The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Cubs expose Indians’ weakness
relief pitcher Andrew Miller was talking about the trouble he had working out of a jam of his own making in the World Series opener Oct. 25 when he remarked: “No one said it was going to be easy.”
Miller got out of the seventh inning unscathed after loading the bases with none out to preserve Corey Kluber’s three-run lead in a game that turned into a 6-0 rout. There was no saving the Indians in Game 2.
On a night when the Indians’ bats were colder than the air whipping around Progressive Field for five innings, the Cubs evened the series at a game apiece by trouncing the Tribe, 5-1 on Oct. 26 at Progressive
Field.
It was a deflating loss after the way the Indians dominated the Cubs in Game 1. It was deflating not just because the Indians lost; it exposed the biggest contrast between the Indians and the National League champions — the depth of the starting pitching.
Miller’s “No one said it was going to be easy,” is a message to anyone who thought the Tribe was going to roll the Cubs just because the Indians looked invincible in Game 1.
Cubs Game 2 starter Jake Arrieta walked Francisco Lindor and Mike Napoli with two out in the bottom of the first, and that was as close as the Indians came to scoring before the Cubs built a 5-0 lead through five innings. Arrieta did not allow a hit until Jason Kipnis doubled to right with one out in the sixth inning. Kipnis scored on a wild pitch.
Arrieta, an 18-game winner in the regular season, dominated the Indians the way Kluber mastered the Cubs in Game 1.
Indians starter Trevor Bauer was shaky from the start. He allowed two of the Chicago runs, but he was pulled with two out in the fourth inning after throwing 87 pitches. The Cubs seemed locked in on him from the start.
The Cubs won 103 games in the regular season. Their starting pitching is superior to that of the Indians when Kluber isn’t pitching. The Blue Jays had better starters in the ALCS, but the Indians prevailed with just enough hitting to take the series in five games.
Kyle Hendricks is scheduled to start Game 3 against Josh Tomlin. He is 1-1 in three postseason starts, all at Wrigley Field, with a 1.65 ERA. He was 16-8 in the regular season.
John Lackey, 11-8 in the regular season, is scheduled to pitch Game 4 for the Cubs on Oct. 29. Lackey has been banged around in the playoffs. He made two starts and gave up five runs and 10 hits in eight innings.
The Indians’ strength throughout the playoffs has been the back end of the bullpen, but Miller and Cody Allen are neutralized when the Tribe is behind.
Kluber will get three starts if the World Series goes seven games, but to get to that winner-take-all game Nov. 2 at Progressive Field, one of the other starters has to be at his best. It better be Tomlin in Game 3.
Contact Schudel at jschudel@news-herald. com; @jsproinsider on Twitter.