Cubs beat Indians 9-3, force decisive Game 7

Henry Palattella|November 1, 2016

People watching the World Series on the jumbotron between the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs near Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016

Resiliency has been a buzzword that has been used to describe the Cleveland Indians 2016 campaign.

Now they’ve got a chance to show the world truly how resilient they are.

The Chicago Cubs beat the Indians 9-2 in Game 6 of the World Series to force a decisive Game 7 that will be played on Wednesday night.

The Cubs jumped on Indians starter Josh Tomlin early and often Wednesday. Third baseman Kris Bryant started the Cubs offense barrage when he hit a hit a solo home run with two outs in the first inning. The Cubs added on in the first frame when shortstop Addison Russell hit a ball that was misplayed by Indians centerfielder Tyler Naquin. The blunder led to two runs crossing the plate and a 3-0 Cubs lead before the Indians even got a chance to step into the batter’s box.  

 

Tomlin was pulled in third after he put the first three men on, and was replaced by Indians reliever Dan Otero. Otero then gave up a grand slam to Russell, which made it 7-0. Tomlin went 2 1/3 innings and gave up six runs.

The Indians didn’t just lay down and die though, as they spent the middle innings chipping away at the lead. They scored their first run when Mike Napoli’s hit brought in Jason Kipnis in the bottom of the fourth, a play that cut the Cubs lead down to 7-1. They broke through again when Kipnis hit a home run in the bottom of the fifth that made it 7-2.

The Cubs tacked on two more runs in the top of the ninth when Anthony Rizzo went deep off of Indians reliever Mike Clevinger, who was in his second inning of relief.

The Indians got two runners on in the bottom of the seventh inning, which led to Cubs manager Joe Maddon interestingly deciding to go to Aroldis Chapman in the seventh inning. Chapman – who went 2 2/3 innings of relief in Game 5 – went 1 1/3 innings before being pulled for Pedro Strop in the ninth inning.

Despite the loss, Indians manager Terry Francona didn’t have to use Bryan Shaw, Andrew Miller, or Cody Allen, which means they could all go multiple innings Wednesday for the Indians.

Game 7  will feature Indians ace Corey Kluber (4-1, 0.89 ERA) going against NL regular season ERA leader Kyle Hendricks (1-1, 1.31 ERA). Kluber will be making his third start of the World Series, while Hendricks will be making his second. First pitch is at 8 p.m.