Indians, Cubs face off in Game 4 of World Series

CHICAGO – Saturday night, the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs face-off in Game four of the 2016 World Series. Cleveland won Game three on Friday night 1-0 to take a 2-0 series lead.

This is the 87th time in World Series history that the Fall Classic has stood at 2-1 after three games, and it is the 13th time in the last 17 Series (beginning 2000) it has occurred.

Of the previous 86 times that a World Series has been 2-1 after three games, the team leading the series has won Game 4 to take a 3-1 series lead 43 times (50.0%).

Of the 43 teams leading 2-1 to have won Game 4 and take a 3-1 lead, 37 (86.0%) have gone on to win the Series, including each of the last 10 times (Los Angeles in 1988, Toronto in 1992 and 1993, Atlanta in 1995, New York Yankees in 2000, St. Louis in 2006, Philadelphia in 2008, New York in 2009, San Francisco in 2010 and Kansas City in 2015). The last team to take a 3-1 series lead and lose the Fall Classic was the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals.

The Indians improved to 13-6 all-time in Game 3 of a Postseason series, including 7-4 in a best-of-seven. Cleveland is now 4-2 overall in Game 3 of the Fall Classic. The Cubs dropped to 6-16 all-time in Game 3 of a Postseason series, including 4-11 in a best-of-seven. Chicago is now 3-8 overall in Game 3 of the World Series.

This marks the fifth time that the Indians have led 2-1 in any best-of-seven Postseason series. The other instances include the 1948 World Series vs. Boston (won Game 4, won series in 6); the 1997 ALCS vs. Baltimore (won Game 4, won series in 6); the 1998 ALCS vs. New York (lost Game 4, lost series in 6); and the 2007 ALCS vs. Boston (won Game 4, lost series in 7).

This is the eighth time that the Cubs trail a best-of-seven Postseason series, 2-1. They have lost the series in six of the previous seven instances, with the only exception coming in this year's NLCS against Los Angeles (won Game 4, won series in 6). The first six instances include the 1906 World Series vs. Chicago White Sox (won Game 4, lost series in 6); the 1918 World Series vs. Boston (lost Game 4, lost series in 6); the 1929 World Series vs. Philadelphia (lost Game 4, lost series in 5); the 1935 World Series vs. Detroit (lost Game 4, lost series in 6); the 1945 World Series vs. Detroit (lost Game 4, lost series in 7); the 1989 NLCS vs. San Francisco (lost Game 4, lost series in 5); and the 2016 NLCS vs. Los Angeles (won Game 4, won series in 6).

Last night's Game 3 was just the 25th 1-0 game in World Series history, as well as just the second in the past 20 seasons (The deciding Game 4 of the 2005 World Series was a 1-0 White Sox win).

Friday night marked the fifth World Series shutout in Indians history, joining Game 6 in 1920 (1-0 over Brooklyn), Game 7 in 1920 (3-0 over Brooklyn), Game 3 in 1948 (2-0 over Boston) and Game 1 of this series (6-0 win).

The Cubs will start RHP John Lackey. Lackey went 11-8 with a 3.35 ERA (70 ER/188.1 IP) in 29 starts in his first season with the Cubs, where he recorded 20 quality starts and logged a 1.06 WHIP, his lowest single-season mark in his career and sixth-lowest in the N.L. He held opponents to a .218 average, by far the lowest mark of his career. His previous best mark was a .246 opponent average in 2006 with the Angels. His .645 opponent OPS was also the lowest mark of his career.

The Indians will start RHP Corey Kluber. The 30-year-old right-hander is slated to start Game 4 of the World Series at Wrigley Field on Saturday night. He will be starting on a shortened three days’ rest since starting Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday, October 25 at Progressive Field. He went 18-9 with a 3.14 ERA (75ER/215.0IP) in 32 regular season starts.

REVIVAL | 112th WORLD SERIES

» The Cleveland Indians & Chicago Cubs are meeting in Major
League Baseball’s 112th World Series, the first meeting in Postsea- son history between the two franchises...second consecutive series for Cleveland to face an opponent for first time in PS history (also Toronto in ALCS); in ALDS, Tribe faced Boston for the sixth time in PS history.
» The 2016 Fall Classic has proven to be an historic event, as this year’s World Series features pennant-winners with baseball’s two longest championship droughts, as Cleveland is looking for the franchise’s first title since 1948 (68 years), while Chicago-NL is seeking to end a dry spell that dates back to 1908 (108 years)...the Indians last ap- peared in the World Series in 1997, the Cubs in 1945...additionally, this easily signifies the largest combined title drought between two teams facing one another in the World Series (source: Elias).

