Tough Tribe spoils Wrigley fun, takes back momentum Francona uses every position player, goes to bullpen in 5th to take Series lead

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1 Tough Tribe spoils Wrigley fun, takes back momentum Francona uses every position player, goes to bullpen in 5th to take Series lead By Richard Justice / MLB.com 3:57 AM ET + 0 COMMENTS CHICAGO -- When it ended, only four players in the Indians' starting lineup were still in the game. Michael Martinez entered as a pinch-runner in the top of the seventh inning and scored the winning run. Then he played some center field. And then some third base. Martinez was flawless at both. Rajai Davis was doubled-switched into the game in the fifth inning, then sent to left field. He finished in center. Roberto Perez started at catcher. Yan Gomes finished. Carlos Santana started in left. Brandon Guyer finished there. This tells you almost all you need to know about how the Indians beat the Cubs, 1-0, in Game 3 of the World Series on Friday night at Wrigley Field. Manager Terry Francona called it "agonizing" after he'd moved players here, there and everywhere, but he pushed all the right buttons as his team took a 2-1 lead in the World Series. Francona's scorecard was such a mess that Cleveland pitching coach Mickey Callaway joked he'd used a player or two who weren't on the roster. OK, Callaway was joking about that. Francona did use every last one of his position players, although all of them actually were on their roster. Before he ran out of players, Francona had used three left fielders, three center fielders, two third basemen, two catchers and four pitchers. Here's guessing that both men loved it, that this was one of those games they may just savor for the rest of their lives, especially if the Tribe somehow wins two more times and celebrates a championship. Bottom line? The Indians took care of business. Francona used all his position players and went to his bullpen in the fifth inning. By the end, though, Francona had showed the world two things. One is that he gets how postseason baseball is different, perhaps as well as any manager ever has. Maybe that's why Francona is 10-1 in the World Series and is attempting to become just the 11th manager to win three of them. He's overall in the postseason. Only five managers in history have won more. Francona understands the urgency of the thing and that every game is a entity to itself. He urges his players to focus on today and not give yesterday or tomorrow a second thought. In this World Series, Francona has also reminded us that these Indians are one of baseball's most remarkable stories. To be hit hard by injuries, to have to piece a rotation together, and then to still end up two victories from a championship is a tribute to him and to his organization, and especially to all those players. This was the kind of game a championship team wins, and Cleveland has won a lot of them lately. If you're thinking of connecting the dots, we're not there yet. The Cubs were playing their first World Series game at home in 71 years, and there was a party atmosphere in and around the majestic old park. Street parties began around dawn and intensified throughout the day. Into all this stepped the Indians, who are showing day by day that they're talented and tough and resilient. "We know what we've got," Tribe second baseman Jason Kipnis said. "We know it's not always going to look pretty. No one really cares who gets it done as long as we get it done." Kipnis was one of four players who were in the game all nine innings. "This was absolutely huge," Kipnis said. "Especially when a series is tied, the tipping scale can go either way. We knew it could be a lowscoring game. We knew it could be a 1-0 game. We were able to scrape one across, and that's all it took." If the Cubs had any momentum from their Game 2 victory in Cleveland, it didn't buy them a thing. The Indians have thrown shutouts in two of the first three World Series games and five times in 11 postseason games overall. "I don't know about the hype too much," Francona said. "I don't think it matters to the guys in the clubhouse like what outside expectations are for this series. I think what's important is what we feel inside there. And I think we've been pretty honest about it the whole time. We know we're going to have our hands full to beat these guys, and tonight was a good example. "That was as close a ballgame as you're ever going to find, and we found a way to manage to win that game. You know, we say it all the time. We want to be one run better. That's about as true to form as you can get." Cleveland won because it got a solid performance from a starting pitcher not named Corey Kluber. That would be right-hander Josh Tomlin, who pitched 4 2/3 shutout innings. Finally, the Indians won on a night when they got more amazing work from their bullpen, this time with Andrew Miller, Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen getting the final 13 outs. When Francona summoned Coco Crisp to pinch-hit with the winning run in scoring position in the seventh inning, you could guess how it would turn out. Right, Crisp's pinch-hit single scored Martinez with the only run of the game. "We still have our work cut out for us," Miller said. "It's a better position than being down 2-1. We've got to keep going." Indians' Crisp > Cubs with RISP explains all By Jordan Bastian / 3:22 AM ET + 31 COMMENTS CHICAGO -- Everyone inside the cramped visitors' dugout at Wrigley Field was ready. They knew they had to be available at a moment's notice. Some kept a bat in their hands. Others had their gloves nearby. They all understood that Indians manager Terry Francona was going to lean on everyone. In the seventh inning on Friday night, Coco Crisp heard his name called, donned a helmet, grabbed his bat and headed to the plate. The veteran outfielder then delivered a pinch-hit, broken-bat single that proved the difference in a 1-0 victory over the Cubs in Game 3 of the World Series. Crisp was the hero, but it was Francona's maneuvering that made the moment possible.

