After a brilliant season that saw them dominate the National League in the regular season, the Chicago Cubs are one loss away from elimination as they prepare for Game 5 of the World Series Sunday night.
The American League champion Cleveland Indians have jumped out to a 3-1 lead after winning back-to-back games at Wrigley Field. Cleveland won a nail-biting 1-0 game in Game 3 Friday night and then had a big offensive outing in a 7-2 victory in Game 4. Carlos Santana and Jason Kipnis bashed home runs to lead the Cleveland attack.
While the Cubs are up against it right now, they are sending ace left-hander Jon Lester to the mound against Cleveland’s Trevor Bauer. Lester was not at his best in Game 1 of the series against Cleveland ace Corey Kluber. Meanwhile, in Game 2, the Cubs touched up Bauer, who was tagged with the loss.
If the Cubs can find a way to win Game 5 and send the World Series back to Cleveland, it could be significant. While they would still have to win two games in enemy territory to win their first world championship since 1908, they would get slugger Kyle Schwarber back in the lineup.
Schwarber had three hits in the first two World Series games as the designated hitter, but he has not been cleared to play defensively as a result of the torn knee ligaments he suffered in April.
Schwarber‘s approach at the plate has been polished and powerful. Unlike many of the Cubs hitters, he does not swing at bad pitches, and when he gets the pitch he likes, he is capable of doing damage. His Game 1 double just missed going out of the park, while both of his Game 2 singles drove in runs.
Since Schwarber has not been cleared to play the field, he can only be used as a pinch hitter in Chicago. Cubs manager Joe Maddon told ESPN.com’s Bradford Doolittle the ideal situation is to use him against Cleveland reliever Bryan Shaw.
“Right there the better matchup, according to our work, is even Shaw over (Cody) Allen, and I just wanted to get him out there,” Maddon said. “There were no guarantees that we’re going to get to the bottom part of the batting order.”
The Indians never know what to expect from Bauer. He won 12 games in the regular season, but he has a 5.00 ERA in nine postseason innings.
“We expect a Trevor start,” Kipnis told the Associated Press’ Tom Withers. “We’re not sure what that means, but we expect Trevor to go out there. He’s a competitor. Don’t let him fool you. He’s a guy who competes and never makes a moment too big. Whether he has it or not, it isn’t because the situation’s too big.”
On the other hand, the Cubs have confidence in Lester to give them a strong start, as evidenced by Kris Bryant’s remarks.
“Jon is going to give us a good game,” Bryant told Doolittle. “He’s our ace for a reason.”
Maddon is tired of watching his team flail away at the plate against Cleveland’s bullpen.
“We’ve just got to grab a lead,” Maddon told Doolittle. “We’ve got to grab a lead [before] the latter part of the game and avoid those [bullpen] guys with either being tied or them having a lead. That’s what we have to do.”
If the Cubs can do that, they should have an excellent chance of sending the World Series back to Cleveland for Game 6 Tuesday night.
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