Last night the Chicago Cubs lost a 1-0 heartbreaker against the Indians at Wrigley Field, but today they live to fight again.
A win tonight would even the series, and make it a best of three with home field advantage shifting back to Cleveland – I can live with that.
Taking the ball for the Cubs tonight is the veteran right-hander John Lackey. Lackey is exactly the type of guy you like in big, anxiety-riddled games, because – despite his obvious emotions – he’s not one to allow the moment get to him.
That said, he hasn’t had the best of luck this October, so far. In his first two starts, NLDS and NLCS Game 4, Lackey failed to go further than 4.0 innings, allowing 3 and 2 earned runs a piece, before getting yanked. That said, Joe Maddon has had him on an extremely short leash – something Lackey has clearly noticed – with a full bullpen and no working out of it to be had. You can bet he’ll be trying his best to last deep into this one.
Opposing Lackey for the Indians is Game 1 starter, Corey Kluber. Kluber dominated the Cubs lineup in Game 1, allowing no earned runs on just four scattered hits and no walks in 6.0 innings pitched; he struck out 9. But, before that game started, I took a look at Kluber’s season, wondering when the inning total would finally catch up to him, perhaps now, on short rest, he’ll look a bit more hittable.
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Game Info
Cleveland Indians at Chicago Cubs (Series Tied 1-1) – 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: John Lackey (R): 3.35 ERA, 3.81 FIP, 3.80 xFIP; 3.40 K/BB
versus
Indians: Corey Kluber (R): 3.14 ERA, 3.26 FIP, 3.50 xFIP; 3.98 K/BB
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Cleveland Indians:
- Rajai Davis, LF
- Jason Kipnis, 2B
- Francisco Lindor, SS
- Carlos Santana, 1B
- Jose Ramirez, 3B
- Lonnie Chisenhall, RF
- Roberto Perez, C
- Tyler Naquin, CF
- Corey Kluber, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Dexter Fowler, CF
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Ben Zobrist, LF
- Willson Contreras, C
- Addison Russell, SS
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Javy Baez, 2B
- John Lackey, P