Indians vs. Cubs, 3-to-2
GAME 1: Indians 6-0
GAME 2: Cubs 5-1
GAME 3: Indians 1-0
GAME 4: Indians 7-2
GAME 5: Cubs 3-2
GAME 6: Tuesday, in Cleveland at 8 PM EDT on FOX
Teams down 3-1 that rallied to win the World Series follow: the 1925 Pirates, 1958 Yankees, 1968 Tigers and 1979 Pirates. The Cubs are trying to join that list of course having 18 different runs this season of at least three consecutive wins. Remove the Pirates of 1925 if you want to talk about a club coming back from a 3-1 deficit having to win the final two on the road. The Cubs did come back from down 2-1 to the Dodgers in the NLCS.
The previous 64 times the World Series was 3-2 the team with the lead has won the Series in Game 6 on 25 occasions (39.1 percent of the time). It’s also happened 7-of-12 times of late.
The Cubs went 71 years and 22 days between wins at Wrigley Field: October 8th, 1945 to October 30th, 2016.
The Cubs have scored just five runs the last three games.
The Indians bullpen has a 1.56 ERA over 52 innings this postseason. That’s some serious, serious pitching.
Some quick clips of some of the key plays of Game 5.
Javier Baez sure can play defense. "He's pretty legit, man," said Francisco Lindor, when asked about Baez's tag. "Watching him do it all the times on the screen during the game, it's pretty cool watching him, how quick he can get that to the player. He got me. It's the second time he got to me." Baez has had some big hits this postseason, but he’s also struck out 17 times with just two walks in 15 outings. Still, his .271 batting average leads the team for a player with at least 10 at-bats.
Trevor Bauer was at it again. That means he was alternatively dominate and sucked eggs. At least his finger wasn’t an issue. "I executed pitches, tried to stick to the game plan," Bauer said after striking out five of the first 10 batters he faced. "They hit some pitches, and I got unlucky." In the end the results were three runs allowed over 4.0 innings as he allowed six hits, didn’t walk a batter and struck out seven.
Kris Bryant entered Game 5 with one hit in 14 at-bats. He became the first third baseman in Cubs history to homer in the Series. He stole a base as well to become the third player, 24 years of age or younger, to have a homer and steal in the same game. Some fella named Mickey Mantle (1956, Game 4) was one of the others along with Jose Canseco (1998, Game 1).
Aroldis Chapman was thrown 100-mph heat in Game 5. He threw 19 pitches at 100 mph, an all-time playoff record. He recorded eight outs in the game, four via strikeout. That was just the third save in Series history of at least eight outs: Madison Bumgarner in 2014 and Brian Anderson in 1997. Chapman has an 18/5 K/BB ratio with a 2.08 ERA and 0.92 WHIP over 13 post season innings. Some more data on just how dominant that Chapman was on Halloween Eve.
Rajai Davis can still run. The recently turned 36 year old speedster stole not one, not two but three bases in Game 5. That was just the sixth time it has ever happened in the Series. Here is the list: Lou Brock (twice – 1967-68), Honus Wagner (1909), Willie Davis (1965), Melvin Upton (2008) and Davis.
Jon Lester allowed two runs over 6.0 innings to pick up the win. In five games this post season he went 3-1 with a 1.93 ERA and 0.89 WHIP.
Francisco Lindor has seven games with at least two hits, the most ever for a player under 23 years of age in a playoff run. He’s batting .360 with a .926 OPS in 13 playoff games.
Game 6 will be Josh Tomlin (1.76 ERA, 0.85 WHIP in the postseason) on short rest taking on Jake Arrieta (3.78 ERA, 1.08 WHIP). Starting pitchers, after Bauer’s Sunday effort, who have worked on three days’ rest versus a fully rested arm are 18-37 since 1995 when the Wild Card was introduced.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday, 8 PM EDT, Wednesday 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM EDT PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).