The song remains the same for the Cleveland Indians in the 2016 World Series, as they used outstanding pitching and timely hitting to secure a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs and a 2-1 series lead.
Cleveland also set a new Major League Baseball record in the process, per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian:
Despite the wind blowing out at Wrigley, offense was nearly impossible to come by for both teams. The Indians had ample scoring opportunities against Kyle Hendricks, putting their leadoff hitter on three times in the first five innings, but were undone by two double plays.
Hendricks was pulled with one out in the fifth inning and the bases loaded. Francisco Lindor, who was 2-for-2 at that point, grounded into an inning-ending double play to preserve the scoreless tie.
Per ESPN Stats & Info, the Indians were able to avoid double plays throughout the postseason before Friday:
On the Cubs side, they didn’t create scoring opportunities against Cleveland starter Josh Tomlin. They mustered just two hits and one walk on the right-hander in 4.2 innings.
This was Tomlin’s third postseason start, and he’s only allowed nine hits and three runs in 15.1 innings. There were big questions about Cleveland’s starting depth behind Corey Kluber when the playoffs began, but Tomlin has given manager Terry Francona exactly what he’s needed.
Per CBS Sports’ Jonah Keri, Tomlin’s success was dictated by his ability to mostly avoid the middle part of the plate:
Tomlin was pulled before the fifth inning was completed because the Cubs got Jorge Soler to second base. Andrew Miller was brought in to keep the game scoreless, which he was able to do when Miguel Montero lined out to right field.
The Indians finally broke through in the top of the seventh inning when Coco Crisp delivered a pinch-hit RBI single that scored Michael Martinez for a 1-0 lead.
Per Baseball Reference, Crisp became just the fourth player in the last 16 years to record a pinch-hit go-ahead RBI:
However, the downside for that was Cleveland had to remove Miller after he threw just 17 pitches and struck out the side in the bottom half of the sixth to make it happen.
In case you were wondering, ESPN’s Buster Olney tweeted out the still-ridiculous numbers for Miller this postseason:
Cody Allen was still lurking in the ‘pen, but Francona went with Bryan Shaw in the seventh inning.
The Cubs were given a gift with two outs when Cleveland right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall misplayed a ball off the bat of Jorge Soler that was scored as a triple. But Javier Baez grounded out to end the threat.
Shaw recorded five outs before a two-out single in the eighth inning by Dexter Fowler sent Francona to the mound for Allen to record the last four outs.
There was plenty of drama in the bottom of the ninth inning against Allen. Anthony Rizzo led off with a single and was lifted for pinch-runner Chris Coghlan. Ben Zobrist struck out and Willson Contreras grounded out, leaving Jason Heyward with a shot at redemption for his forgettable debut season in Chicago.
Heyward did reach base after Cleveland first baseman Mike Napoli was charged with an error trying to corral a difficult hop, leaving runners on first and third for Baez. Allen got Chicago’s young star to chase a high fastball for strike three to end the game.
The Cubs bats have been silenced through three games in this series, even factoring in their five-run output in Game 2, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Bleacher Report’s Danny Knobler noted the Cubs also tied a 111-year-old record with their loss on Friday:
Even though the Cubs playing their first World Series game at Wrigley in 71 years was the dominant story before first pitch, Cleveland’s continued excellence on the mound remains the biggest story of the postseason.
Joe Posnanski of NBC Sports is marveling at what the Indians have done given the competition they have faced:
That pitching has been necessary because Cleveland’s offense has scored a total of 35 runs in 11 playoff games.
This game couldn’t have worked out better for Francona heading into Game 4. Corey Kluber, who threw just 88 pitches in six shutout innings in Game 1, will start. Miller will likely have no restrictions after throwing fewer than 20 pitches on Friday after not pitching the previous two days.
The Cubs will counter with John Lackey, who has given up five runs in eight innings this postseason. It’s the only game of the series in which Cleveland will have a decided advantage in the pitching matchup, which makes Friday’s win even more crucial for the American League champions.
The Cubs were just in this position during the National League Championship Series and proceeded to rattle off three consecutive wins, starting with a 10-2 victory in Game 4 when Lackey started.
In other words, this series remains far from over.
Postgame Reaction
The Indians were in unfamiliar territory playing in a National League park, which led to Francona navigating his bench with multiple double-switches that left him little wiggle room in the event the game would have gone to extra innings.
Francona was aware of the situation he put his team in with all of the moves made during the game.
“We needed to win that game in 9 [innings],” Francona said after the win, per Nick Camino of WTAM 1100.
Cleveland pitching coach Mickey Callaway offered high praise for the work being done by Francona in this postseason.
“He almost used some guys tonight that weren’t on the roster,” Callaway said, per Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. “There’s no better manager than him.”
Tomlin, who once again continues to defy all expectations this October, said there was no magic formula for holding the Cubs at bay in Game 3.
“Just kind of knowing what the game plan was going in, and just trying to execute,” Tomlin said, per Bastian and Carrie Muskat of MLB.com. “You leave the ball over the heart of the plate with those guys, they can put up a crooked number in a hurry. So it was about trying to execute pitches and keep them off balance as much as I could.”
Cubs manager Joe Maddon did have some criticism for the way his offense went about attacking Cleveland’s pitching.
“I thought it was a well-played game,” Maddon said, per Bastian and Muskat of MLB.com. “I thought we played great defense again tonight. We were just out of the zone way too often. We’ve got to get our strike zones organized offensively, and if we do, we’ll be fine.”
In their Game 2 win, the Cubs were able to work eight walks against Indians pitchers to go along with nine hits. They had just one walk Friday.
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