☆ 2016 WORLD SERIES ☆ Chicago Cubs vs CLEVELAND INDIANS ☆
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Kipnis was safe
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aaanndd soon it will be time for......
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only 5 plate appearances, only 5 plate appearances... only 5 plate appearances.... only 5 plate appearances.......
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yes Indian summer this weekend in Chicago 1-0! (carry on)
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INDIANS TAKE A 2-1 LEAD IN THE WORLD SERIES, SO?......
......"I think we've been an afterthought all year long," Tomlin said. "It doesn't bother us. We know we have a group of guys who grind it out and try to play the game we know how to play and don't listen to anybody else."
The shutout was the fifth in these playoffs for the Indians, establishing a Major League record for a single postseason.
How important is Game 3? The team winning the third game of a 1-1 World Series has gone on to win the championship 37 of 57 times (64.9 percent), including in four of the past six years.
"We know we're going to have our hands full to beat these guys," Tribe manager Terry Francona said. "Tonight was a good example. I mean, that was as close a ballgame as you're ever going to find, and we found a way to manage to win that game. You know, we say it all the time. We want to be one run better. That's about as true to form as you can get."
• Tito willing to take chances to give Tribe edge
The atmosphere leading up to the game was electric. It felt like New Year's Eve at Times Square. Generations of fans who never thought they'd see the Cubs in the World Series started the party outside the ballpark early on Friday, even if they didn't have a ticket for the game. But the ball never dropped, as the Cubs were held scoreless for the fourth time this postseason and never gave the 41,703 in attendance a reason to erupt.
The most shutout losses in a postseason by an eventual World Series winner is three, by the 1981 Dodgers........
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CHICAGO -- No longer can we say it has been 71 years since Wrigley Field last hosted a World Series game. But we can say it has been 71 years and nine innings since it hosted a World Series game in which the Cubs scored. And with Chicago having been shut out twice in the first three games of this best-of-seven Fall Classic, there is plenty of pressure on the home nine to roar to life in Game 4 tonight.
And the Cubs will have to do it against one of the best in the business.
• Game 4: Tonight, 7:30 ET air time | 8 ET game time on FOX
The Indians are sending staff ace Corey Kluber to the hill on short rest, looking to build on their 2-1 Series edge and put themselves on the precipice of their first championship in 68 years. The Cubs, who will counter with the October-tested John Lackey, are trying to regroup after a night of unsatisfying swings in a big swing game, and Kluber, who shut them down for six strong innings in Game 1, is a tough matchup.
"The guys got to see him, so there won't be as much of a surprise the next time he pitches," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "[Like with Dodgers ace Clayton] Kershaw, the first game he pitched here [in the National League Championship Series], extremely sharp with everything. The next game we saw him, not as sharp. So you just don't know. It's difficult for pitchers to replicate time after time, especially against the same team, especially with shorter rest to be as sharp… So hopefully that works to our advantage. But you've got to wait until the game's actually played to find out how sharp he is."
Cleveland set a record with its fifth shutout of the postseason Friday night, and let the record show that the four teams that have posted four shutouts in a single postseason went on to win the World Series. Conversely, Chicago will be attempting to become the first team to win a championship after being shut out four times in a single postseason. That may seem daunting, but don't tell that to the Cubs, who just 10 days ago were shut out by the Dodgers on back-to-back nights in Games 3 and 4 of the NLCS and then bounced back to score 23 runs in their next three games to win the series.
Kluber wasn't at his absolutely sharpest when he started Game 4 of the American League Championship Series -- one of only two games this postseason that the Indians lost -- on short rest for the first time in his career. But he worked around some early command woes to give the Indians five effective innings in which he allowed just two runs. Those are, in fact, the only two runs Kluber has given up in this postseason, as he's posted a 0.74 ERA in 24 1/3 innings over four starts.
"Last time was my first time, so I didn't know what to expect or how I was going to feel," Kluber said of pitching on three days' rest. "Now that I do know that I felt fine, it's just a matter of using those three days to recover. I'll be fine just go out there and pitch."
If Kluber pitches anything like he did in Game 1 of the World Series, he'll be in good position to potentially hand the ball to Andrew Miller with a lead. Miller, who threw just 17 pitches in Game 3 after throwing 46 in Game 1, will of course be available out of the Tribe's 'pen, which makes it all the more important that the Cubs get to Kluber early. Chicago knows that if it can win Game 4, the Series would head back to Cleveland for a Game 6. And because the Cubs' bats fared so well against Trevor Bauer in Game 2 and Bauer is scheduled to start on short rest in Game 5, they'd be in good position to go back to Progressive Field with a 3-2 lead.
