Hello. I’m a Cubs fan wondering how in the hell I’m going to survive the next 24 hours. My head is spinning, so apologies if anything in today’s Cheat Sheet doesn’t make sense. It’s go time…
Cubs launch three dingers to to beat Indians and force a World Series Game 7
As my buddy texted me right when the game ended, “the two greatest words in sports”: Game Seven.
That’s what we’ll have now in the World Series after the Cubs took down the Indians 9-3 on Thursday night in Cleveland, thanks to three Cubs homers, a solid performance from Jake Arrieta, and a controversial relief outing from Aroldis Chapman. Oh, and thanks to some very bad Indians defense for two of those runs.
Indians starter Josh Tomlin looked on the money for the first two batters of the game, and then had an 0-2 count on Kris Bryant with the crowd going crazy at Progressive Field. And Tomlin hung a curveball. You don’t want to hang curveballs to the man who will win the 2016 NL MVP:
Tomlin then allowed singles to Anthony Rizzo and Ben Zobrist, and Addison Russell hit a routine flyball to right-center field. Or, what should’ve been a routine flyball. Yikes:
So, what looked like an easy first inning for Tomlin quickly turned into a 3-0 Cubs lead (although his defense is largely to blame for two of those runs).
Tomlin exited the game with the bases loaded and one out in the third, and was replaced by Dan Otero. The first strike Otero threw resulted in a GRAND SLAM from 22-year-old Cubs shortstop Addison Russell:
And Anthony Rizzo added a dinger of his own to really put things away in the ninth:
One of the big stories to come out of the game was in regard to Cubs manager Joe Maddon choosing to use closer/ace reliever Aroldis Chapman for 1 1/3 innings (beginning in the seventh) with the Cubs up five runs.
Yes, the Cubs had to win this game, but their win expectancy was still over 90% at that point, and there’s of course a Game 7 today! And it was really questionable when Chapman entered in the ninth with the Cubs up seven runs, but Maddon explained after the game that it was simply because the Cubs didn’t have anyone warming up yet as Rizzo’s homer to extend the lead came with two outs.
Chapman only threw four pitches in that ninth, and 20 total, so it’s not like he threw too many, but they’re still pitches he probably didn’t need to throw when the Cubs could really need him tonight. Still, Chapman is a free agent after this season, so the Cubs don’t really care about protecting his arm provided it can still be effective to win one game, and he says he will be able to go without limitations tonight:
Aroldis Chapman just said he will be available, without limitations, in Game 7 of the #WorldSeries. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 2, 2016
Corey Kluber makes his third start of the series for the Indians, and his second straight on short rest. The Indians have won both of his starts. Kyle Hendricks — possibly this year’s NL Cy Young winner — takes the mound for the Cubs. It sure seems like Jon Lester may follow Hendricks in relief, after starting Game 5:
Jon Lester "definitely" will be available in relief for Game 7, Joe Maddon says. He's not sure if he's a candidate to close.
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) November 2, 2016
So, this game may include Corey Kluber, Kyle Hendricks, Jon Lester, Andrew Miller, and Aroldis Chapman. This would be like an All-Star Game usage of pitchers, except to decide the dang World Series! This is going to be nuts. Even if you aren’t much of a baseball fan, this is still going to be some must-see TV.
The first College Football Playoff Rankings of the year are out
And here they are:
First Rankings: #CFBPlayoff Top 25 pic.twitter.com/W9tz3euNNL
— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) November 1, 2016
Texas A&M being in at No. 4 over Washington is the fairly surprise choice that is getting all the talk. You can read our reaction to the rankings here.
Quick Hits
– Mets closer Jeurys Familia was arrested on domestic violence charges.
– Percy Harvin has unretired to sign with the Buffalo Bills.
– Ken Fang asks, “So why are the NFL ratings down this season?”
– Joakim Noah’s “tornado” shot only seems to be getting worse. I mean, at least the thing used to touch iron. This shot would be laughed at in a third-grade basketball game:
– Aaron Gordon pulled off an in-game 360 dunk:
https://youtu.be/X1KqIDLGHUQ
– The Warriors are not happy with LeBron’s “3-1 lead” Halloween party decoration.
– Speaking of the Warriors, they dropped 127 on the Trail Blazers in a win last night. Full highlights:
https://youtu.be/q_OHCfZuBvI
– I took a look at what’s new on Netflix this month, and what’s leaving it (unfortunately a lot of awesome movies are gone).
– Conan went to Harlem, and it was pretty damn funny.
Here’s a scene from a show I like
The calzones… betrayed me?!
One last glorious moment of procrastination
This squirrel must be eating the most delicious nut in the world
