It’s here. The World Series is here. And we’re going to have a Pre-Gamin’ post and a game thread for a World Series game like it’s any other day. This is wild, man.
The Cubs begin the final stage in their quest for a World Series crown, their first since 1908. The Indians are a formidable opponent, though, and that will be especially apparent tonight, when ace Corey Kluber takes the mound.
Kluber, 30, was a late-blooming ace, not unlike Jake Arrieta, and he has several plus pitches, mixes them well, and generally holds down all comers. Still, the Cubs would love to score a few off of Kluber, because Andrew Miller looms, waiting to gobble up 2+ innings of probably-scoreless work.
Jason Kipnis apparently has a very jacked-up ankle, but is starting. If those pictures are legit, and he plays well, that dude deserves a serious head nod of respect.
Jon Lester starts things off for the Cubs, as he did in the NLDS and NLCS before. In those series openers, he didn’t let the opponent do diddly-poo, so hopefully he’s gonna have that going for him again tonight. We’ll see if the Indians “run wild” on him, or whatever latest thing a team is saying about Lester.
Kyle Schwarber is back, batting in the middle of the order as DH, and boy is that going to an unbelievably highly-anticipated first at bat. Here’s hoping it comes with a couple on in the first inning.
It’s a baseball game. It’s not “only” a baseball game, but it is fundamentally the same thing we’ve been watching all year. Good luck, my friends.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs at Cleveland Indians (Series tied 0-0) – 7:00 pm CT on FOX, 670 The Score, ESPN Radio
Game Thread and Series Preview
Your game thread is down in the comments, so let’s have some good, clean (safe-for-work) fun.
The Series Preview lives here. The Lineup Discussion lives here.
Starting Pitchers
Cubs: Jon Lester (L): 2.44 ERA, 3.41 FIP, 3.47 xFIP; 3.79 K/BB
versus
Indians: Corey Kluber (R): 3.14 ERA, 3.26 FIP, 3.50 xFIP; 3.98 K/BB
Cleveland Indians:
- Rajai Davis, CF
- Jason Kipnis, 2B
- Francisco Lindor, SS
- Mike Napoli, 1B
- Carlos Santana, DH
- Jose Ramirez, 3B
- Brandon Guyer, LF
- Lonnie Chisenhall, RF
- Roberto Perez, C
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Dexter Fowler, CF
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Ben Zobrist, LF
- Kyle Schwarber, DH
- Javy Baez, 2B
- Chris Coghlan, RF
- Addison Russell, SS
- David Ross, C