2 "There's no better manager in baseball than him," Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway said. "I mean, he's unbelievable. He thinks of everything at every moment." So many things had to happen in order for Crisp to find himself in the game's decisive situation. When the night was over, and Cleveland left Wrigleyville with a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Fall Classic, Francona had squeezed every ounce out of his roster. The manager used 17 of his 25 players. There were three left fielders and three center fielders. Francona used both of his catchers and had two players appear at third base. Had the game gone into extra innings, ace Corey Kluber may have needed to bat. The chain reaction that led to Crisp's pinch-hit heroics actually began with Carlos Santana finding himself in the starting lineup as the left fielder. With no designated hitter available under National League rules, Santana -- a first baseman and DH by trade -- was given a shot at manning left. After starter Josh Tomlin gave the Tribe 4 2/3 innings, Francona opted for a double-switch, ending Santana's part in Friday's festivities. "Tito, he thinks about and worries about winning the game," Santana said of Francona. "I know we're playing in the National League. We were switching so much. He was talking with the players. He said, 'Be ready.'" As part of the double switch, relief ace Andrew Miller took over on the mound for Cleveland with a runner on second and two outs in the fifth. Given that the heart of the Tribe's lineup was due up in the top of the sixth, Francona replaced Santana in left with Rajai Davis, who assumed the ninth spot in the batting order. Miller entered the lineup as the new leadoff man. Francona has been aggressive with using Miller this postseason, and Friday was no different. Even with Tomlin at only 58 pitches, and working brilliantly against Chicago's potent lineup, the manager wanted to keep the Cubs at bay. Miller gave the Indians the best chance of doing that, and considering the tight nature of the game, Davis improved the defense behind the pitcher. "It was perfect," Callaway said. "I thought we had to do it." Miller then did what he has done throughout October. The 6-foot-7 leverage weapon escaped the fifth and struck out the side in the sixth. With that performance, Miller now has 27 strikeouts in these playoffs, putting him two away from a single-postseason record for a reliever. The lefty's 15 scoreless innings this postseason are a record for a reliever in one year. What Cleveland did not count on was Miller potentially having to bat. In the seventh inning, Indians catcher Roberto Perez led off with a single against Cubs rookie Carl Edwards Jr., and was then replaced at first by pinch-runner Michael Martinez. Tyler Naquin moved Martinez to second with a sacrifice bunt. That brought Davis -- Santana's defensive replacement -- to the plate and moved Miller to the on-deck circle. Davis heard Miller chirping behind him. "He was giving me like a, 'Go get 'em, Raj,'" Davis said with a laugh. "I could see him over there winking at me like, 'You better get it done, because I'm not going to.'" How'd Miller look with a bat in his hands? "Uncomfortable," said outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall. "The bat looks pretty small in his hands," second baseman Jason Kipnis quipped. Miller never made it to the plate. A wild pitch moved Martinez to third base and Davis followed with a walk. On the fourth ball, Cubs catcher Willson Contreras snapped a throw to third, trying to catch Martinez by surprise, but the runner dove back into the bag just in time. Third-base umpire Joe West called Martinez safe and a replay review could not definitively determine if third baseman Kris Bryant's tag arrived before Martinez's fingertips touched the base. At that moment, Crisp was called off the bench to hit for Miller. The veteran outfielder entered the evening with a 3-for-18 showing in the postseason, but two of those hits were home runs. One came in the clinching win over the Red Sox in the American League Division Series, and the other came in the clincher against the Blue Jays in the AL Championship Series. Now, Crisp has another hit -- a soft liner into shallow right that scored Martinez -- that Indians fans will remember for years to come. The Indians and Cubs combined for only one hit in 12 at-bats with runners in scoring position. Crisp provided the one that mattered. "It obviously feels good," Crisp said. "No matter if you get the big hit or lay the bunt down, you want to do something that can possibly help the team. Fortunately enough for me today, it was the hit. But whatever I can do -- defense, maybe a conversation -- I just try to help out in any way possible." And Francona pulled every lever possible. "He's been doing it all postseason," Kipnis said. "He's been pulling the right strings, pushing the right buttons. Sometimes, you might not understand moves, but at this point, you definitely don't question them, because you know he's got a plan." Jordan Bastian has covered the Indians for MLB.com since 2011, and previously covered the Blue Jays from Read his blog, Major Blank you very much! Tribe 1-0 W epic By Jordan Bastian and Carrie Muskat / MLB.com 2:52 AM ET COMMENTS CHICAGO -- With all the attention on the first World Series game at Wrigley Field since 1945, it seems the Indians have been an afterthought. They asserted themselves on Friday night, spoiling the North Siders' long-awaited party. Coco Crisp's pinch-hit RBI single in the seventh inning was enough to support another stellar showing by Cleveland's pitching staff in a 1-0 victory over the Cubs in Game 3. Led by starter Josh Tomlin and the Tribe's Andrew Miller-powered bullpen, the Indians grabbed a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Series. "I think we've been an afterthought all year long," Tomlin said. "It doesn't bother us. We know we have a group of guys who grind it out and try to play the game we know how to play and don't listen to anybody else." The shutout was the fifth in these playoffs for the Indians, establishing a Major League record for a single postseason. Five alive: Tribe notches record postseason shutout How important is Game 3? The team winning the third game of a 1-1 World Series has gone on to win the championship 37 of 57 times (64.9 percent), including in four of the past six years.