AIN’T WASTIN’ TIME NO MORE | TRIBE WINS GAME 3

» Cleveland edged Chicago-NL in Game 3 by a score of 1-0 to take a 2-1 lead in the series...the two teams split the first two games, as the Indians posted a 6-0 shutout in Game 1, while the Cubs responded with a 5-1 victory in Game 2...was first Indians home loss this Postseason (5-1 at home)...marks the 5th time for Cleveland to hold a 2-1 lead in any best-of-7 Postseason series (others: 1948 WS, 1997 ALCS, 1998 ALCS, 2007 ALCS); won Game 4 in ‘48, ‘97, ‘07...37 of the 43 teams (86.0%) that have held a 2-1 World Series lead AND then went on to win Game 4 have subsequently gone on to win the World Series overall; last team to take a 3-1 lead and lose the World Series was the
1985 St. Louis Cardinals.

ONE WAY OUT | 1-0 SHUTOUT

» The Indians posted the 25th 1-0 shutout in World Series history last night in Game 3, just the second over the past 20 seasons (2005 World Series G4; White Sox clinched WS with 1-0 win).
» With last night’s 1-0 win in Game 3, Cleveland’s pitching staff posted (a) the team’s fifth shutout of the 2016 Postseason (b) the 13th shutout in Cleveland Postseason history - 5th ever on the road - and (c) the fifth shutout in Cleveland World Series history - first ever on the road - the others coming in 1920 WS Games 6 & 7 vs. Brooklyn, 1948 WS Game 3 vs. Boston-NL & 2016 WS Game 1 vs. Chicago-NL.
» Cleveland’s 5 shutouts have established a new MLB record for a single Postseason, as previous record of 4 was accomplished by the 1905 Giants, 1998 Yankees, 2010 Giants & 2012 Giants.
» Cleveland is the first team to throw multiple shutouts in the same Fall Classic since the Giants in 2012 vs. Detroit (2-0 G3 win; 2-0 G4 win)... prior to 2012, the last team to have multiple shutouts in a single World Series was the 1966 Orioles (3 SHO’s)...the Indians are the first team to have each of their first two wins in a single World Series come by SHO since the 1959 Chicago White Sox vs. Los Angeles-NL (11-0 win in G1, 1-0 win in G5).
» Cleveland’s only previous 1-0 World Series win came in Game 6 of the 1920 Fall Classic at Cleveland’s Dunn Field.
WHIPPING POST | WINS & LOSSES
» Cleveland has a combined record of 103-69 in 2016, as the Indians
are 9-2 in the Postseason after finishing the regular season at 94-67... Cleveland swept Boston in 3 games to win the ALDS before taking 4 of 5 from Toronto in the ALCS...the Indians have won 12 of their last 14 dating back to regular season (14 consecutive games w/o losing 2 straight)... club is 19-7 since Sept. 16, losing consecutive games just twice in that 26-game span.

BLUE SKY | SCORELESS FRAMES

» Tribe hurlers have held opponents scoreless in 81.0 of the staff’s
98.0 innings pitched overall during the 2016 Postseason (82.7%)... the record for a single Postseason belongs to the 2014 San Francisco Giants, who tossed 130.0 scoreless frames.
» Cleveland’s 1.65 team ERA is the lowest figure among all 10 teams in the 2016 Postseason...next-closest team is current Toronto, who fin- ished with a 2.52 ERA...1.65 ERA currently ranks 22nd all-time for lowest team mark in a single Postseason - 6th-lowest in the Expansion Era (since 1961) behind only the 1966 Orioles (0.50), 1963 Dodgers (1.00), 1983 Orioles (1.10), 2014 Nationals (1.23) & 1961 Yankees (1.60).
» Cleveland pitchers saw the staff’s streak of 18.0 consecutive score- less innings come to an end in the 1st inning of World Series Game 2 (was first run allowed since 8th inning of ALCS G4 at Toronto), just 5.0 frames shy of the club’s franchise record of 23.0 - a streak that spanned 1948 World Series Games 2-4.

