The Chicago Cubs were flat as could be in Game 1 of the World Series, but the National League champions struck back with a statement in Game 2, tying up the Fall Classic with a convincing 5-1 win over the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday.
And now that both sides have a victory under their belt, the scene will shift to Wrigley Field as the Cubs seek to protect home field and inch closer to their first world championship since 1908.
But before breaking down how viable a Cubs lead will be with Game 3 on Friday fast approaching, here’s a rundown of when and where you can catch all of the action.
Preview and Prediction
Fresh off a postseason pitching performance for the ages, Kyle Hendricks will return to the mound Friday night and try to replicate the effort that allowed the Cubs to clinch the pennant in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series versus the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In the win, Hendricks tossed 7.1 innings of two-hit ball to give the Cubs all the cushion they needed to set up a showdown with the Indians.
And if his performance during the playoffs has been any indication, he’ll keep things rolling along Friday night.
The MLB ERA leader has made three home starts in the 2016 playoffs, allowing a meager nine hits and three earned runs in 16.1 innings en route to posting a 1.65 ERA.
Cleveland will counter with Josh Tomlin, who is 2-0 with a 2.53 ERA to this point in the postseason. And considering it’s been 13 days since he last pitched, the righty should have plenty of juice at his disposal against Chicago’s power-packed lineup.
Based on Tomlin’s approach against the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox, MLB.com’s Mike Petriello noted the 32-year-old will likely lean on his curveball to keep the Cubs off balance.
“The only two times in Tomlin’s career that he’s thrown the curve more than 30 percent of the time came in his two 2016 postseason starts—his two most recent starts—against powerful Boston and Toronto lineups,” Petriello wrote.
Furthermore, Petriello emphasized just how much Chicago struggled against breaking pitches this year: “The Cubs have just a .201 average (the eighth-lowest) on curves, and if you’re now rightfully thinking that you only worry about exit velocity and average when contact is made, well, Chicago had a 32.1 percent contact rate when swinging at curves—which is the lowest in the majors.”
Those numbers should scare Chicago, but if manager Joe Maddon’s club employs the same disciplined strategy against Tomlin that allowed the Cubs to solve Clayton Kershaw in Game 6 of the NLCS, the NL champs could be in good shape.
Factor in that the Cubs will have a raucous home crowd behind them, and they should be feeling good about their chances of taking a 2-1 series lead.
“They’re probably just as excited if not more excited than we are to see that game played there,” Ben Zobrist said of the Wrigley faithful, according to the New York Times‘ James Wagner. “It’s been a long time, and they’ve been waiting patiently. They deserve to have these games played there at a Wrigley.”
Prediction: Cubs defeat Indians 4-2 in Game 3.
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