3 "We know we're going to have our hands full to beat these guys," Tribe manager Terry Francona said. "Tonight was a good example. I mean, that was as close a ballgame as you're ever going to find, and we found a way to manage to win that game. You know, we say it all the time. We want to be one run better. That's about as true to form as you can get." Tito willing to take chances to give Tribe edge The atmosphere leading up to the game was electric. It felt like New Year's Eve at Times Square. Generations of fans who never thought they'd see the Cubs in the World Series started the party outside the ballpark early on Friday, even if they didn't have a ticket for the game. But the ball never dropped, as the Cubs were held scoreless for the fourth time this postseason and never gave the 41,703 in attendance a reason to erupt. The most shutout losses in a postseason by an eventual World Series winner is three, by the 1981 Dodgers. 0 Cubs, 0: Chicago offense comes up empty The Cubs' best chance came against Cody Allen in the ninth, when they had runners at second and third and two outs. The Indians' closer got Javier Baez to swing through a high fastball to end the game. "I think we were trying to speed up things too much today," Baez said. "We have to slow down and play our game, and take it at-bat by at-bat and pitch by pitch." The elements favored the hitters, as the wind was blowing out to left-center at 14 mph, but Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks and Tomlin ignored the flags and induced soft contact. Hendricks did not have a single clean inning, and the Cubs righty was pulled after loading the bases with one out in the fifth. But Justin Grimm got Francisco Lindor to ground into a double play, which was celebrated with an emphatic fist pump by the reliever. Tomlin, who was pitching in front of his mother and ailing father, gave up only two hits over 4 2/3 innings before he was lifted for Miller, who extended his postseason scoreless streak to 15 innings, striking out three in 1 1/3. "He did a wonderful job," Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway said of Tomlin. "He's pitched so well this postseason, and it's been the same formula: strike one, get ahead, control the count and limit baserunners, especially the free passes. He's such a competitor. Anytime that he has any kind of motivation, he's going to get the job done. He was terrific tonight." Tomlin finds comfort in father's presence Francona opted to lift Miller in favor of using Crisp as a pinch-hitter in the seventh, and it paid off. Cleveland had runners at first and third, and Crisp smacked an RBI single to right. That was all the Indians needed. "I know he has some natural cut to his fastball, and I was just hoping to get the barrel to the ball, and I did," Crisp said of his clutch hit off Carl Edwards Jr. "It cut in on me, and I was just fortunate that it dropped in front of the right fielder." Pick your poison: Cubs lose gamble on Crisp Kyle Schwarber, limited to a pinch-hitter role, popped up to shortstop Lindor in the eighth in his only at-bat. With chance to impact G3, Schwarber pops up "I thought it was a well-played game," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "I thought we played great defense again tonight. We were just out of the zone way too often. We've got to get our strike zones organized offensively, and if we do, we'll be fine." 'We are coming back': Cubs fans remain confident MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Crisp breaks deadlock: Miller was in the on-deck circle with a helmet on and a bat in his hand in the seventh, but he never made it to the batter's box. After a wild pitch from Edwards allowed Michael Martinez to sprint from second to third base, and Rajai Davis drew a walk to put runners on the corners with one out, Crisp pinch-hit for Miller and pulled a pitch into shallow right field. "It's just good chemistry over here," Crisp said. "The guys work hard, our pitching did a great job -- and their pitching did a great job over there - - that's what type of Series this is gonna be, it looks like. So we've gotta get them when we can, and fortunately for us, we got one and they didn't today." Indians' Crisp > Cubs with RISP explains all Cubs' last stand: In the bottom of the ninth, Anthony Rizzo led off with a single against Allen. Three batters later, Jason Heyward reached on a hard grounder that ate up first baseman Mike Napoli for a costly error. With Baez in the batter's box, Heyward stole second base to put the winning run in scoring position. With the Wrigley Field audience on its feet, Allen struck out Baez to bring an end to the drama. "I was trying to hit the fastball but trying to see the curveball at the same time," Baez said. "You have to have one plan. You can't have two plans at the plate. It's a mistake -- you learn from it." Grimm grounds Tribe: Tyler Naquin opened the fifth with a single, and Hendricks later walked Carlos Santana and hit Jason Kipnis with a pitch to load the bases with one out. At that juncture, Maddon pulled his starter and handed the ball to reliever Grimm. Lindor, who singled in each of his first two at-bats, worked the count full, but then hit a sharp grounder to Baez. The Cubs' second baseman initiated an inning-ending double play, eliciting a celebratory roar from the Wrigley Field faithful. It marked the first GIDP of the year for Grimm, who had none in his 68 regular-season outings. "That double play, the way my teammates picked me up," Lindor said, "it was huge. They just told me, 'Keep on going. It happens; it's part of the game.'" Grimm anything but after inducing big DP Escape artist: Hendricks dodged some early jams. The Indians had runners at the corners with one out in the first, but he picked off Lindor at first, then struck out Napoli to end the threat. Hendricks got Roberto Perez to ground into an inning-ending double play in the second. In the fourth, Cleveland had runners at first and second when Lonnie Chisenhall hit a grounder down the first-base line. Rizzo grabbed the ball and spun to throw out Jose Ramirez at second. Hendricks then fooled Perez on an 88-mph sinker for a called third strike to end the inning. "To me, he was trying to be too perfect with the pitches," Cubs catcher Willson Contreras said. "That's why I went out there a few times and told him, 'Don't try to do too much with your pitches. You have enough movement.' He did a nice job." Hendricks not sharp, but keeps Cubs in it QUOTABLE