It all starts with making the adjustment against Kluber, whose devastating action on his two-seamer was a difference-maker in Game 1.
"Any time Kluber's on the mound," Tribe pitching coach Mickey Callaway said, "we have a lot of confidence in him."
The Cubs feel much the same way about Lackey, who has a 3.26 ERA in 25 prior postseason appearances, including 22 starts. Lackey is one of the game's most fiery competitors, and his experience is an asset. The question is how much his extended rest -- he's made just two starts since Sept. 27 and will be on nine days' rest for this outing -- affects him. Lackey has been throwing more side sessions in an effort to stay fresh.
"It has been kind of a crazy schedule for me," Lackey said. "I feel like I'm pitching every two weeks. Once you get into the game, you kind of fall back on things you've been doing all season, and hopefully you execute."
The Cubs didn't execute offensively in Game 3, and that was a big bummer for the fans who had packed the stands and the streets in anticipation of the North Side's first World Series game since 1945. Perhaps the excitement of the occasion got the best of the Cubs.
"It's just one of those things," Maddon said. "We're capable of making the adjustments necessary, and we've got to do that moving forward. I don't think it was the residue of our guys being overwhelmed by the situation at all. I thought our guys -- evidenced by how well we played defense, we had great awareness on defense -- so the minds are working good. We just chased a little bit."
Tonight, the Cubs will be chasing a Series tie, while the Indians will be chasing a 3-1 edge that 69 teams in 81 tries have turned into a World Series title. So Game 4 is a big, big deal, and all eyes are upon the Cubs' ability to make adjustments against Kluber.
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10/29 8:05 PM - WORLD SERIES - GAME 4 - From Chicago, IL
903 Cleveland open -110 now consensus +120
904 Chi. Cubs open +102 now consensus -130 this line varies but the Cubbies are slight favorites tonight.
Total runs - 6½ OVER / UNDER so far the UNDER bets have looked good but Kluber is pitching on short rest again.
Pitchers: (CLE) Corey Kluber ® (CHC) John Lackey ®
TV: FOX
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ODDS TO WIN 2016 WORLD SERIES (11/2/16) (vegasinsider.com)
Team Odds
Cleveland Indians 10/13 <--- THE INDIANS NOW SLIGHT FAVORITES TO WIN IT!
Chicago Cubs 23/20
WORLD SERIES - EXACT RESULT (11/2/16)
Team Odds
Cubs 7 Games - Win 3/1
Indians 7 Games - Win 3/1 <--- DEAD EVEN ON IT GOING 7 GAMES
Indians 6 Games - Win 16/5
Cubs 6 Games - Win 7/2
Indians 5 Games - Win 5/1
WOULD HAVE BEEN SMART TO BET ON THE TRIBE EARLY?
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So the cubs are getting balls called strikes and the tribe is getting strikes called balls...
Was doing a little shopping yesterday when "Wild Thing" was played over the store's PA.... I took it as an omen...
Great game and another stomach churning win for the Tribe. Love it when the game zigs after all the talk is about how it will zag. Wrigley... wind blowing out hard... must be a slugfest. Oops...
Tomlin was awesome as was Miller, Shaw and Allen. But Terry was magnificent. Thought he got caught when he had to pull Miller for the PH, but Coco delivered and then, in turn, Shaw to escape the trap. And now Miller can go 2 innings today if needed.
Oddest part was how calm I felt in the bottom of the ninth... even when the winning run got to second. The punch out with the high heater for the final out should carry over to tonite's game. The stunned disbelief on the Cubs' faces was priceless. I think we jump ahead early today.
So the cubs are getting balls called strikes and the tribe is getting strikes called balls...
Yup... I think it was Al Leiter on MLB Network's postgame show that had PitchTrack stats. He reported that:
- of 11 balls that were called strikes, 8 of them favored the Cubs pitchers.
- of 10 strikes that were called balls, 8 of them favored Cubs batters.
GO TRIBE!
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top of 7 and it feels like the floodgates are about to open -1st and 3rd no out.....
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The Cubbies are rattled in Game 4! Any more Indians runs and this baby might be over.
GO BUCKEYES, BROWNS, INDIANS, CAVS, YSU, NAVY and yes I like ND! -
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How soon until the CUBBIES fans start leaving?
And Vince Vaughn is singing
.......Tonight, the Cubs will be chasing a Series tie, while the Indians will be chasing a 3-1 edge that 69 teams in 81 tries have turned into a World Series title. So Game 4 is a big, big deal, and all eyes are upon the Cubs' ability to make adjustments against Kluber.
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an aside - Joe Buck is heartbroken......
John Smoltz is terrific as analyst
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(carry on)
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