The dream lived on for the Chicago Cubs, as the team held on for a 3-2 win at Wrigley Field to force a Game 6. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Indians head back home with two chances to end a drought of their own in the 2016 World Series.
The Cubs finally mustered enough offense to earn a win, but can they build on that to tie this series on Tuesday? They will need to, as the Indians continue to get quality pitching from their rotation and their sensational bullpen.
Let us take a look at the schedule for Game 6, as well as a breakdown and prediction for the critical showdown.
Game 6 Preview
Tuesday's matchup features one of the game's top pitchers against a relative unknown who emerged as a clutch performer in these playoffs.
Jake Arrieta will look to repeat his fantastic Game 2 outing, where he earned the win after going 5.2 innings and allowing two hits and one run. The 2015 Cy Young winner has dealt with inconsistency this postseason, though, as he turned in a similar performance in Game 3 of the National League Divison Series, but he was lit up for four runs in a loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Yet, the 30-year-old is focused on his game with the intention of building on his positive outings of this postseason, per Comcast SportsNet Chicago's JJ Stankevitz.
It's just like any other game where you feel comfortable with the game plan and you go out there to do your best to follow through on the execution. So that's really the only thing that I'll be thinking about as Tuesday approaches, is just trying to be efficient. Trying to be as good as I can about moving the ball in and out, up and down and changing speeds and trying to keep those guys off balance.
Arrieta's stellar play in his previous start is a bit surprising considering he has shaky numbers against many of Cleveland's top batters:
Arrieta's odds of receiving some healthy run support should increase as Chicago slugger Kyle Schwarber is set to return to the team's lineup as a designated hitter. The 23-year-old was electric in the first two games in Cleveland, going 3-for-7 with two RBI and a pair of walks.
Repeating that type of production will not be easy against Josh Tomlin. The Cleveland starter's been an X-factor for the Indians with an excellent playoff run of his own, and he is also plenty locked-in for Tuesday, per MLB.com:
Tomlin turned in his best game of his postseason career in Game 3, stifling the Cubs for no runs and just two hits in 4.2 innings. However, Schwarber believes Chicago can have more success against the 32-year-old the second time around, per the Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan.
"We might have expanded (the strike) zone here and there, but that's an adjustment that can easily be made," Schwarber said of Tomlin. "And that was a bunch of guys first time facing him, too. I'm sure (Tuesday) it'll be a completely different situation and approach."
Schwarber was correct in that the vast majority of his teammates had not previously faced Tomlin, and the Cubs were in a similar situation against another Cleveland starter.
Trevor Bauer had one career start against Chicago prior to the World Series, where he tossed 7.0 scoreless innings in a 2015 win. The second time around, against many of the current Cubs, Bauer was roughed up in Game 2 for six hits and two runs in 3.2 innings, which was followed by another loss where he allowed six hits and three runs in 4.0 innings.
The Cubs have proved they can rebound against top pitchers, as it bounced back from a dominant Clayton Kershaw performance in Game 2 of the NLCS before breaking the ace in a Game 6 win. Yet, this trend has not held true with Cleveland star Corey Kluber, who is 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA in this World Series.
Cleveland first baseman Mike Napoli is confident his team can finish the job at home, as the Indians' play at Wrigley Field proved the squad is generally playing winning baseball, per the Associated Press (via Fox Sports).
"We're in good position, still," Napoli said. "We're up 3-2 going home. We did what we had to do here. We put ourselves in position to try and win it in a crazy atmosphere. We're happy with what we did here. We're going to get home and play in front of our fans."
The Indians have been far more consistent in this series, which is why they have the edge in Game 6. Chicago's offense has been streaky at best, as the team is averaging a mere two runs per game while being shut out twice. This makes it difficult to rely on the Cubs to produce.
Cleveland is finding a way to create early leads, which utilizes a dominant bullpen led by Andrew Miller. Behind a rowdy home crowd that will be aching to witness the team's first World Series title since 1948, the Indians will follow this strategy once more and hold on to clinch the world title on Tuesday.
Prediction: Cleveland Wins 4-2
Statistics are courtesy of MLB.com.
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