4 "You can't avoid all of the Cubs gear. You can't avoid the billboards, the excitement, the talk of it. Every channel you turn on here is talking about the World Series games, as they should be. This is as good as it gets, and two great teams that haven't had this spotlight in a while. It's special to be a part of. You hope that stuff isn't a distraction, and we've done a good job of that." -- Lindor "If you win or 1-0, it's still a win. It's just about getting that next guy up, and knowing that it takes one guy to do it, and collectively as a team, we're going to do that." -- Rizzo "When you're facing good pitching, sometimes it happens. We didn't have a lot of opportunities today. Tomlin pitched well, and their bullpen pitched well. We were going to have to beat [Corey] Kluber anyways. We'll get a chance [Saturday]." -- Ben Zobrist, on the Cubs' struggling offense SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Miller's three strikeouts gave him 27 this postseason. That puts him one strikeout shy of former Angels righty Francisco Rodriguez's 2002 single-postseason record of 28 for a reliever. Miller's streak of 15 consecutive scoreless innings this October is a postseason record for a reliever. REPLAY REVIEW With one out in the first, Kipnis at third and Lindor at first, Hendricks threw to first to try to pick off the speedy Lindor. Lindor dove back to the bag and first-base umpire Marvin Hudson called Lindor safe, but the Cubs challenged the ruling. After viewing all relevant angles, the replay official definitively determined that Rizzo tagged Lindor before his hand reached the bag. Hendricks then struck out Napoli to end the inning. The Cubs also thought they had picked off pinch-runner Martinez at third in the seventh, and they challenged umpire Joe West's safe call. After viewing all relevant angles, the replay official could not definitively determine that Kris Bryant's tag arrived before Martinez reached the bag and the call would stand. Martinez scored moments later. One out later, Kipnis pulled a grounder to the right side of the infield. Rizzo came off first base in pursuit of the ball, which got by him and was gloved by Baez. The second baseman fired it to reliever Mike Montgomery, who stepped on the bag as Kipnis dove in headfirst. Kipnis was ruled out, but the Tribe challenged. After viewing all relevant angles, the replay official could not definitively determine that Kipnis' hand touched first base prior to the ball contacting the interior of Montgomery's glove, so the call would stand, ending the inning. WHAT'S NEXT Indians: Kluber is set to take the ball for the Tribe in Game 4 at Wrigley Field on Saturday. In the Fall Classic opener in Cleveland, Kluber dazzled the Cubs over six shutout innings, striking out nine and ending with no walks in the win. Kluber, who will be working on three days' rest, has a 0.74 ERA with 29 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings this postseason. Kluber takes sterling resume into Game 4 Cubs: John Lackey will make his fifth career World Series start on Saturday in Game 4. The right-hander, who also appeared in relief twice, has a 2-1 record and a 3.42 ERA in Fall Classic play. So far this postseason, Lackey has pitched four innings in two starts each, giving up five runs. The Cubs have won both games. First pitch is scheduled for 7:08 p.m. CT from Wrigley Field. Shaw's shining moment: Righty takes spotlight By Anthony Castrovince / 2:03 AM ET + 2 COMMENTS CHICAGO -- In the Indians' bullpen, Cody Allen is the closer, Andrew Miller is the high-leverage hero, and then there's Bryan Shaw. He's the equivalent of what they called Three Tenor member Jose Carreras on "Seinfeld" -- "The Other Guy." The Other Guy stepped up large in Game 3 of the World Series on Friday night at Wrigley Field. This was a game 71 years in the making, a game that basically turned Wrigleyville into a St. Patrick's Day-like scene from the early-morning hours on and a game in which the Indians were the unwelcomed ones. But they stole a 1-0 win here and took a 2-1 Series lead behind an effective Josh Tomlin, a clutch Coco Crisp, Terry Francona's managerial machinations and, perhaps most important, Shaw's five essential outs after Miller had already been burned. This was a national audience's introduction to The Other Guy, whose role is undefined but whose effectiveness and durability is wellestablished. "I pitch wherever," Shaw said. "I come out here for our guys, try to get my outs and get the ball to Cody or to Miller or whoever's down there at the time. I try to leave it where it's at for them." That's what Shaw did when he was summoned in the seventh. Two innings earlier, Francona had called on Miller in order to prevent Tomlin from facing the Cubs' lineup a third time, with the added benefit of limiting Tomlin's workload before he pitches again on three days' rest in a potential Game 6. And Miller, true to form, was terrific, getting the final out of the fifth before breezing right through the top of the order with a K cavalcade in the sixth. But Miller's spot in the order came up in the seventh, with runners on the corners and one out. Surely, the sight of the 6-foot-7 Miller at the plate for the first time in five years would have made for an interesting visual. But the Indians needed a run more than they needed a GIF, and so Crisp was sent up for what turned out to be the go-ahead RBI single to right. So now the Indians were on the board, but preventing the Cubs from joining them there was a tall task without the tall lefty. The Indians needed a bridge to Allen, and they felt Shaw, who has spent the last four years quietly compiling a 3.00 ERA and.225 average against with the thirdhighest relief-inning total (282) in the Majors, was just the man for the job. "He gets better the more he pitches," pitching coach Mickey Callaway said. "If he pitches tomorrow night, he's going to be even better than he was tonight. He pitched four of the five games against Toronto [in the American League Championship Series], and the last outing was his best. He's a freak of nature, he can bounce back every night, and he's got a nasty cutter." That nastiness was needed in the seventh. Shaw had retired Ben Zobrist and Willson Contreras on successive groundouts, but Jorge Soler hit a fly ball toward that dreaded right-field corner with the brick wall and virtually no foul territory. Shaw was so sure that the ball was going foul that he asked the ump for a new one, only to look back and see the wind blow it back into play with a leaping Lonnie Chisenhall unable to snare it. Soler sneaked all the way to third with a triple, and the Cubs had two-out life.