MIDNIGHT RIDERS | THE ‘PEN IS MIGHTIER

» ANDREW MILLER (15.0 IP) & CODY ALLEN (10.0 IP) have become
just the third pair of teammates to begin a single Postseason with 10+ innings of scoreless relief each...Allen and Miller join Dave Giusti/Bruce Kison (1971 Pirates - Won WS) & Wade Davis/Luke Hochevar (2015 Royals - Won WS)...should Allen make it to 11.0 scoreless IP, they will become the first pair ever to make it that far.
» Since acquiring Miller on July 31 (including Postseason), the Indians are 28-2 (.933) when holding a lead after 5 innings, 2nd-best in MLB (Texas 23-1, .958)...two losses were August 15 & 17...thanks to Aaron Charlton from STATS for research support.

STATESBORO BLUES | TRIBE POSTSEASON HISTORY

» Cleveland has gone 53-44 (.546) all-time in Postseason games, the
3rd-highest Postseason winning pct. of any A.L. team since 1901 & 5th-highest by any team in the Majors behind Florida (.667, 22-11), New York-AL (.590, 223-155), New York-NL (.573, 51-38) & Baltimore (.551, 54-44)...record would be 54-44 if 1948 A.L. Pennant playoff game of cially counted...Cleveland’s 97 of cial Postseason games are 6th- most played by any A.L. team since 1901, T12th-most in the Majors.
» Tribe’s longest Postseason winning streak is 6 games (Oct. 6-17, 2016), as this fall Cleveland became just the  fth team in MLB his- tory to win 6 consecutive games to begin a Postseason run...lon- gest Postseason losing streak is 4 games, done twice (Sept. 29-Oct. 2, 1954 - 4G WS sweep - & Oct. 18, 2007-Oct. 2, 2013).

DREAMS | CLEVELAND FALL CLASSICS

» The Cleveland Indians are appearing in in the franchise’s sixth World Series all-time...Tribe’s 6 appearances are tied with Baltimore and Oak- land for 5th-most in A.L. history behind New York-AL (40), Boston (12), Detroit (11) and Philadelphia-AL (8)...have appeared in the World Series on  ve (5) previous occasions, winning titles in 1920 (5-2 over Brook- lyn Robins) & 1948 (4-2 over Boston Braves)...the Tribe came up on the losing end in Fall Classics played in 1954 (4-0 to NY Giants), 1995 (4-2 to Atlanta) & 1997 (4-3 to Florida)...Cleveland is 16-17 (.485) all- time in World Series games; Tribe’s 33 World Series games played are 7th-most in the A.L. all-time...the 1903 World Series is considered to be Major League Baseball’s  rst modern installment of the event.
» This marks the  rst time for Cleveland to hold home- eld ad- vantage in the World Series...teams with home- eld advantage have won 6 of last 7 (exception: 2014 Kansas City Royals) & 9 of the last 12 Fall Classics.

RAMBLIN’ MAN | TITO IN THE POSTSEASON

» TERRY FRANCONA’s teams are 37-20 (.649) all-time in Postsea-
son play, the highest win% by any manager with at least 50 Postsea- son games managed...Tito’s 37 Postseason wins are tied with Casey Stengel (.587, 37-26) for 6th-most in MLB history after passing Hall-of- Famer Sparky Anderson in the ALCS.
» Francona has gone 10-1 (.909) all-time in the World Series...Tito’s 9-game World Series winning streak came to an end on Wednesday, as he lost for the first time ever in a Fall Classic...Tito is the only manager in Major League history to have won each of his first 9 World Series games...his streak of 9 straight wins was 3rd-longest ever by a manager behind Joe Torre (14) & Joe McCarthy (10).

SOUTHBOUND | CUBS SERIES NOTES

» The Cleveland & Chicago-NL franchises are meeting for the first time in MLB Postseason history...the two clubs have split 18 regular season meetings all-time (9-9), as the Indians have gone 6-5 vs. the Cubs at Progressive Field, while holding a 3-4 mark at Wrigley Field.
» The Indians & Cubs met most recently in 2015, splitting 4 decisions (1-1 in each city)...that season included a memorable trip to the North- side, as a June 15 rainout coincided with Game 6 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals - that same night, the Blackhawks defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 to win Lord Stanley on home ice for the first time since 1938 and then brought the Cup to Wrigley Field the next day for a pre- game warning track lap prior to first pitch between the Indians & Cubs.

