NOTHING DOING
Cubs come up empty in first Series game atWrigley since ’ 45
TheWorld Series finally returned to Wrigley Field on Friday, about 12 hours and a few hundreds of kegs behind the daylong celebration in the streets and establishments around the ballpark.
And, apparently, at least nine innings too early for the Cubs’ bats.
Whether it was the electric atmosphere surrounding the first Series game at Wrigley in 71 years — fans cramming every nook of the ballpark and every cranny at the corner of Clark and Addison— the Cubs were shut out for the fourth time this postseason.
Their 1- 0 loss to the Indians in Game 3 might have been the least likely of the four.
‘‘ All the things adding up were like negatives to it,’’ said first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who opened the ninth with a single to start a rally that fell 90 feet short of tying the score. ‘‘ Fly- ball pitcher, wind’s howling out [ to left], it’s October. So, of course, it’s a 1- 0 game with a broken bat to win it.’’
That was pinch hitter Coco Crisp’s one- out single to right in the seventh against rookie Carl Edwards Jr. that drove home Michael Martinez from third base.
‘‘ ‘ Cleveland against the world’ — that’s kind of been our motto,’’ said Crisp, who was reacquired by his original team in a trade with the Athletics over the summer. ‘‘ Coming here and seeing all the blue in the stands and all the [ Cubs] blue that was at our ballpark, you know the support for the Cubs is worldwide. You know what you’re dealing with coming into the game.’’
How could anybody within a half- mile not feel the emotions pouring forth for blocks in every direction from early in the morning through the final pitch of the night? The Cubs certainly did.
‘‘ We were so anxious to win this game thatwe tried to do too much,’’ rookie catcher Willson Contreras said. ‘‘ We were first- pitch swinging. We didn’t see a lot of pitches.
‘‘ We were trying to do too much to [ Indians starter Josh] Tomlin,
and he made the right pitch in the right spots.’’
Not every hitter in the Cubs’ clubhouse saw it as an issue of emotions in the moment or pressing. But many seemed surprised that they hit only one ball in the air to left field in 17 plate appearances against Tomlin, a fly- ball pitcher starting on a night anything squared up better than Kris Bryant’s high fly in the first would have left the park.’’
‘‘ When you hit the ball with that trajectory, it would have been a home run easy,’’ veteran Ben Zobrist said. ‘‘ But neither team did that.’’
Tomlin lasted two outs into the fifth before Indians manager Terry Francona lifted him for bullpen ace Andrew Miller. Pinch hitterMiguel Montero lined hard to right to end the inning.
‘‘ We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,’’ said Rizzo, whose team faces a 2- 1 series deficit for the second time in the postseason. ‘‘ We’ve been in this situation before — last series— and we’ve just got to come back and do what we do.’’
If the Cubs thought getting back to the Series for the first time in 71 years was tough, beating the Indians to win it has proved to be even harder. Their slow offensive start in Game 3 came three days after they were shut out by Indians ace Corey Kluber, Miller and Co. in the Series opener.
And next up is a second date Saturday with Kluber, the 2014 American League Cy Young Award winner, who will start on short rest. The Indians are looking at him for a potential Game 7 start, too.
‘‘ He’s coming off three days’ rest, so I’m just throwing it out there [ that] he’s not going to be as sharp as he was in the first game,’’ Rizzo said. ‘‘ I’m convincing myself even if he is.’’
The celebration outside the ballpark that began before the workday for non- revelers impressed even the front- office imports from Boston, who headed that city’s curse- busting championship 12 years ago.
‘‘ The biggest difference so far is that in Boston they had been to the World Series every 20 years or so,’’ Cubs president Theo Epstein said. ‘‘ And when we came back from 3- 0 [ down in the 2004 AL Championship Series] against the Yankees, that seemed like the pinnacle to a lot of people.’’
The Red Sox wound up sweeping the Cardinals in a Series that snapped an 86- year title drought but also seemed to many in Boston to be ‘‘ anticlimactic in some respects,’’ Epstein said.
‘‘ Here, just getting to the World Series has been this incredible triumph and celebration,’’ said Epstein, who found himself reminding fans and selfie- takers of the larger goal early in the day. ‘‘ Winning it is what we’re all focused on.’’