5 It didn't last. Shaw uncorked three straight cutters to the next batter, Javier Baez, with the last one inducing an easy groundball out to shortstop Francisco Lindor that ended the inning. "Shaw picked me up right there," Chisenhall said. "That's a metaphor for this team this year, is guys picking each other up." Shaw himself would be picked up in the eighth, but not before he got arguably the biggest out of the night. After an Addison Russell strikeout to open the bottom half of the inning, Cubs manager Joe Maddon sent Kyle Schwarber to the plate as a pinch-hitter. Schwarber's successful return from reconstructive knee surgery had been the prime player-oriented story of this World Series, and this was the big spot the Cubs were saving him for. But Shaw cut him down with -- you guessed it -- the cutter. After falling behind 2-1, Shaw threw Schwarber a 93-mph offering up and in. Schwarber broke his bat on contact and popped out harmlessly to Lindor. "I had faced him two days ago at our place," Shaw said. "Went in on him for a strike then tried to go away, and he hit the ball up the middle off me. So our plan was to stick with in and, if we got deeper into the count, to change it up. But we were fortunate enough that he swung at that one, and we obviously got the out. It was exciting." Shaw did run into a little two-out trouble by giving up a single to Dexter Fowler. But that got Francona's wheels spinning again. He went to Allen for what turned out to be a four-out save, beginning with the eighth-inning-ending strikeout of likely National League Most Valuable Player Kris Bryant. "Shaw was up around 30 [pitches]," Francona explained. "You start getting up to that point and you're facing dangerous hitters, you know, there's a little bit more room for a mistake when you start throwing that many pitches. And I thought Cody holds the running game so well, and I thought Bryan had done a terrific job." So each of the three principals of the Tribe 'pen had a hand in this one. But for once, the big story wasn't so much Miller, whose awesomeness has come to be roundly expected, but, yes, The Other Guy. This might have begun as a Cubs fans' day to party, but it turned out to be Shaw's time to shine. As Dad cheers, Tribe's Tomlin terrific By Anthony Castrovince / 2:52 AM ET COMMENTS CHICAGO -- The starting pitcher has plenty on his plate in the lead-up to that first pitch. Scouting reports to scour, plans to formulate, conditioning to keep up with. But for Josh Tomlin on Friday night at Wrigley Field, the most important piece of pregame prep might have been that moment when he looked over to Section 122 on his walk to the weight room and made a mental note of where his father, Jerry, was sitting. "That way," the pitcher explained, "I knew if stuff started to speed up on me during the game, I could look at him and find that comfort and settle back down." Tomlin's relationship with his father, who became paralyzed from the chest down in mid-august because of a rare blood tissue abnormality, has been one of the feel-good stories of this postseason. And on this night, in this game, in these extraordinarily unfavorable conditions for a visiting pitcher who struggled with the long ball in the regular season, Tomlin took that story to another level to get the Indians within two wins of a World Series championship. His 4 2/3 stingy innings against a tough Cubs lineup made for the first ingredient of the Tribe's 1-0 winning formula and, of course, a proud pop in the stands. "Unbelievable," Jerry said. "It was typical Josh, though. He got stuff working and went to work. Great defense behind him and just a lot of confidence in each other." Not long ago, the Tomlins weren't confident Jerry would be able to watch Josh pitch in person this October. Josh was able to take a family medical emergency leave to be with his dad in Tyler, Texas, for a couple days after Jerry's life was saved by emergency surgery to treat what is called an arteriovenous malformation. But Josh hadn't seen his father since. And because Jerry was stuck at Dallas' Baylor Rehab Institute, he had to watch his son thrive in his first two starts against Boston and Toronto on this postseason stage not in the ballpark, but in a hospital bed. Thankfully, Jerry was released from the hospital on Oct Josh's birthday and the day the Indians clinched the American League pennant. And once Tomlin got the word that he'd be starting Game 3 at Wrigley -- the first World Series game in this ballpark in 71 years -- the family immediately set about making travel plans for Jerry and his wife, Elana, to be in attendance. "It's hard to put into words," Jerry said of the experience. "I didn't know what I was going to say when I got here, and I still don't. The way everything planned out and the way people helped me to get here, man, it's definitely a dream come true. There was no way I was going to miss this." What he saw was the biggest and best outing of his son's life. Tomlin was terrific, executing his high-80s fastball and his breaking ball down in the zone and on the outer edge of the zone. In those 4 2/3 innings, he allowed just two hits and a walk that wasn't. Home-plate umpire John Hirschbeck became a Twitter trending topic when he called ball four on a fourth-inning pitch to Kris Bryant that PitchFX confirmed was well within the lower edge of the strike zone, but Tomlin worked his way out of that inning-opening bind by getting three quick outs to quiet the crowd. Well, not everybody in the crowd. His dad, who was Josh's high school coach and who Josh refers to as his "best friend," was loving every second of it. Such execution in the clutch has become Josh's new norm after an awful August in which he posted an ERA north of 11 and dealt with the emotional trauma of the trouble back home. He lost his rotation spot that month, only to gain it right back as the Indians dealt with the effects of losing both Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco to the DL in the final month of their playoff push. Tomlin stepped up down the stretch, and, in this postseason, he's allowed all of three runs on nine hits in 15 1/3 innings over three starts. This start was his most impressive yet, because it came in not-so-friendly confines with the wind blowing out fiercely to left. "I'm finally executing pitches," he said. "The month that wasn't really going well at all, there were a lot of balls over the middle of the plate, a lot of balls on the other side of the plate and there wasn't a lot of execution on offspeed pitches. If I threw one for a strike, it was usually down the middle of the plate. My game's not to go out there and try to be a power pitcher, to try to get guys to take pitches or swing through stuff. It's to induce early contact and weak contact and try to go as deep as I can into a game." Tomlin on his short outing

