So you finally thought the baseball playoffs could take place with either the Yankees or the Red Sox sitting on the sidelines? Not so fast. Just when it looked as if the Cleveland Indians were poised to become the new sheriff in town, their Cinderella ride has hit a major speed bump. After winning 17 of 19 and 35 of 46 to vault into the wild-card lead and become everybody?s sentimental favorite, the Indians? collection of unheralded stars and rookies have buckled under the weight of pennant pressure. Having wiped out all but 1 ? games of a 15-game deficit to division leader Chicago, a stretch that sent shock waves through the corridors of power in Boston and New York, the Indians have caved at the worst possible time, dropping five of six and putting their fate in the hands of others. After Saturday?s wrenching loss to the White Sox ? which followed an even more wrenching defeat on Friday night ? the Indians need help. A Red Sox victory or an Indians loss finishes their season. An Indians victory and a Red Sox loss, however, forces a one-game tiebreaker on Monday at Fenway? something the Red Sox probably don?t wish to go through again (Bucky Dent, anyone?). Hope is certainly not lost. Though the Yankees have clinched the AL East and have little to play for on Sunday, don?t expect them to roll out the red carpet for their hated rivals. The Yankees have probably had enough of the Red Sox and would no doubt rather not have to worry about them in the playoffs, even if this year?s version is a seriously flawed model that can?t pitch, and made some seriously bad personnel decisions (Orlando Cabrera for Edgar Renteria, for ex.) The Sox will send Curt Schilling to the mound to save their season, which would be welcome news in any year but this one, when Schilling has been lit up worse than a Times Square billboard. The Yankees, on the other hand, will serve up Jaret Wright, whose 15-8 season with the Braves last year appears hallucinatory at best. At least the Red Sox will take the field knowing they can be no worse off than a tie at the end of the day. The Indians, on the other hand, will take the field knowing they?ve squandered a golden opportunity. They?ve also forgotten how to get the big hit and how to make the big play. Only a week ago, they led the Yankees and Red Sox by 1 ? games and had won six games in a row. Over their next six games, however, they?re 6-49 with runners in scoring position, and the losses have been excruciating. Last Sunday in Kansas City, center fielder Grady Sizemore lost a fly ball in the 9th inning to give the Royals a 5-4 win. Tuesday night against the Devil Rays, the Indians left the tying run on third in the 9th inning of a 5-4 loss. The following night, they couldn?t muster a run in a 1-0 shutout. Friday night, they left the bases loaded in the 11th inning of a 13-inning loss to the White Sox. Saturday, they left the bases loaded in the 8th inning of yet another one-run loss to the White Sox, making them 22-36 in one-run games this season, including 0-9 vs. the White Sox. It?s doubtful the Indians will recover from such ineptitude, as befits a young team getting its first real taste of a pennant race. But they provided tremendous entertainment value to fans unable to stand the thought of another Yanks-Red Sox ALCS. If they make it this year, it will be the fourth time in seven years. The last year that one of those two Eastern powers missed the playoffs was 1997. The Red Sox finished fourth that season, though Pedro Martinez would arrive in 1998 to rejuvenate the franchise. The Yankees, meanwhile, haven?t missed the post-season since 1993, when they finished a distant second to eventual World Series winner Toronto (the Red Sox missed the playoffs that year as well). The Indians had a great run, but don?t expect them to see them at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday for Game 1 of the ALDS. Instead, they?ll be home, lamenting what could?ve been? while Yankees and Red Sox fans await their date with destiny.