Indians Head Back to Cleveland Still One Win Away

After witnessing the Indians dominating game one of the World Series and the Cubs coming back to take control of game two, you knew game three was bound to be exciting.

With the series tied at a game apiece, each team would come out wanting to take control of the series and give them the advantage of heading into game four of the first World Series games to be played at Wrigley Field since 1945.

That was certainly the case from the first pitch on Friday night, as the two starters — Josh Tomlin for the Indians and Kyle Hendricks for the Cubs — were absolutely terrific the first time through the opposing team’s order, despite neither being power-pitchers and the disadvantage of having the wind blowing out.

While games one and two failed to live up to the billing of a pitcher’s dual, game three turned out to be the game everyone had been waiting for, as neither starting pitcher allowed a single run over the first four innings and essentially were breezing through every batter they faced.

The first struggles of the game for Hendricks came in the fifth inning, when the bases became loaded with just one out. Due to the situation, Hendricks was removed from the game, and was replaced by Justin Grimm, who promptly got Francisco Lindor to ground into a double play; despite having gone 5-9 previously in the postseason, and being the first player age 22 or younger to start a World Series 5-9 since Mickey Mantle.

Tomlin was replaced in the sixth inning by Andrew Miller, who once again was untouchable, doing his part in keeping the game scoreless through the seventh inning, and punching the new record for scoreless innings by a reliever in the postseason, with 15 straight. It was also in that inning when the Indians would finally put something together.

A pinch-hit single from Coco Crisp, who had previously gone 3-18 in the playoffs, scored pinch-runner Michael Martinez from third, giving the Indians a 1-0 lead in the late innings. With the way this game was going, you quickly got the feeling that it was going to be difficult for the Cubs to rally back.

Although Bill Murray attempted to get the Cubs motivated before their at-bats in the seventh with his Daffy-Duck-edition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”, it wouldn’t do much good in the end, despite getting the crowd in a lightened mood late in the ballgame.

The Cubs would set themselves up nicely in that very inning, as well as several more times in the game — including the ninth inning, where they had runner on second and third with two outs — but they weren’t able to come through and ended up losing the close game and falling behind the Indians two games to one in the series.

With the win, the Indians marked their fifth shutout pitching performance of their postseason thus far (a new MLB record), and also secured just the 25th time in the 649-game history of the World Series that a game ended with a final score of 1-0. In addition, the last time the Cubs were shutout in the World Series 1-0 came way back in 1918, seeing Babe Ruth throw a shutout against Chicago, leaving little doubt that this series is something historic.

Although the game was thrilling for baseball fans, it was obviously a disappointing loss for the Cubs and their fan base, as it guaranteed they could no longer win the series at Wrigley Field in front of their home crowd. Furthermore, falling one game further away from finally breaking their 108-year World Series championship drought, the Cubs would have to come back the next night and even up the score if they wanted to avoid sitting just one loss away from elimination altogether. You began to get the feeling that game four was going to be another absolute battle.

Game four began just that way, with John Lackey going up against Corey Kluber, who had been terrific in game one. But this time around, it was Lackey who began strong, with Kluber giving up a run in the first, after allowing a drop-in double to Dexter Fowler, and a single up the middle from Anthony Rizzo, making the score 1-0 Cubs.

But before the Cubs fans were able to settle back into their seats, Lackey gave up a run of his own via a solo home run to Carlos Santana in the second, marking the first home run by a first baseman in the World Series at Wrigley Field since Lou Gehrig in 1932. Then, following an error by Bryant which allowed Lonnie Chisenhall to reach first — he was moved to second by Perez with two outs — the next batter, Tyler Naquin, was walked to get to the pitcher.

But Kluber proceeded to hit a weak tapper that was thrown wildly by Bryant for his second error of the game, allowing Chisenhall to score and give the Indians a one-run lead. Once again, the next inning, after a leadoff double by Kipnis, the Indians would score when Lindor singled him home, giving the Indians a 3-1 lead.