6 Tomlin on his short outing Indians pitcher Josh Tomlin discusses the managerial tactics that take place throughout the World Series, resulting in his shortened start Tomlin didn't go all that deep in this one, but that was by design. Manager Terry Francona opted to go with Andrew Miller as the lineup came back around for a third time, and the move had the added benefit of keeping Tomlin fresh (he threw just 58 pitches) for his short-rest start in a potential Game 6. So Tomlin did as intended, and he did it with his dad leading a small but vocal cheering section from his wheelchair. "Very emotional for me," Josh said. For his parents, too. "This is a day [Josh] has been waiting for since he was 4 years old," Elana said. "He's been playing baseball his whole life. What more can you ask for than when your kid gets to live his dream?" On this night, the dreams of both Tomlin men were realized. Jerry never thought he'd watch his son pitch in the World Series from the wheelchair section. But rather than bemoan the health woes that might leave him forever unable to walk again, he is celebrating his son. And at Wrigley Field, there was plenty to celebrate. "How," Jerry asked, "could you plan it out or write it out any better than what it is?" Anthony Castrovince has been a reporter for MLB.com since Read his columns and follow him on Twitter This story Miller sets postseason scoreless relief mark By Jane Lee / 3:12 AM ET + 8 COMMENTS CHICAGO -- The legend of Andrew Miller, Cleveland's reliever extraordinaire, has been well documented this postseason. Now those findings will be etched in the record books as well. The left-handed Miller made history on an already historic Friday evening at Wrigley Field, setting a record among relievers with 15 scoreless innings in a single postseason. More importantly, his work in Cleveland's 1-0 victory over the Cubs in Game 3 helped the Indians move closer to baseball's Promised Land. They hold a 2-1 lead in the Fall Classic. "This is as good as it gets," Miller said, "and these are two great teams that haven't really had the spotlight in a while. It's special to be a part of." That Miller was at the epicenter of another Indians win, this one a superb, suspenseful showdown in the first World Series game hosted by Wrigley Field since 1945, was hardly surprising. His contributions this October, nothing short of phenomenal, cannot be overstated. Consider Miller's strikeout total alone: 27 in these playoffs, second most in a single postseason by a reliever only to Francisco Rodriguez's 28 with Anaheim in a mark he'll likely shatter. Shop for Indians World Series and AL champs gear Such a delight it is to watch Miller work that it was arguably disappointing to see baseball's best reliever deprived of an at-bat in the seventh inning -- it would have been his first since and robbed of another inning to mark with a zero. There was still entertainment to be found in the possibility, though, as a bat belonging to ex-indian Tommy Hunter dwarfed in the 6-foot-7 Miller's hands while he squirmed in the on-deck circle. "Man, he looked real tall, and scared out there," Rajai Davis said of Miller. "But he was giving me like a, 'Go get 'em, Raj.' I could see him over there winking at me like, 'You better get it done, because I'm not going to.'" With one out, Davis drew a walk against Carl Edwards Jr. to put runners at the corners, presenting one of a bevy of decisions forced on Indians manager Terry Francona in the confines of a National League ballpark. Francona opted to hit for Miller, and the resulting outcome proved twofold: Miller's replacement, Coco Crisp, drove in the game's lone run; and Miller, the ultimate bullpen toy who will predictably be called upon almost every night at Wrigley this weekend, was kept to just 17 pitches. "It's tough," Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway said. "Obviously, the situation called for it. We had to score a run right there. For Miller to hold them and us not score, it wouldn't have done us any good. Tito's going to pull the right strings and make the right moves, and that was absolutely the right way to go there." "I was OK with where we were there," Francona maintained. "That was plenty for tonight." Francona has deployed Miller to maximum effectiveness, and on this night, that meant bringing him in with two outs in the fifth inning, following a gritty 58-pitch performance from starter Josh Tomlin. Miller entered with 13 2/3 scoreless innings to his name, and he quickly extended it to a round number by getting pinch-hitter Miguel Montero to line out sharply to right field. He struck out the side in the sixth, victimizing the Cubs with an unfair slider that brought about more futile swings. Along the way, Miller surpassed Rich Gossage (14 1/3 scoreless innings in 1981) and Mariano Rivera (14 each in 2003 and '09) in the record books. Miller, the MVP of the American League Championship Series, has not allowed a run since Sept. 7. Had this game been staged on AL grounds, Miller would have surely returned for one more inning, but now he seemingly has an extra one in his pocket come Saturday, when the Indians will start Corey Kluber on short rest. Trevor Bauer will also go on three days' rest in Game 5 on Sunday, magnifying the significance of Miller's availability -- no matter the inning. "To me, it's the playoffs, so you do whatever it takes, and you have a little extra flexibility because everything is on the line and you're not worrying about tomorrow so much as you are today," Miller said. "You're not worried about next week. A lot of times in the regular season, you're trying to sort things out because there's a much bigger picture. Here it is, we have five games left, so you do whatever it takes to try to win today." Kluber, Lackey ready for Game 4 0:28 By Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com 3:26 AM ET + 5 COMMENTS

