In fact, Hirschbeck may have been deliberately delaying the game so that Indians first baseman Mike Napoli could take care of something in the dugout. It did not appear to be anything nefarious, though. But they also failed to score for the third consecutive inning when Kipnis struck out.ĭavid Waldstein: A funny moment after the top of the third: Before Addison Russell walked to the plate, the home plate umpire John Hirschbeck went to the mound and started looking at the ball with Josh Tomlin. Leadoff man Santana worked a two-out walk, and the Indians had a base runner for the third consecutive inning. 500 hitter, though with a small sample size, 6-for-12. That brought up the Indians’ best hitter, Josh Tomlin.
Tyler Naquin stung a 3-2 pitch to short, but Addison Russell made the diving catch. 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. 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.