Indians to use top three starters on three days’ rest

Barring injury, rotation is Kluber, Bauer and Tomlin.

Terry Francona’s message to Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin: You can get all the rest you need over the winter.

The Cleveland Indians manager announced Wednesday he plans to use his top three starters on three days’ rest for the duration of World Series.

Kluber, who dominated the Chicago Cubs in a 6-0 victory in Game 1, will start Game 4 on Saturday at Wrigley Field. Barring any set- back, Bauer and Tomlin will go in Games 5 and 6, if nec- essary, with Kluber potentially available for Game 7.

“We tried to look at our team and how we best set up, and what’s in our best interest to win four games before the Cubs do, and that’s how we came to this conclu- sion,” Francona said.

Francona admitted that was the plan all along when he pulled Kluber in the top of the seventh on Tuesday night after watching his ace baffle the Cubs on 88 pitches.

“He’s all set to pitch (Game 4),” Francona said. “That was probably Plan A.”

Kluber’s already has come back on three days’ rest once during the playoffs. He shut down Toronto in Game 1 of the ALCS while throwing 100 pitches over 61/3 innings and returned to the mound for Game 4, allowing two runs in five innings of what is still Cleveland’s only loss of the postseason.

Commissioner behind move: Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred antic- ipated the Cubs and Indi- ans had about four hours to get in Game 2 of the World Series before bad weather hit Cleveland, so he set in motion the plan to move first pitch up an hour to 7:08 p.m. ET.

“The additional hour, as a result of moving up the game time, should be helpful,” he said before Game 2. “It looks like rain that could be prob- lematic will be 11 o’clockish.

“Once we knew we had that flexibility from our broadcast partner, we spoke to both teams. Everybody thought given what the forecast looked like then, and in fact, still looks like tonight, that it was best to go with 7:08.”

TV ratings: Cleveland’s 6-0 win over the Cubs on Tuesday night drew an 11.9 rating and a 19 share on Fox, averaging 19.4 million viewers. It was the highest rating on Fox for a World Series opener since 2009, when Philadelphia’s victory over the Yankees averaged 19.5 million.

Cleveland police: After the hometown Indians blanked the Cubs 6-0 on Tuesday night, the Cleve- land Police Department hit the Cubs and their fans hard with this tweet: “Missing persons report filed for (at) Cubs offense. (hash)RallyTogether (hash)gooseegg (hash)GoTribe (at)Indians.”

Chicago’s men in blue countered with this post: “Shake it off! Tomorrow is game 2! (at)Cubs CPD supports you! (hash)FlyTheW.”

Marlins: A search warrant affidavit says the bod- ies of pitcher Jose Fernan- dez and two of his friends had a strong odor of alcohol on them when they were recovered by divers following a boat crash off Miami Beach on Sept. 25.

Athle t ics: Oakland claimed left-hander Giovanni Soto off waivers from the Cubs. Soto was designated for assignment Saturday to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Kyle Schwarber. rebounds and Gregg Popo- vich thoroughly outdid a couple of his close friends on the opposite bench — reigning NBA Coach of the Year Steve Kerr and top assistant Mike Brown.

Yes, San Antonio sent quite a message to the West.

Curry, last season’s first unanimous MVP, scored 26 points but was just 3 for 10 from 3-point range. Dray- mond Green had 18 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, while Klay Thompson was limited to 11 points on 5-of- 13 shooting.

The star-studded Warriors were sloppy, commit- ting 16 turnovers. They are clearly still finding them- selves, just as Kerr expected — though maybe not quite like this while playing at home for the sellout crowd at Oracle Arena, where most fans were long gone by the final buzzer.

San Antonio exhibited smooth, crisp ball movement and looked polished in a game that had a playoff feel on Day 1.

Two-time Def e nsive Player of the Year Leon- ard shot 10 for 21 and made all 15 of his free throws.

Jonathon Simmons came off the bench to score 20 points, including a 3 to beat the halftime buzzer for a 64-46 advantage. His status had been in doubt for the opener because of a calf injury.

Green dunked off a pass from Curry early in the third to get Golden State within 10, only to pound his chest and yell before being hit with a technical.

The Warriors had flurries of greatness trying to get back in it.

San Antonio answered each time — l ike when Golden State pulled within 50-42 in the second quarter before the Spurs closed the half on a 14-4 run.

The Warriors trailed by 18 in the second quarter, were outrebounded 30-17 in the first half and shot 4 for 19 from 3-point range in the first two quarters.

Durant made a 14-footer 65 seconds into the game and hit his first four shots. After one impressive sequence, he raised his right hand in the air, then smacked himself on the backside after making a 3-pointer just 25 seconds after his fadeaway jumper midway through the first.

But he didn’t have much help early.

San Antonio led 31-20 after the first, when the Warriors shot 7 for 20 with four baskets by Durant. Golden State’s other players were 3 for 15, and the Warriors got outrebounded 17-9.

Durant’s former team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, defeated the Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals.

These rivals faced off in the season opener for the fourth time and first since 2002.