7 CHICAGO -- No longer can we say it has been 71 years since Wrigley Field last hosted a World Series game. But we can say it has been 71 years and nine innings since it hosted a World Series game in which the Cubs scored. And with Chicago having been shut out twice in the first three games of this best-of-seven Fall Classic, there is plenty of pressure on the home nine to roar to life in Game 4 tonight. And the Cubs will have to do it against one of the best in the business. The Indians are sending staff ace Corey Kluber to the hill on short rest, looking to build on their 2-1 Series edge and put themselves on the precipice of their first championship in 68 years. The Cubs, who will counter with the October-tested John Lackey, are trying to regroup after a night of unsatisfying swings in a big swing game, and Kluber, who shut them down for six strong innings in Game 1, is a tough matchup. "The guys got to see him, so there won't be as much of a surprise the next time he pitches," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "[Like with Dodgers ace Clayton] Kershaw, the first game he pitched here [in the National League Championship Series], extremely sharp with everything. The next game we saw him, not as sharp. So you just don't know. It's difficult for pitchers to replicate time after time, especially against the same team, especially with shorter rest to be as sharp So hopefully that works to our advantage. But you've got to wait until the game's actually played to find out how sharp he is." Cleveland set a record with its fifth shutout of the postseason Friday night, and let the record show that the four teams that have posted four shutouts in a single postseason went on to win the World Series. Conversely, Chicago will be attempting to become the first team to win a championship after being shut out four times in a single postseason. That may seem daunting, but don't tell that to the Cubs, who just 10 days ago were shut out by the Dodgers on back-to-back nights in Games 3 and 4 of the NLCS and then bounced back to score 23 runs in their next three games to win the series. Kluber wasn't at his absolutely sharpest when he started Game 4 of the American League Championship Series -- one of only two games this postseason that the Indians lost -- on short rest for the first time in his career. But he worked around some early command woes to give the Indians five effective innings in which he allowed just two runs. Those are, in fact, the only two runs Kluber has given up in this postseason, as he's posted a 0.74 ERA in 24 1/3 innings over four starts. "Last time was my first time, so I didn't know what to expect or how I was going to feel," Kluber said of pitching on three days' rest. "Now that I do know that I felt fine, it's just a matter of using those three days to recover. I'll be fine just go out there and pitch." If Kluber pitches anything like he did in Game 1 of the World Series, he'll be in good position to potentially hand the ball to Andrew Miller with a lead. Miller, who threw just 17 pitches in Game 3 after throwing 46 in Game 1, will of course be available out of the Tribe's 'pen, which makes it all the more important that the Cubs get to Kluber early. Chicago knows that if it can win Game 4, the Series would head back to Cleveland for a Game 6. And because the Cubs' bats fared so well against Trevor Bauer in Game 2 and Bauer is scheduled to start on short rest in Game 5, they'd be in good position to go back to Progressive Field with a 3-2 lead. It all starts with making the adjustment against Kluber, whose devastating action on his two-seamer was a difference-maker in Game 1. "Any time Kluber's on the mound," Tribe pitching coach Mickey Callaway said, "we have a lot of confidence in him." The Cubs feel much the same way about Lackey, who has a 3.26 ERA in 25 prior postseason appearances, including 22 starts. Lackey is one of the game's most fiery competitors, and his experience is an asset. The question is how much his extended rest -- he's made just two starts since Sept. 27 and will be on nine days' rest for this outing -- affects him. Lackey has been throwing more side sessions in an effort to stay fresh. "It has been kind of a crazy schedule for me," Lackey said. "I feel like I'm pitching every two weeks. Once you get into the game, you kind of fall back on things you've been doing all season, and hopefully you execute." The Cubs didn't execute offensively in Game 3, and that was a big bummer for the fans who had packed the stands and the streets in anticipation of the North Side's first World Series game since Perhaps the excitement of the occasion got the best of the Cubs. "It's just one of those things," Maddon said. "We're capable of making the adjustments necessary, and we've got to do that moving forward. I don't think it was the residue of our guys being overwhelmed by the situation at all. I thought our guys -- evidenced by how well we played defense, we had great awareness on defense -- so the minds are working good. We just chased a little bit." Tonight, the Cubs will be chasing a Series tie, while the Indians will be chasing a 3-1 edge that 69 teams in 81 tries have turned into a World Series title. So Game 4 is a big, big deal, and all eyes are upon the Cubs' ability to make adjustments against Kluber. Anthony Castrovince has been a reporter for MLB.com since Read his columns and follow him on Twitter This story Tito willing to take chances to give Tribe edge By Michael Bauman / MLB.com 1:52 AM ET + 0 COMMENTS CHICAGO -- The fact that Indians manager Terry Francona started Carlos Santana in left field Friday night did not directly affect the outcome of Game 3. But it clearly established Francona's willingness to take a calculated risk. And it also underscored one of his fundamental strengths as a manager. The night went well for Francona and the Cleveland Indians. A brilliant series of pitching performances, keyed by starter Josh Tomlin's 4 2/3 shutout innings, led the Indians to a 1-0 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field and a 2-1 lead in the 2016 World Series. But Francona's use of Santana -- once a catcher, then a first baseman, now primarily a designated hitter -- was a courageous managerial move, and it illustrated one of the reasons that his players have an abiding belief in him. This situation arises because baseball plays by two sets of rules, one for the American League, one for the National League. In the World Series, the AL team loses the DH when it plays in the NL city. On paper then, the Indians would lose either Santana or first baseman Mike Napoli. Those two were co-leaders in home runs for the Tribe with 34 this season. Shop for Indians World Series and AL champs gear The path of least resistance for Francona would have been simply sitting either Santana or Napoli. This is what the divided DH rule basically dictates in cases of this sort, and it would leave the manager free from an epidemic of second guessing. Francona chose the road less traveled, sending Santana out to take fly balls in left during Thursday's workout at Wrigley Field. Santana had appeared in only one game in left in the Majors, and that was in 2012.

