Opinion

To Cleveland we go.

The Chicago Cubs kept their title hopes alive on Sunday night, beating Cleveland 3-2, winning their first World Series game at Wrigley Field since 1945 and sending the Fall Classic back to Progressive Field for Games 6 and 7. Cleveland holds a 3-2 advantage.

The Chicago Cubs extended the 2016 World Series with a win in Game 5 on Sunday night, so the series will head back to Progressive Field as the Cleveland Indians look to wrap up the Fall Classic.

According to Odds Shark, the Indians are 5-4 underdogs despite having home-field advantage. Going by the pitching matchup, Chicago would likely be favored by most neutral fans.

It’s an unusual circumstance for the National League team in a World Series to be disadvantaged in the games that it plays at home.

CHICAGO — They scratched. They clawed. They flipped. They nearly flopped.

So close to expiration, the 2016 Chicago Cubs were, that sometimes it seemed literal.

"It was hard, man," David Ross, Grandpa Rossy, the retiring and most beloved figure of all those wearing a Cubs uniform, said. "I kept running in here [the clubhouse] between innings and telling the security guard I don't know how much more of this I can take.

Chicago Cubs closer Aroldis Chapman always brings the heat.

In Game 5 of the World Series on Sunday, he indelibly singed his mark.

With the Cubs trailing three games to one and staring at a crushing, curse-affirming elimination loss to the Cleveland Indians at Wrigley Field, Chapman gave the Cubbies the 2.2 shutout innings they desperately needed.

The Loveable Losers can't afford to lose again.

Cleveland took a 3-1 lead in the World Series on Saturday night, leaving the Chicago Cubs on the brink of adding another season to a title drought dating back to 1908.

HERZLIYA PITUACH, Israel — On Monday night, Dan Shapiro stood outside the American embassy in Tel Aviv and pressed a button that bathed the edifice in pink to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

If Shapiro, who has served as the United States ambassador to Israel since 2011, had a say, the embassy might next be illuminated in blue and red to honor his beloved Chicago Cubs.

The Cleveland Indians can complete their miracle October run with a World Series title if they can defeat the Chicago Cubs in Game 5 at Wrigley Field on Sunday night. 

The Indians will hand the ball to Trevor Bauer, who will be looking to redeem himself after struggling through Game 2. The right-hander lasted just 3.2 innings, allowing six hits, two walks and two runs while throwing 87 pitches in a 5-1 loss. 

CHICAGO — Before Game 4, Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona wanted to make one thing clear: The Indians haven’t exactly played their best baseball this fall.

“We haven’t swung the bats very well the last couple of weeks,” he said. “I think that it shows what kind of team we can be, though.”

If the Chicago Cubs want to be a team of destiny, they better come up with a miracle.

If they don't, a season in which they won 103 games on their way to their first World Series since 1945 could be over as soon as Sunday. The Cleveland Indians lead the series three games to one.