Indians' dominant pitching shuts down Cubs in World Series opener
One down, three to go.
Corey Kluber tossed six brilliant innings, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen continued their bullpen dominance and unlikely hero Roberto Perez blasted two home runs as the Cleveland Indians defeated the Chicago Cubs 6-0 in Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday night.
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Cleveland, which hasn't won a World Series since 1948, moved within three wins of capturing a title and shaking off years of frustration, but there is still much work to do.
Never mind if this win looked rather easy.
A former Cy Young winner, Kluber surrendered just four hits and struck out nine before giving way to Miller, who mowed down Cubs batters in several big spots during the seventh and eighth innings. Allen came on and struck out the side in the ninth.
Lost in the pitching brilliance was Perez, who connected on a solo home run in the fourth to help the Indians forge a 3-0 lead, and then smoked a three-run shot in the eighth off Cubs reliever Hector Rondon.
Chicago starter Jon Lester gave up three runs and six hits over 5 2/3 innings. He entered this contest having gone 3-0 with a 0.49 ERA in his World Series career, but yielded two quick runs in the first as Jose Ramirez reached on an RBI infield single before Brandon Guyer was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
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Game 2 is slated for Wednesday night, during which Jake Arrieta will throw for the Cubs and Trevor Bauer will go for the Indians. Major League Baseball announced during Game 1 that the start time of the game would be moved up an hour because of a rainy forecast. The scheduled start time is now 7:07 p.m. ET.