8 As Game 3 turned out, Santana was neither the hitting hero nor the fielding villain. He had three plate appearances before being removed in a double switch, striking out once and walking twice. In the outfield, Santana was tested only once, and moved to his left well enough to catch a fly ball by Kris Bryant in the first inning. But Francona had made a point that he would take a chance to make his team better on baseball's biggest stage. And before the fact, he took all the pressure off the player involved and placed it directly upon himself. "Once we qualified for the World Series, I started thinking a little bit, because I knew we'd be [in a National League city] for Games 3, 4 and 5," Francona said. "Even before they announced who they were pitching, I'd kind of start thinking about it. Because the choices are either sit Napoli or Santana. I think the safe thing to do -- or not safe but where somebody doesn't question me -- is to play somebody else in left field and sitting one of those guys. "I didn't think, when I thought it through, that puts us in the best position to win. We didn't come all this way to try to keep it close. I just think that -- and we said early on before the Boston series that we might have to get a little creative at times. I would prefer to attempt to do that and then see what happens, than play it safe and regret it later. "And I told Carlos, I said: 'You know, just do your best. And if there's an issue, tell people to come see me because it was my decision.' I don't think that's fair to Carlos, because, again, we'll see how it goes. "But I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think it gave us the best chance to win." With his manager doing his best to remove the pressure, Santana felt relatively relaxed about playing left. "I felt great, I felt fine," Santana said. "I was very focused before the game and I tried my best. I caught one popup and I felt natural. "After catching the ball, I felt more confident. I understand everybody worried about me, about how I would play in left field. But I'm very confident. Tito, he put me in the lineup and in left field tonight, and I did my job." There was one other option, which was to play Santana at third base, where he had 28 games of experience in 2014, and move third baseman Jose Ramirez to left. "We could have thought about that, [but] I thought we were then going to weaken ourselves at two positions," Francona said. "Jose's a much better third baseman than he is a left fielder. Carlos played third... and we stopped doing it because it wasn't in our best interest. So I just think, probably if you're going to play a position that's not yours, the further away, the better." Putting a player with truly minimal left-field experience in left field in a World Series game represented an obvious amount of risk. But the way Francona handled this maneuver took the potential damage off the player and placed it upon himself. This sort of thing is one of the reasons he has managed two World Series champions and is two victories away from a third. Mike Bauman is a national columnist for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. Kluber to ride sterling playoff resume into G4 By Jane Lee / 2:33 AM ET + 4 COMMENTS CHICAGO -- Small sample sizes uncover only so much, but Corey Kluber's postseason experience, which features all of four starts, reveals definitive results. Summed up by Indians manager Terry Francona, who will start the right-hander on short rest against the Cubs in Game 4 of the World Series on Saturday: "He's just really good." Any discussion about the underdog Indians willing their way to a World Series title over a 103-win Cubs club starts and ends with their ace, the gift that keeps on giving for Cleveland, which took a 2-1 Series lead with a 1-0 victory in Game 3 on Friday night. The team winning the third game of a 1-1 World Series has gone on to win the championship 37 times (64.9 percent), including in four of the last six years. While Kluber looks to lead the Indians to a 3-1 Series advantage, Chicago will counter with veteran right-hander John Lackey at Wrigley Field. "To this point," Kluber said, "I think that it's been just as fun and exciting as we all imagined it would be." Kluber, who could soon take home his second American League Cy Young Award in three seasons, is 3-1 with a minuscule 0.74 ERA and 29 strikeouts against seven walks in 24 1/3 innings this postseason. He thoroughly dominated the Cubs, who went just 4-for-22 against him, in a 6-0 Game 1 victory at Progressive Field on Tuesday, brilliantly spinning six-plus innings. The Cubs watched Kluber set a World Series record with eight strikeouts by the third inning. He finished with nine, logging just 88 pitches by the time he departed. The moderately light workload should counter the three-day break, which figures to be of no issue for this creature of habit. The 30-year-old Kluber, who is also expected to take the mound in Game 7 should the World Series extend that far, also pitched on three days' rest in Game 4 of the AL Championship Series against the Blue Jays, allowing his only runs of the postseason -- two of them -- in five solid innings. "I do think that he's good enough where you give him a task, you give him some time to think about it and get prepared," Francona said, "he's one of the best in baseball. I mean, this kid's routines are impeccable. He works hard. Every time he picks up a ball, there is intent. There's a reason that it's October 28 and his gas tank, the needle's on full. That's a pretty big compliment to his work ethic." Kluber could become the first pitcher since 2001 (Arizona's Curt Schilling) to pitch in Games 1, 4 and 7 in a Fall Classic. The last pitcher to start three games in a World Series was Chris Carpenter, who did so with the Cardinals in 2011 (Games 1, 5 and 7). "It's just basically doing the same stuff in one less day," a predictably stoic Kluber said. "I don't really feel like the last time I did it made a big difference in the way I felt the day I pitched. "I think you could probably ask anybody on either team and they're going to pitch whenever they're called upon at this point in time. I mean, it's the last series of the year. It's the World Series. I think you'd be really hard-pressed to find somebody who didn't want to go out there and pitch." Five alive: Tribe notches record playoff shutout By Matt Kelly / MLB.com 1:55 AM ET + 0 COMMENTS The Indians' pitching staff has been anything but conventional this postseason. But as they proved yet again in Friday's 1-0 victory over the Cubs in Game 3 of the World Series at Wrigley Field, Cleveland's arms have been dominant nonetheless.