YOU DON’T LOVE ME | INTERLEAVE PLAY

» Cleveland went 13-7 against the National League during the 2016 regular season, going 7-3 at home with the DH and 6-4 on the road... secured club’s first winning season in N.L. parks since 2005 (7-2)...out- scored N.L. opponents by a 113-77 (+36) margin...offense batted .277 (195-703) with 15 HR, a .763 OPS (.346 OBP/.417 SLG) and 5.7 runs- per-game (3rd in A.L., 4th in MLB), while pitching staff registered a 3.68 ERA (74 ER/181.0 IP), the A.L.’s 4th-lowest Interleague figure in 2016... Cleveland is 183-180 all-time in Interleague Play (1997-2016), going 103-77 vs. N.L. teams at home and 80-103 on the road in N.L. parks.

WASTED WORDS | MISC. NOTES

» The Indians have scored first in 8 of their 11 Postseason games thus far, going 8-0 in those contests; club is 1-2 when opponent scores first. » The Indians have struck out 8-or-more batters in 12 consecutive Postseason game dating back to the 2013 A.L. Wild Card Game, establishing the longest such streak in Postseason history (previ- ously mark was held by the Los Angeles Dodgers, who had an 11-game stretch that spanned 2014 NLDS Game 4 - 2016 NLDS Game 5)... Cleveland’s pitching staff has racked up 112 strikeouts across just 98.0 innings during the 2016 Postseason (10.29 SO-per-9.0IP), 2nd-most K’s by any team in the playoff field behind only Los Angeles-NL (113 in 96.0IP)...record for a single Postseason is held by the 2015 Kansas City Royals, who fanned 160 batters across 148 innings.

CLEVELAND ROCKS | THIS DAY IN MUSIC...

» 1971: Duane Allman was killed at the age of 24 following a motorcycle
accident in Macon, Georgia.
» BORN ON THIS DAY: (1946) Peter Green, founding member of
Fleetwood Mac; (1955) Roger O’Donnell, keyboards, The Cure; Kevin DuBrow, Quiet Riot; (1965) Peter Timmins, drummer, Cowboy Junkies; (1970) Toby Smith, keyboards, Jamiroquai.

WHY MUST YOU SHUT ME OUT?

The Chicago Cubs tonight play game four of the best-of-seven World Series against the Cleveland Indians after last night falling in game three, 1-0 ... Chicago, down two-games-to-one, was blanked for the second time in the Series (also a 6-0 setback in game one) and for the fourth time this postseason.
© Last evening marked Wrigley Field’s first World Series game since October 10, 1945, when the Cubs hosted the Tigers in game seven of the 1945 Fall Classic (a 9-3 Tigers win).
© According to ESPN Stats & Info, since Wrigley Field last was the site of a World Series game, 45 other ballparks have hosted a World Series contest.
© Chicago’s most recent World Series win at Wrigley Field was game six of the 1945 World Series, on October 8 ... that was an 8-7, 12-inning win over Detroit.

PITCHING IN

Cubs pitching has held opponents to one or no runs in three of their last four playoff games, including each of the last two games of this World Series ... Cubs starting pitchers have a 2.30 ERA (4 ER/15.2 IP) in the first three games of the Fall Classic.
© Jake Arrieta on Wednesday spun 5.1 innings of no-hit ball, which was the longest no-hit bid in a World Series game since Jerry Koosman of the New York Mets spun 6.0 innings of no-hit ball in game two of the 1969 Fall Classic.
FEAST OR FAMINE: The Cubs have plated five or more runs in eight of their 13 post- season contests this month, but have scored just one run combined in the other five games, including four shutouts.
© Chicago has averaged 6.0 runs per game in its eight post-season victories this
month while averaging 1.0 run per game in its five setbacks ... the Cubs are 8-1 when scoring at least one run this postseason.

QUITE A RETURN

Kyle Schwarber, who missed a majority of the season recovering from a left knee injury, went 3-for-7 (.429) with a double, two walks and two RBI as the team’s DH in the first two games of the World Series ... he is now hitting .343 (12-for-35) with a double, five homers and 10 RBI in 12 career post-season games.

EXPERIENCE ON THE BUMP

John Lackey tonight makes his 23rd career post- season start, the most for any active pitcher in baseball ... tonight’s outing will move him past Whitey Ford for the sixth-most starts in post-season history ... John Smoltz is fifth with 27 career post-season starts while Andy Pettitte holds the all- time record with 44 post-season starts.
© A win this evening would make Lackey the first pitcher in MLB history to record a post-season victory with four teams (Angels, Red Sox, Cardinals, Cubs).

