions, who went 4-3 this season against Cleveland.He’ll use a three-man rotation of Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Mike Clevinger, who will start Game 3 in Cleveland. Starters Trevor Bauer and Shane Bieber will be in the bullpen for Games 1 and 2 in Houston, and depending on if they are used in the first two games James Paxton Jersey , one will start Game 4 — if the series goes that long.Cleveland’s other relievers: Cody Allen, Dan Otero, Adam Cimber, Andrew Miller, Oliver Perez and Brad Hand.Francona said one of the toughest decisions was to leave off veteran right-hander Josh Tomlin, the club’s longest-tenured player.“He’s one of the best teammates I’ve ever seen in my whole career, and that doesn’t change,” Francona said. “But we tell the guys day one that we’re going to do what is best for our team. Some conversations are harder than others, and that one was definitely hard, but we also don’t claim to be right 100 percent of the time. What we try to do is be respectful, do our homework and be honest.“Sometimes that’s the best you can do because some of the conversations are hard.” DENVER — Left-hander Kyle Freeland, the most consistent Colorado starter, will take the mound Thursday as the Rockies attempt to win their four-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks.Colorado second baseman DJ LeMahieu belted a two-run homer with one out in the ninth Wednesday — his first career walk-off hit — to give the Rockies a 5-4 victory, their second in this series.The Rockies (80-65) lead the National League West by 1 1/2 games over the Los Angeles Dodgers and 3 1/2 over the Diamondbacks. Arizona (77-69) http://www.stlouiscardinalsteamshop.com/authentic-marcell-ozuna-jersey , losers of nine of its past 12 games, is four games back in the scramble for the second NL wild-card spot.Article continues below ...The Rockies, winners of eight of their past 11 games, are 20-9 in games started by Freeland (14-7, 2.91 ERA), who will be opposed by Clay Buchholz (7-2, 2.01) — a vital addition since joining the Arizona rotation in late May. He will be making his Coors Field debut.Freeland has been dominant there this season, going 8-2 with a 2.21 ERA in 13 starts. Freeland is 5-0, 2.03 in his past seven turns, all of which the Rockies have won.Freeland, a 25-year-old Denver native in his second full season in the majors, is 0-1 with a 4.96 ERA in three starts this season against the Diamondbacks, the last July 21, and 1-2 Miles Mikolas Jersey , 4.60 against them in six career starts.“Kyle’s game stays pretty consistent,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “Command of the fastball (to) both sides of the plate. When he goes in, I think he’s got to elevate it a little bit with the fastball — belt high to the hands. Down and away with the fastball. The slider down underneath the right-handed swing. Mix in the change, keep them off balance with the change of velocities with the changeup. Preferably down and away with some action, which he’s very capable (of doing). Mix in a couple curveballs, which Kyle’s done a really good job this year of bringing that into his game. “Kyle’s game has become pretty consistent. It’s something Kyle should be proud of, the step that he made last year to where we are now.”Buchholz, 34, unable to find a big league job after last season, signed a minor league deal with Kansas City. He went 1-0, 1.59 with the Royals’ Triple-A Omaha affiliate and excercised the May 1 opt-out date in his contract and signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks.Arizona general manager Mike Hazen and several of his assistants were in the Red Sox front office when Buchholz signed with Boston after being drafted in the first round in 2005, and Arizona manager Torey Lovullo was a Boston coach when Buchholz pitched for the Red Sox.Buchholz threw a no-hitter Sept. 1, 2007, in his second major league start Bud Norris Jersey , went 17-7 with a 2.33 ERA in 2010 and made the Amerian League All-Star team. He was an all-star again in 2013 before enduring a succession of injuries.Buchholz made three minor league starts for the Diamondbacks before joining their rotation May 20. He missed a month with a left oblique strain but returned to the rotation July 24 and has gone 5-1, 1.66 in his past nine starts.Asked whether it’s more rewarding to be pitching as well as he has now as opposed to the outset of his career, Buchholz said, “Yeah, probably just for the simple fact that there were a lot of people that wrote me off, and I wasn’t ready to be done playing.”Said Hazen: “He’s been healthy, and I think you’re seeing the true pitcher emerge. He’s not the guy he used to be with pitches that everyone oohed and awed over at the time. Now you’re watching this guy really pitch. It’s fun to watch. He’s obviously shot above and beyond anything we could’ve hoped. I give a lot of credit to him. He’s one of the leaders of our clubhouse, and you just see the maturity every day with him.”Buchholz’s one career start against Colorado came in 2016, when he allowed six runs in five innings and took the loss.