CLEVELAND -- David Ross marvels at Andrew Miller and the break on his sinister slider.Hes hard to catch, said the Chicago Cubs catcher and Millers teammate in Boston three years ago. When you know hes hard to catch, you know hes hard to hit.Miller escaped a pair of jams to pitch two scoreless innings and help the Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago Cubs 6-0 in the World Series opener Tuesday night.A 6-foot-7 lefty with an enormous wingspan, Miller has developed baseballs most unhittable pitch. He is perhaps the biggest factor in Clevelands first AL pennant since 1997, a throwback willing to close or enter in the middle innings.It kind of sets the tone for our mindset as a club, just trying to figure out a way to help your team win, Cleveland closer Cody Allen said.Now 31, Miller was acquired from the Yankees on Aug. 1 for four prospects. He has thrown 22 scoreless innings in postseason play, including 13 2/3 innings with 24 strikeouts this year. He was voted AL Championship Series MVP, a rare setup man to gain a postseason honor.I would say before that, his resume is not too shabby, either, Indians manager Terry Francona said during the series against Toronto. Theres a reason we gave up what we did for him. We thought that he could be a guy that we could leverage in situations like we have. And it would make our bullpen that much better and give us a chance to keep playing.In New York, Miller was the baby-faced member of the hard-throwing No Runs DMC bullpen trio that included Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman, dealt to the Cubs on July 25.New Yorks closer in 2015, Miller embraced his new role as Chapmans setup man. With Cleveland, Francona has brought him in as early as the fifth inning, and like an understudy shifting parts each performance, Miller relishes his interchangeable roles.The best thing that could possibly happen is to be on a winning team, and thats what I enjoy, he said, his face partly obscured by a beard regrown following his exit from the clean-cut Yankees. If that requires me to pitch the second inning or the ninth inning or play shortstop, I dont really care. I want to be a part of it.Selected by Detroit with the sixth overall in the 2006 amateur draft, Miller struggled with the Tigers, Marlins and Red Sox, compiling a 21-29 record from 2006-11, when most of his appearances were as a starter.The start of my career wasnt anything that youd brag about or write home about, he said.His career started to change in 2012, on March 20 to be precise. Boston manager Bobby Valentine suggested he work from the stretch fulltime to lessen the movement of his big frame, and Miller injured his left hamstring on his third pitch in an exhibition game against Toronto. When Miller returned, he was relegated to the bullpen.The hamstring had a lot to do with it when you look back at it, probably an awful lot to do with it, Valentine said. He wasnt going to be able to be stretched out enough to compete for the starting role.Miller simplified his repertoire in the bullpen, ditching his sinker and changeup and limiting himself to his fastball and slider. He had a career-best 3.35 ERA, striking out 51 in 40 1/3 innings.There were no roster spots in the rotation, and the bullpen was the way to go, he said. I think in hindsight it was a really good thing. It was a blessing in disguise. But you dont know it at the time.After a torn ligament in his left foot caused him to miss the second half of the 2013 season -- and Bostons run to the World Series title -- he struck out 103 in 62 1/3 innings the following year with the Red Sox and Orioles, who acquired him at the trade deadline.He was trying to figure out himself. Hes had some failure as a starter and he struggled through what a lot of starters go through early in their careers, and look at him now, said Juan Nieves, Millers pitching coach with the Red Sox in 2013 and `14.Its a really quick, sharp slider. It starts in the zone and it ends up a lot of times either a strike called or its in and out of the zone real quick, he added.Miller didnt miss any time this season despite breaking a bone in his right wrist when hit by a liner off the bat of Atlantas Willians Astudillo during a spring training game on March 30.His durability has been prodigious and his flexibility vital. Miller has entered as early as the fifth inning and late as the ninth over seven appearances this postseasonIt wasnt that long ago I was pitching in some long situations and sometimes in the eighth inning in close situations, Miller said. For those guys, which are the majority of relievers, flexibility is not something you offer, its something you have to have. You dont have a choice. If youre not flexible, youre not going to have a spot in the big leagues. Nike React Sale Uk .7 million, one-year contract, a raise of $2.2 million. Wieters had asked for $8.75 million and the Orioles had offered $6. Nike React Uk Release . 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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The NCAA has accepted?Missouris?self-imposed sanctions over infractions involving its mens basketball program but it tacked on a year of probation though August of next year.The NCAA infractions committee panel on Tuesday said roughly $11,400 in improper inducements and benefits was given to players and a recruit by two boosters. The findings come nearly seven months after Missouri admitted NCAA violations dating to 2011.In January, the school hoped to blunt NCAA punishment by announcing it was vacating its 23 wins from 2013-14, banning itself from the postseason last season and stripping itself of one scholarship last season and a second scholarship no later than 2017-18.The school, while agreeing to pay a $5,000 fine, also permanently banned one unidentified donor who the NCAA said provided impermissible benefits to three players and one recruit in 2013-14. The benefits included compensation for work not done at a business through a summer intern program, along with housing, $520 cash, local transportation, iPads, meals and use of a local gym.The NCAA concluded that a second booster also provided impermissible benefits to 11 mens basketball players and three members of a players family. Missouri has said those benefits included reduced rates at a hotel along with meals and a boat ride, and a student manager also provided transportation for multiple players to the hotel from the campus.The Missouri systems interim chancellor, Hank Foley, and basketball coach Kim Anderson welcomed Tuesdays announcement as a turning point for the program after roughly two years of turmoil.As responsible members of the (Southeastern Conference) and the NCAA, we chose to self-report potential violations of bylaws and self-impose certain sanctions, Foley said in a statement. Tuesdays announcement is a clear indication this was a wise decision by the university and allows us to put these issues behind us as we continue to rebuild a top-notch basketball program.Through cooperationn between NCAA personnel, the University of Missouri and our Mizzou athletics staff, we are now able to draw this process to a close, added Anderson, who is 19-44 in his first two seasons in Columbia.dddddddddddd It has been my desire to move our program forward since learning of what had taken place.Missouri went 23-12 in 2013-14 -- Frank Haiths final season as coach before he left from Tulsa, not long after the school received a verbal notice of inquiry from the NCAA in April 2014, when Missouri hired Anderson. At that time, Anderson said he wasnt aware of the investigation.Haith, the former coach at Miami, was suspended for five games by the NCAA at the start of the 2013-14 season for inadequately monitoring former assistants interactions with a disgraced Miami booster and then trying to cover up a five-figure hush money payment to keep potential violations hidden.The investigation found that Haith and Miami assistant coach Jake Morton paid Nevin Shapiro $10,000 after he threatened to expose previous improper contact with high school recruits and amateur coaches.Haiths Kansas City attorney, Scott Tompsett, said Haith cooperated fully with the NCAAs investigation and was not named in or held responsible for any of the violations.As the NCAA Infractions Report makes clear, violations happened while Coach Haith was at Mizzou and they continued after Coach Anderson became the head coach, Tompsett wrote in an email to The Associated Press. The fact of the matter is that this is not a Frank Haith issue or a Kim Anderson issue; its an issue of Mizzou as an institution not adequately monitoring the summer employment arrangement. Thats what the NCAA found and Mizzou agreed.Haith, Tompsett added, wishes the best to the University of Missouri and its mens basketball program.A message left Tuesday with Haith at his Tulsa office was not immediately returned. ' ' '