The Chicago Cubs have kept their season alive, but the Cleveland Indians are still one win away from clinching the 2016 World Series.
After the Cubs survived with a 3-2 victory in Game 5, Cleveland still holds a 3-2 lead and now gets to return home for the final two games (if the last one is even necessary). One good game, and the Indians can celebrate their second title for the city in the past few months.
Still, Chicago has been in rough spots before, and the team has the talent to keep things interesting heading into the final two games of the series.
World Series Game 6
When: Tuesday, Nov. 1
Where: Progressive Field, Cleveland, Ohio
Time: 8 p.m. ET
TV: Fox
Moneyline (via Odds Shark): Cubs (-140), Indians (+125)
Preview
Considering how much talent is in each of these lineups, neither offense has been especially impressive in this series.
While Cleveland is winning games, the squad is hitting just .236 in the series and .212 in the postseason overall. Francisco Lindor (8-for-19 this round) has been excellent, but the rest of the team has lacked the consistency you want from players of this ability.
Middle-of-the-order hitters Carlos Santana and Mike Napoli have only one RBI between them.
There simply hasn’t been much talk about the Indians offense because the Cubs have been much more disappointing. The unit has only produced 10 runs in five games, a far cry from the five runs per game this team averaged in the regular season.
With just two home runs in this stretch, there is clearly a lot of room for improvement.
On the other hand, even the Indians are aware of the team’s ability to get hot at any moment.
“You don’t want to give lineups like that momentum, or teams to start feeling good about themselves,” second baseman Jason Kipnis said after Game 5, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. “So the best thing to do is kind of put them away before they can do that.”
This puts the pressure on Game 6 starter Josh Tomlin, who is pitching on short rest but should be fine after throwing just 4.2 innings (58 pitches) in his last start.
While the 32-year-old veteran had an up-and-down season, he has been solid in the playoffs with a 1.76 ERA in three starts. Buster Olney of ESPN noted that a tweak that led to a lot of success:
Tomlin allowed only three baserunners and zero runs in his first start against the Cubs. However, the familiarity going into the second start will be an advantage for the hitters, especially with a little more confidence from the recent win.
Chicago’s lineup won’t explode, but the team should be able to get a few runs across the plate before the bullpen comes in to make a difference.
Meanwhile, Jake Arrieta gets a chance to lead the Cubs to victory for the second time this series after winning Game 2. The reigning Cy Young award winner had one bad start against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series but bounced back well with a no-hit bid into the sixth inning his last time out.
The only catch is that Chicago will need him to pitch deep into the game after Aroldis Chapman went 2.2 innings in Game 5. This shouldn’t be a problem, though, with Arrieta‘s talent and the prospect of using the rest of the offseason to recover.
As long as the offense can provide a little breathing room, the starter can do the rest and help force a Game 7.
Prediction: Cubs 3, Indians 1
Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com