Indians miss playoffs for 1st time since 2015

The Cleveland Indians' streak of consecutive playoff appearances ends at three.

Cleveland was officially eliminated from postseason contention Friday following the Tampa Bay Rays' win over the Toronto Blue Jays. The Indians lost to the Washington Nationals earlier in the night to drop the Rays' magic number to one.

''It's the hardest one, because it hurts so much when you don't get where you want to go, and yet there's still so much that I'm proud of out there that they need to hear that,'' Indians manager Terry Francona said, according to The Associated Press.

Cleveland was eliminated despite the trade-deadline acquisitions of Yasiel Puig and Franmil Reyes.

It was an injury-riddled campaign for the Indians, who opened the season without shortstop Francisco Lindor. Rotation ace Corey Kluber made just seven starts, overused closer Brad Hand appeared in just three September games, and Jose Ramirez underachieved before a fractured hand derailed his resurgence down the stretch.

The Indians appeared in the 2016 World Series and had won three straight AL Central titles prior to this season.