Indians murderous in Game 1.
CLEVE-LAND (AP) – Cleveland beat the Chicago Cubs 6-0 in Tuesday’s opening game of the World Series, led by six scoreless innings from starting pitcher Corey Kluber and two home runs from an unexpected source in catcher Roberto Perez.
In a match of teams with the majors’ longest championship droughts – Cleveland last won the World Series in 1948 and the Cubs way back in 1908 – the Indians scored twice in the first inning off Cubs ace Jon Lester and were on their way.
Chicago did threaten a comeback in the seventh inning. Trailing 3-0, the Cubs loaded the bases with no outs but Indians reliever Andrew Miller escaped the jam with a couple of strikeouts.
Miller allowed another two base runners in the eighth but again got out of strife to maintain the three-run buffer.
In the bottom of the eighth, Perez hit a three-run homer to effectively seal the win. He became the first No.9 hitter in a batting order to clear the fences twice in a World Series game.
The Game 1 winner has taken the title in all of the past six World Series and 17 of 19.
“I have no concerns,’’ Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “It’s the first game. I’m fine. We’re fine.’’
Francisco Lindor had three hits as the Indians improved to 8-1 in this postseason. Cleveland manager Terry Francona is now 9-0 in World Series games, including sweeps by his Boston teams in 2004 and `07.
Trevor Bauer, trying to come back from a deep cut on the little finger of his pitching hand, will start Game 2 for the Indians on Wednesday against Chicago’s Jake Arrieta. Because the forecast called for an increased chance of rain later in the evening, Major League Baseball moved the start forward by an hour to 7:08 p.m. local time.
Kluber struck out eight in the first three innings. He combined with relievers Miller and Cody Allen to fan 15.
Lester, who had been 3-0 in three World Series starts with a superb earned run average of 0.43, stumbled in the opening inning.