That brought on Justin Grimm, who gave up two runs in an inning in his previous Series appearance in Game 1. Joe Maddon decided it was time to go to the pen, and Hendricks departed having surrendered six hits in 4 1/3 innings, but with no runs and six strikeouts. After pitcher Tomlin bunted him over, Santana walked and Kipnis was hit by a pitch. Naquin popped a single to left to start it off. The frustration continued for the Indians, who loaded the bases with one out and still could not get on the scoreboard. Gomes dropped the third strike and had to make a throw to first, but he got it done. Allen finally came in after Shaw gave up a single to Dexter Fowler. The crowd went crazy when Schwarber came to the plate to pinch hit, but Shaw, who kept busting him up and in, got Schwarber to hit an easy pop-up to the right side of the infield. (Hey, it was trending the right direction). 271 against Shaw in the regular season, but this year it was down to. Shaw does not have reverse splits, but his numbers against left-handed batters have improved this year. A Frayed Relationship: M.L.B.’s commissioner called the deal “an olive branch.” Could it also be the start of better relations between the league and the players?ĭavid Waldstein: All things being equal, before the game, Francona probably would probably have liked to have Miller face Kyle Schwarber, but it was interesting how he left Shaw in to face the big lefty slugger, rather than go to Cody Allen for what was a huge at-bat.Looking Ahead: If the end of the lockout results in a better game, the acrimony will have been worth it, our national baseball columnist writes.
A New Agreement : After a contentious labor dispute, the league and players’ union struck a deal that would allow a full season to be played starting April 7.Bottom of 8th: Cubs Running Out of Chances The game moved on to the bottom of the ninth, with the Cubs in desperate need of a run, or better still, a walk-off. Yan Gomes, who came in to catch in the seventh, grounded out. But he struck out, and the Indians took a two-games-to-one series lead. Baez had men on second and third and a chance to win it. With pinch-runner Chris Coghlan on third, Heyward stole second uncontested. His grounder looked like it might end the game, but Napoli fumbled it. Zobrist struck out, and Contreras grounded out, leaving the game on the bat of Jason Heyward, who had a poor season and had entered the game as a pinch runner. Rizzo got Wrigley roaring again with a single. The Cubs had their 3-4-5 hitters to try to extend or win the game in the ninth inning. Here’s an inning-by-inning breakdown of what happened in Game 3: Bottom of 9th: With 2 Runners On, Cubs Can’t Score One thing is certain: If the Cubs win the World Series, they cannot clinch at Wrigley Field. The Indians’ relievers bailed out two of their defenders who made defensive mistakes - Chisenhall and Napoli - that allowed Cubs runners to get to third base. The Indians used a lot of curveballs against the Cubs’ batters, but the last pitch, with the tying run 90 feet away and the winning run on second base, was high heat from Allen, and Baez swung and missed. Tomlin was good, Miller was great, Shaw was fantastic and Allen was superb. That was the fourth shutout loss for the Cubs in the postseason, including two in the World Series. The Indians did what they do best: They got the lead and then let their bullpen shut down the opposition with icy precision. They will be looking for a better result when the series continues at Wrigley on Saturday night.ĭavid Waldstein: A terrific ball game. Some Cubs fans paid thousands on the black market for tickets to the historic game, and others paid hundreds just to watch the game in nearby bars. Indians starter Josh Tomlin was even better, giving up just two hits in his four and two-thirds innings. Though he scattered six hits in four and a third innings, Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks struck out six and kept the Indians off the board. The game had started with two strong pitching efforts. The move paid off, as Crisp lined a single to right, scoring Martinez. Let him bat or pinch hit for him with two men on? He opted for the pinch hitter, Coco Crisp. Manager Terry Francona faced a tough choice: The dominant reliever Andrew Miller, who had just struck out the side, was up.