Neither team would score again for the next two innings, but the Indians were back at it again in the sixth. Mike Montgomery, the reliever for Lackey, gave up a leadoff walk to Lindor, a single to Santana, and a ground out that made it first and third with one out. The next batter Chisenhall then blasted a ball deep enough into the outfield to allow Lindor to score and make it 4-1.

The Cubs would attempt to answer back in the bottom half when a leadoff double from Rizzo got the crowd amped up, but yet again the Cubs couldn’t make it count, failing to get another hit in the inning.

The Indians, however, couldn’t stop hitting all night long. Leading off the seventh with a double was Coco Crisp, who advanced to third on a wild pitch with no outs. Rajai Davis was then drilled with the next pitch, and Jason Kipnis ended up launching a three-run bomb to push the lead to six runs.

With that hit, the fans went absolutely silent, especially with Andrew Miller entering the game. But Miller proved that he was in fact human, giving up a homer to Fowler in the eighth inning. Still, the Cubs weren’t able to get anywhere close to threatening the Indians 7-2 lead, as Cleveland was victorious for the second straight night and moved just one win away from winning it all.

Down 3-1 in the series, Sunday night’s game was a win or go home game for the Cubs. If they had any shot at extending their season, they would quite simply have to start getting big hits in game five or they wouldn’t stand a chance against the Indians. Though the odds were against them, the majority of the baseball world was with them, hoping they could find a way to keep the season going just a little while longer.

Jon Lester certainly gave the Cubs’ fans plenty to cheer about in the very first inning, looking sharp and striking out the side to begin the game — the first National League pitcher to do so since John Smoltz in 1996. Equally sharp, however, was Trevor Bauer, who kept the Cubs off the board as well to begin the ballgame.

The second inning was deja vu for the Cubs, as it saw the Indians once again taking an early lead off of a Jose Ramirez solo shot — the youngest player to hit a World Series homer at Wrigley Field since Joe DiMaggio in 1938. Citing the fact that the Indians had won their last fifteen games in which they had hit a home run, going back to the regular season, the odds were slowly falling away from a Cubs victory.

But then the fourth inning happened. Despite Bauer being terrific through the first three innings, his second time through the order proved troublesome. The Cubs bats absolutely came alive, as following a Kris Bryant leadoff home run, Anthony Rizzo proceeded to double off the outfield wall and later scored after a couple of well-placed singles. The bases would quickly become loaded after an out was recorded, and the veteran David Ross would deliver a sacrifice fly, scoring the Cubs’ third run of the inning, making it 3-1.

Despite Wrigley Field hopping following the breakout inning, the Indians would cool things down a bit, leading off the fifth inning with a double from Carlos Santana, who was moved to third with just one out. But a terrific job of pitching by Lester kept the Indians from scoring a single run.

That would only last through the sixth inning, however, when a two-out drop-in single by Francisco Lindor scored the second run of the contest for the Indians. After finishing out that inning, Lester’s night was done. His replacement, Carl Edwards Jr., was shaky to begin, giving up a single to Mike Napoli and allowing him to advance to second with no outs on a passed ball. But Chapman was brought on, who kept things from getting out of hand.

Chapman would stay in for the eighth inning, and although he would allow a runner to make it all the way to third with two outs, a 102 mile-per-hour heater got the strikeout he needed to escape the inning untouched. After little getting through the eighth, Chapman was entrusted with the ninth inning as well, getting the job done in quick fashion, and securing the victory for Chicago with a lengthy eight-out save performance.

With the win, the Cubs move to 3-2 in the series. Although still at a disadvantage heading back into enemy territory down a game, you know the Cubs are at the very least going to be very competitive and not go down without a fight. History is still in the process of being made. After 108 years of disappointment, the Cubs are by no means done in their attempt at achieving baseball glory.

Cubs Could Be Better Than Many People Think

It’s been quite awhile since people have whole heartedly believed in the Cubs.

