For the Chicago Cubs fans who waited 71 years for this World Series Game 3, the first game in Wrigley Field since 1946, Friday night, the result was not what they were looking for.
Tribe blanked Cubs and ruined Wrigley homecoming in pivotal Game 3 win. Pinch-hitter Coco Crisp broke up a scoreless tie with an RBI single in the seventh. Despite a stiff wind blowing out to left-center, the pitchers for both sides controlled the game from start to finish on an unusually warm late October evening in Chicago.
Cleveland Indians pitcher Josh Tomlin delivered a gutsy performance on the mound in Game 3 of the World Series on Friday, holding the Chicago Cubs scoreless through 4.2 innings and allowing just two hits.
The dominant reliever Andrew Miller, who had just struck out the side, was up. Let him bat or pinch hit for him with two men on? Manager Terry Francona opted for the pinch hitter, Coco Crisp. The move paid off, as Crisp lined a single to right, scoring Martinez.
Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks kept the Indians off the scoreboard for 4 ⅔ innings despite wavering command. He allowed lead-off singles in three innings, and also walked two batters. After appearing fidgety enough draw a pair of mound visits from catcher Willson Contreras and another from pitching coach Chris Bosio, Hendricks hit his final batter, Jason Kipnis, to load the bases with one out. Justin Grimm came on and after running the count full got red-hot Francisco Lindor on a nifty 4-6-3 twin killing to keep the game scoreless.
“From our perspective, we got our of the zone way too much”, Joe Maddon, Chicago Cubs’ manager said at a press conference after the game ended. “We gotta get our strike zone organized again for tomorrow’s night game”.
World Series Game 3 was a big lost for the Cubs because who they will face in game 4, Corey Kluber, the Indian’s pitching horse in a 2 – 1 series. The Cubs are now 2 in 12 all time at Wrigley Field in World Series.
The Indians are a team that has to give yet a run in the ninth inning. But Francona has done a very great job with his pitchers. It is not just one guy that he has been using. and he knows when to push the buttons. This game resulted in the 5th shout-out game for the Cleveland Indians in this post season, a MLB record for a season. It was also the 3rd world series game in which four combine din a shout out game. Starting with Josh Tomlin (whose paralyzed dad attended Game 3 and said it was ‘A dream come true’), Andrew Miller (who threw only 17 pitches) came in and did his job in the fifth and sixth inning and then Brian Shaw and Cody Allen.
The Cubs has now been shut out 4 times in this post season.
Indians Hold 1-0 Lead in 9th Inning in the World Series Game 3 at Wrigley Field. Cleveland Indians pitcher Josh Tomlin delivered a gutsy performance.
