For two days, generations of Cubs fans have held their breath. If they couldn’t see the team win its first championship since 1908 in Chicago, could the Cubs win at least one World Series game at Wrigley Field? Kris Bryant, Jon Lester and Aroldis Chapman obliged, and gave them reason to party on Sunday night.
The Cubs extended the World Series beyond Halloween thanks to Chapman’s trick — scary heat and a career-best eight-out save — Bryant’s home run, which ignited a three-run fourth, and Lester’s veteran moxy in a 3-2 victory over the Indians in Game 5. Cleveland’s lead in the best-of-seven Series was trimmed to three games to two, and Game 6 will be Tuesday night at Progressive Field, which will get live baseball after hosting watch parties all weekend.
Teams have rallied from a 3-1 deficit before, most recently the 1985 Royals. The Cubs can look to the ’79 Pirates, the ’68 Tigers, the ’58 Yankees and the ’25 Pirates for inspiration, too.
“I feel like we play our best with our backs up against the wall,” Bryant said after the Cubs’ first win in a World Series game at Wrigley Field since 1945. “We went out there today, took care of business. Hopefully we can get out there and win Game 6, because you never know what can happen in a Game 7.”
Wrigleyville has been buzzing as the Cubs hosted their first World Series in 71 years. The Cubs got pumped up pregame as Anthony Rizzo ran around the clubhouse playing the theme from the movie “Rocky” and used it as his walk-up music for his first at-bat. Hey, whatever works.
“I wanted to get the crowd pumped and let them know we plan on going the distance,” Rizzo said. “Hopefully, we’re the last ones standing.”
Chicago has had no problems catching the ball, including a Spider-Man-esque wall-climbing grab by Jason Heyward to snare Trevor Bauer’s foul popup down the right-field line. The Cubs have just had a tough time connecting against the Indians’ pitchers, who came into the game with a 1.50 ERA in the previous four games. Bauer, who also lost Game 2 at Progressive Field, struck out seven, including five of the first 10 batters he faced, but the Cubs broke through for a three-spot in the fourth that saddled Bauer with the loss.
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