The 2016 World Series is down to its final two games with both teams believing they can win their first title in decades.
While the Cleveland Indians still hold a 3-2 advantage, the Chicago Cubs have a newfound confidence after surviving with a Game 5 win. Even with their struggles offensively, this is still a squad that won 103 games during the regular season.
On the other hand, the Indians get to return home with the opportunity to win in front of their home fans.
Here is what you need to know heading into the final few games of the World Series.
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Preview
As it often is in baseball, one of the biggest stories for the final two games of the series is the pitching matchup.
The Cubs will send Jake Arrieta to the mound for Game 6, and if they win, Kyle Hendricks will get the start in Game 7. It’s hard to imagine better options for the No. 2 and No. 3 positions in the rotation.
Arrieta is the reigning Cy Young award winner, and even in a down year still had a 3.10 ERA this season. He is also coming off a strong start in Game 2, where he allowed one run in 5.2 innings. Hendricks has been even better with a 2.13 ERA during the season and a 1.31 ERA in the playoffs.
The two pitchers have combined to allow one run in 10 innings during the World Series.
Before Cubs fans start celebrating, however, it’s important to note the team has just a 3-4 record in games started by this tandem in the postseason. Even if these pitchers perform to their ability, the offense needs to live up to its end of the bargain.
Brad Evans of Yahoo Sports provided this analysis after Game 4:
The offense came alive for a brief moment in Game 5, using a three-run third inning to secure a win. However, these were the only runs of the game. Chicago has only 10 runs in five games, half of them against Trevor Bauer, who they are unlikely to see again in the series.
Instead, Cleveland will use Josh Tomlin and Corey Kluber for Game 6 and 7 (if necessary), two pitchers who have had a lot of success so far this postseason.
While both are going to pitch on short rest, Tomlin only threw 4.2 innings in his last start and 58 total pitches. Kluber was limited to only 81 pitches in Game 4 and 88 pitches in Game 1. Both should be able to come in with maximum effort, especially considering they have all offseason to rest up afterwards.
Considering the bullpen has only allowed three earned runs in 19.2 innings this series, there should be plenty of confidence in the pitching staff for Cleveland.
This once again puts the pressure on the Cubs offense to wake up. The talent is there, with MVP favorite Kris Bryant as well as Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez and plenty more. Unfortunately, Ben Zobrist is the only one consistently producing in this round. Outside of Zobrist, the Cubs are hitting .189 as a team in the World Series.
Despite the struggles, there is still plenty of confidence in the clubhouse heading into the final two games.
“We’re making history,” Addison Russell said, per Jayson Stark of ESPN. “So why stop? This is entertaining to us. It’s fun. And we live for this. We see a lot of challenges ahead of us, and we embrace them.”
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