But let’s face it. They haven’t had a reason to believe for the past several years. With the Cubs having failed to even make the postseason since 2008, not having made a World Series appearance since 1945, and currently holding a 107-year World Championship drought, the Cubs’ fan base has been nothing but disappointed for a long time.

The Cubs, however, have finally put together what could prove to be a formidable team that fans could actually get behind. In fact, many Cubs fans are getting so behind this year’s roster that they have visions of a World Series title to round out the coming season. While I like their optimism, and wouldn’t be too stunned if it happened, I don’t think it will necessarily occur in 2015. I think it will be 2016 at the earliest before the World Series becomes a possibility.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t think the Cubs will have an amazing team this year. Although a lot of people are saying that the Cubs are extremely overhyped and stand little chance of doing much of anything this season, I actually believe in the club they have.

First off, their new manager, Joe Maddon, has proven to be one of the best in baseball — not necessarily for his winning records but for his ability to get the most out of each and every one of his players. His addition to the club house will have an immeasurable impact on the Cubs in my mind.

As far as the players themselves are concerned, it’s a talented group of characters the Cubs are going to be putting on the field throughout the season.

The one weakness a lot of people foresee, however, is their pitching staff, consisting of guys like Travis Wood, Tsuyoshi Wada and Kyle Hendricks. While those players aren’t the worst pitchers in baseball, they aren’t Cy Young candidates either. But the Cubs do in fact have a Cy Young caliber pitcher they snatched up this offseason, set to lead the staff every fifth day. Jon Lester, who came over to the Cubs on a 155 million dollar contract, is sure to instantly make the Cubs pitching staff relevant (with their bullpen being decent enough).

Beyond that, the Cubs’ lineup is fairly good as well. Admittedly, it consists of a lot of young, unproven talent, but it’s a good group, nonetheless. Having Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo and newly added catcher, Miguel Montero, slotted in the Cubs’ lineup is sure to lead to runs being scored. But it’s the youth of the Cubs that could ultimately lead to a lot of wins in 2015.

With Jorge Soler, Tommy La Stella, Arismendy Alcantara and Javier Baez looking to have breakout seasons — along with uber prospect Kris Bryant, who should be called up shortly into the year — the Cubs’ team is going to be one to reckon with.

However, it’s that very youth and inexperience in a great number of the players that has a lot of people remaining cautious from hopping aboard the Cubs’ bandwagon. After getting their hopes up in the past only to see things come crashing down, many people from around the baseball world refuse to believe that the Cubs stand a chance at making much ground in a division that includes the Cardinals, Reds, Pirates and Brewers.

But it’s not stopping me from predicting the Cubs to have success in 2015.

Maybe the 2015 Cubs aren’t the team that will break the “Curse of the Billy Goat”. Maybe they aren’t even the team that will dominate their division for the better part of the season. But I feel that the Cubs are in fact the team that will surprise the most people this season as they make a run toward the second wild card spot in the National League.

Q and A With Tyler Danish

Tyler Danish was drafted by the White Sox in the 2nd round of the 2013 draft, after not allowing an earned run over 94 high school innings in Florida during his senior year, in which he struck out 156.

Since the draft, Danish has posted some fantastic numbers between three different levels, proving why he was worthy of a high draft pick. Possessing a good mid 90’s fastball, along with a slider and changeup — a combination that keeps hitters off balance — one of the things that makes Danish so deceptive is his mechanics. Throwing from a 3/4 arm slot, many people see Danish as being perfect for a high-leverage situation major league reliever, but Danish wants to be a starter if at all possible.

Danish certainly made a strong case this past season for being a starting pitcher moving forward, as despite some struggles at times, he went a combined 8-3 with a 2.08 ERA over 25 starts between Kannapolis and Winston-Salem, holding opponents to a .237 batting average.

Either way, as a starter or reliever, it’s likely not going to be too much longer until Danish makes it to the big leagues if he can continue to perform at the level he has to this point in his career.

Tyler Danish — top prospect in the White Sox’ organization — took the time recently to answer some of my questions:

1.) At what age did you first become interested in baseball? Who was your biggest baseball influence growing up?

