INDIANS MOVE ONE STEP CLOSER TO SERIES CROWN
But task isn’t done yet, says Cleveland pitcher Kluber as his team take a dominant 3-1 lead against the faltering Chicago Cubs at Wrigley
One more win and baseball fans everywhere might finally believe in these Cleveland Indians.
That’s all it will take for Corey Kluber & Co to clinch this World Series.
Kluber pitched six sparkling innings on short rest for his second victory this week and the Indians beat the Chicago Cubs 7-2, taking a 3-1 lead and nearing their first championship since 1948.
Jason Kipnis hit a three-run homer in his hometown and Carlos Santana connected for the first of his three hits as manager Terry Francona’s team won for the second straight day at Wrigley Field.
Trevor Bauer gets the ball this morning (Hong Kong time) when the visiting Indians try for the franchise’s third World Series title against Jon Lester and the faltering Cubs.
“I think we like the position we’re in, but the task isn’t done yet,” Kluber said. “We still have one more game to win, and we’re going to show up tomorrow and play with the same sense of urgency we’ve played with until this point. We don’t want to let them build up any momentum and let them get back in the series.”
Still, not bad for a team who seemed like underdogs all year long.
The Indians topped the defending champions Royals and star-studded Tigers for the AL Central title, then came the postseason. No one thought they would beat Big Papi and Boston, outslug Toronto or ever end their drought before the charmed Cubs, who led the majors with 103 wins.
Well, look who is on the brink of hoisting the hardware.
“We’ve got one more to get and it’s probably going to be the hardest victory of the year, but this is a special night for me and this team to take the first two here,” said Kipnis, who grew up a Cubs fan on the north side of Chicago.
Kipnis had three hits and scored two runs as Cleveland moved to 10-2 in this postseason. Francisco Lindor contributed an RBI single, helping Francona improve to 11-1 in the World Series.
The Indians now will try to bring another crown to Cleveland, adding to the one LeBron James and the Cavaliers earned earlier this year.
“We have a ways to go. We’re not done,” Francona said.
Dexter Fowler doubled and scored in the first for the Cubs, and then homered against Andrew Miller in the eighth.
Fowler’s drive to left-centre was the first homer for Chicago in the World Series since Phil Cavaretta connected in game one in the 1945 series and the first run allowed by Miller during his dominant postseason.
In between Fowler’s two hits, the Cubs came up empty every time they had a chance to put any pressure on Cleveland.
“So we made mistakes. Absolutely, we made mistakes tonight,” manager Joe Maddon said. “That was part of it. But then again, we just have to do more offensively to give ourselves a chance.”
The Indians won for the second straight day at Wrigley – those two wins matched the Cubs’ entire total of World Series victories in more than a century of playing at their famed ballpark.
“They’re obviously doing something right, taking advantage of our mistakes and my mistakes,” Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant said.
Kluber allowed five hits, struck out six and walked one. The steady, stoic right-hander, who struck out nine in a dominant performance in Game One, improved to 4-1 with a 0.89 ERA in five play-off starts this year.