SUFFERING CAN END TONIGHT!
Cubs force 7, one win from halting 108-year drought
CLEVELAND – Are there two better words in sports than Game 7?
The Cubs did their part to push the World Series to the limit, slugging their way to a 9-3 win over the Indians in Game 6 Tuesday night to set up a winner-take-all contest Wednesday at Progressive Field.
“I think if you’re a fan of baseball, this is the best outcome you could possibly hope for in a World Series anyone has been alive for,” said Anthony Rizzo, who had three hits including a cherry-on-top, tworun shot in the ninth. “The Indians not winning since ’48 and us since 1908, it’s going to be good. History is going to be written tomorrow one way or another.”
Addison Russell hit a grand slam and tied a World Series record with six RBI, helping the Cubs jump out to a seven-run lead by the third inning. Kris Bryant went 4-for-5 with a home run as the Cubs out-hit the Indians, 13-6.
Jake Arrieta threw 5.2 innings of tworun ball to earn his second win of the series, while Aroldis Chapman got four huge outs in the seventh and eighth to keep the Tribe from any thoughts of a comeback.
That sets up a Game 7 showdown Wednesday night between former AL Cy Young winner Corey Kluber, who will be pitching on short rest for the second time in the series, and Kyle Hendricks, who led the NL in ERA this season.
“This is the ultimate dream,” Hendricks said. “You dream of getting to the World Series, winning the World Series. When you’re out in your backyard as a kid, playing Little League at the field with your friends, this is the moment you dream about, Game 7, 3-2, two outs, something like that, bottom of the ninth. But it’s always Game 7 of the World Series.”
A Cubs win in Game 7 would make them only the fourth team in history and the first since the 1979 Pirates to come back from a 3-1 deficit by winning the final two games on the road. Overall, nine of the last 11 teams to lose Game 6 while leading the series 3-2 have gone on to lose Game 7.
“Anybody who plays this game grows up dreaming of winning a World Series,” Bryant said. “We get to play in a Game 7 tomorrow; that’s pretty special. So we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves. When we were down 3-1, it was take it a game at a time and try to get to Game 7. Tomorrow we’re going to be there, and it’s nice to kind of build off of these last two games with momentum.”
The Cubs jumped on Indians righthander Josh Tomlin early and often, starting with a two-out, two-strike hanging curveball that Bryant drilled 433 feet to left field.
Rizzo and Ben Zobrist followed with singles, then Russell hit what appeared to be a routine fly to right-center. But Tyler Naquin and Lonnie Chisenhall got crossed up while going for the ball, which dropped between them, allowing both baserunners to score, though not before Zobrist collided hard with catcher Roberto Perez at the plate.
“Lonnie went hard after it, as he should,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “But it’s Naquin’s ball.”
Two innings later, the Cubs loaded the bases with one out on a Kyle Schwarber walk and singles by Rizzo and Zobrist. Francona lifted Tomlin for righty Dan Otero, ending the starter’s night after only 2.1 innings.
Three pitches later, Russell drilled a grand slam to center field – the first ever hit by a Cubs player in the World Series – to boost the lead to seven, effectively taking any drama out of this elimination game.
“Any person playing this game that’s 22 years old probably has some nerves going into a postseason that really matters to us,” Bryant said of Russell. “But he got those out early. Now it’s solid at-bat after solid at-bat, and he’s kind of been the catalyst for us. Tonight he certainly was.”
Cleveland’s Mike Napoli singled in a run in the fourth to put Cleveland on the board, then Arrieta hit Chisenhall and walked Coco Crisp with two out, loading the bases.
The home crowd began to buzz for the first time since the opening inning, but Arrieta struck out Naquin to strand all three runners, leaving the Tribe with a six-run deficit.
Arrieta gave up a solo shot to Kipnis in the fifth that cut the lead to 7-2, but the righthander pitched into the sixth before handing the lead to the bullpen. “Jake was really good,” Maddon said. The Indians put two runners on against Mike Montgomery with two out in the seventh, prompting Maddon to bring in Chapman to clean up the mess. Chapman got the next four outs, helping set up what promises to be a memorable night in Cleveland on Wednesday.
“It is storybook,” catcher David Ross said. “They’ll make movies about this one day.”