Baseball was my passion ever since I could remember. I started playing at three years old. My parents were huge influences in my baseball career. They [were] there through it all with me.

2.) Who was your favorite baseball player growing up? Why?

The Captain [Derek Jeter]. Just the quiet swagger he had on the field. I just loved it.

3.) You were drafted by the White Sox in the 2nd round of the 2013 draft. What was that process like for you? Where were you when you first found out? Initial thoughts?

The draft process is a very stressful process. It’s an interview with 30 teams to show why you should be picked, but it’s also a fun process to go through. It’s a dream at 18 years old to even be considered as one of the best in the country. When I first found out, I was at home watching the draft when I saw my name come across the board. It was one of the best feelings, knowing all this work and time you put in finally showed up.

4.) You were promoted to High-A Winston-Salem in May after performing so well at Single-A Kannapolis. Upon your promotion, you struggled a bit, finally finding your groove towards the end of the season. What about High-A was initially hard to adjust to? What changes, if any, did you make to become effective once again to finish the year?

Me struggling in High-A was me over-thinking the game of baseball; thinking I had to make perfect pitches, pitches that moved more, and pitches that were unhittable. But that wasn’t the case, as all the game of baseball is the same game from tee-ball all the way to the big leagues. Once I got my mental game back things went smooth. So the one change I made was me going out there and doing what I have done all my life, and that was enjoy playing the game of baseball and having fun.

5.) You were used primarily as a relief pitcher in 2013, but made 25 starts in 2014. Why was it important to you to prove that you could be an effective starter when so many people see you as a future reliever?

This year was huge to show people I could be a starter because so many people doubt me and say I can’t. But with my personality — I love that. I feast on when people say I can’t do something. So that was my thought every time I took the mound this year: “Prove doubters wrong”.

6.) Part of the reason people envision you as a future major league relief pitcher is your unique delivery of throwing out of a three-quarters arm slot. Where and when did you first develop your delivery? How much do you attribute your deceptive delivery to your success on the mound?

That motion came from me playing shortstop since I was little. It was a natural feeling on the mound, but I didn’t start throwing like that until my junior year in high school. I used to be your traditional right hander, straight over the top, but my ball didn’t move, and I was topping out at 86 my sophomore year. One day at practice in a bullpen session I dropped down to the 3/4 arm slot and my ball moved everywhere. So I stuck with it and my velocity went up. I think that there is a little deceptiveness with how I throw just because it’s funky and a new look to hitters.

7.) Talk a little bit about life on the road: What’s the most difficult aspect of it? What do you do to pass the time?

Life on the road has its up and downs. Downs are definitely the bus rides; they can get very long and boring. But other than that you see new places, you play at different stadiums and you’re also playing professional baseball. To pass the time I watch Netflix constantly. That’s what I do all day, every day. Let me just say: Thank God for Netflix.

8.) What do you feel went well in 2014? What are your goals for 2015?

My 2014 year couldn’t have gone any better. I became a better pitcher in all aspects. I finally failed in pro ball, and I show myself that I can bounce back from that. So later on down the road when I struggle again I know it’s not the end of the world. I also had a lot of success, but I handled that very well too. I didn’t get too high, and I continue to work everyday to be better at what I do. Goal for 2015 is to continue to work and get better. My top goal, though, is to pitch in the big leagues next year.

9.) Favorite TV show? Favorite food?

Favorite TV show has to be ‘Law & Order SVU’. Favorite food is Chipotle.

10.) Lastly, what advice would you give to kids who are just starting out that dream of playing professional baseball one day?

For kids just starting the dream to hopefully one day play professional baseball — never give up no matter what happens in life. Don’t give up on your dream. Dreams do come true. But always work hard. Always give everything you have, even if you don’t want to. Respect your parents; they do a lot for you. Even if you don’t see it right now, they do. Make good grades, and stay out of trouble!

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Big thanks to Tyler Danish for taking the time to answer my questions.

You can follow him on Twitter: @danish_Tyler7