YOUTH MOVEMENT

Wednesday night’s Cubs starting lineup featured six players under the age of 25: Kris Bryant (24), Kyle Schwarber (23), Javier Baez (23), Willson Contreras (24), Jorge Soler (24) and Addison Russell (22) ... that sets a World Series record for one team, surpassing the previous mark of five, done eight times (last by Cincinnati in game four of 1970 World Series).

BACK IN THE FALL CLASSIC

The Cubs this season have captured their first N.L.
Pennant since 1945, and now make their 11th appearance in the World Series ... Chicago won the Fall Classic in both 1907 and 1908.
© According to Elias Sports Bureau, no team in the four major North American sports had ever gone longer than 71 years without an appearance in a championship game/series.
© Including this year, Chicago’s 11 World Series appearances are surpassed by only six franchises: the Yankees (40), Giants (20),
Cardinals (19), Dodgers (18), Athletics (14) and Red Sox (12).
© Chicago now has won 17 National League Pennants ... only three Senior Circuit teams have won more: the Giants(23), Dodgers(21) and Cardinals (19).

A LOOK AT GAME FOUR

The Cubs are 8-10 in game four of post-season series, including a 2-0 record this year and a 1-1 mark in 2015 (won game four of the NLDS vs. St. Louis, 6-4; lost game four of the NLCS vs. the Mets, 8-3) ... Chicago is 4-6 all-time in World Series game fours.

NLCS CO-MVPS

Cubs pitcher Jon Lester and infielder Javier Baez were named co-MVPs of the NLCS ... they are the first NLCS Co-MVPs since Rob Dibble and Randy Myers in 1990 for Cincinnati.

BACK IN THE POSTSEASON

Chicago, who last season advanced to the NLCS, makes consecutive post-season appearances for just the second time since 1909 ... the Cubs made consecutive NLDS appearances in 2007-08.

FLY THE W

The Cubs compiled a 103-58 regular season record, tops in the majors and the team’s most since going 104-50 in 1910.
© With 103 wins, the 2016 Cubs are one of just three major league teams to win 100 regular season games within four seasons of losing 100 contests ... the Cubs, who went 61-101 in 2012, join only the 1969 Mets (100-62 after going 50-112 in 1965 and 61-101 in
1967) and the 1995 Indians (100-44 after going 57-105 in 1991) ... thanks to STATS, Inc.
© The Cubs have now reached 100 regular season wins six times in their 141 seasons dating to 1876 ... they’ve done so in 1906(116-36), 1907 (107-45), 1909 (104-49), 1910 (104-50), 1935 (100-54) and now in 2016.

O CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN

Manager Joe Maddon is only the second skipper in club history to reach the postseason in his first two seasons ... he joins Lou Piniella, who led the 2007-08 Cubs to the playoffs ... this is his sixth postseason appearance as a manager, having taken Tampa Bay to the playoffs in 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2013.

START ME UP

Jon Lester is making his fourth-straight trip to the playoffs ... during the regular season, he went 19-5 with a 2.44 ERA (55 ER/202.IP), the second-best mark in baseball.
© Lester recorded a quality start in all 15 of his home appearances, setting the franchise record (since at least 1913) for the most
home starts in a single season without throwing a non-quality start.
© Kyle Hendricks, the owner of an MLB-best 2.13 ERA (45 ER/190.0 IP), and Lester combined to notch baseball’s top two ERAs,
becoming the first teammate pair to do so since Roger Clemens (1.87) and Andy Pettitte (2.39) did so with the 2005 Astros.

ROUSING ROTATION

Cubs starters combined to allow only 6.91 hits per nine innings, the third-lowest mark all-time and the lowest mark since 1968 ... the Cubs are the first team to have four or more starters win 15 or more games in one season since the 2004 Cardinals ... Elias notes the Cubs have five pitchers with more than 10 wins for the first time since 1945 when Hank Wyse (22 wins), Claude Passeau (17), Paul Derringer (16), Ray Prim (13) and Hank Borowy (11) turned the trick.

THIS IS OFFENSIVE


The Cubs, with 808 runs scored in the regular season, have surpassed 800 runs for only the fourth time since 1938 (855 runs in 2008, 831 in 1998, 806 in 1970) ... overall, the Cubs have reached 800 runs only nine times in modern franchise history starting in 1900.