CHICAGO -- They have waited 108 years for a championship. So with this World Series on the verge of slipping away, the Chicago Cubs could not wait any longer.
Manager Joe Maddon summoned closer Aroldis Chapman from the bullpen in the seventh inning for the first eight-out save of his big league career, a desperate move in a dire situation with the Cubs needing to hold off the Cleveland Indians in Game 5.
As nervous fans fretted at Wrigley Field, the big Cuban left-hander fired his 100 mph heat over and over, preserving a 3-2 win Sunday night that cut Cleveland's Series lead to 3-2.
"I didn't expect to come in so early, but I mentally prepared myself," Chapman said through a translator. "I was ready to come in at a moment's notice."
The crowd of 41,711 erupted when Jose Ramirez, who had homered earlier, foul tipped a 101 mph offering at the outside corner into the glove of catcher Willson Contreras for the final out.
A white flag with a blue "W" was raised atop Wrigley Field after a Series win for the first time since Oct. 8, 1945, in Game 6 over Detroit. Fans stayed long after the final out and sang "Sweet Home Chicago" as Cubs returned to the field for media interviews.
"High anxiety," first baseman Anthony Rizzo said. "A lot of deep breaths. Every pitch gets bigger and bigger as the game goes on. It's unbelievable. Great win here. We sent these fans off with a win. Now we have to go to Cleveland and win."
Chicago, which led the majors this year with 103 regular-season wins, will try to extend its season again Tuesday night when Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta faces Josh Tomlin. The Cubs are trying to become the first club to overcome a 3-1 Series deficit since the 1985 Kansas City Royals and the first to do it by winning Games 6 and 7 on the road since the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.
Seeking its first title since 1948, Cleveland is in search of its third-ever title and has won the championship at home just once, in 1920. Over 67,000 showed up at Progressive Field just to watch the three road games on the video board.
"It's going to be crazy. It's going to be nuts," first baseman Mike Napoli said. "They're going to be pretty fired up, and they're going to get us going."
Chapman, obtained from the Yankees in July, hadn't pitched in the seventh inning since 2012. He took a chug of water from a plastic bottle on the left-field bullpen mound when Maddon called him in with a runner on.
"That was a big ask, and he answered," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "That was impressive."
Of Chapman's 42 pitches, 15 flew in at 100 mph or faster.
"It's something you can't normally do during the season without beating somebody up too badly," Maddon said. . "But I talked to Chappy before the game. He was aware of being ready in the seventh inning. So we had that all in play."
Chapman struck out four, raising his total to eight over five innings in three Series appearances.
"This guy's used to just getting three outs," Cubs starter Jon Lester said. "He was fired up. We were all fired up to get through that."
With the crowd at the Friendly Confines desperate, Kris Bryant homered to start a three-run burst in the fourth off Trevor Bauer that gave Lester a 3-1 lead. The Indians nicked Lester for a run in the sixth, and Carl Edwards Jr. took over to begin the seventh with a 3-2 edge.
Chapman came in with a runner on second and one out and retired Roberto Perez on an inning-ending groundout with two on as fans screamed. After Rajai Davis stole second and third in the eighth, Francisco Lindor took a 101 mph pitch at the knees for an inning-ending called third strike, then stood in the batter's box for nearly 20 seconds in anger and frustration.
Chapman finished with a 1-2-3 ninth. He threw 35 fastballs, six sliders and one changeup.
Lester, the Game 1 loser, improved to 4-1 in Series play by allowing two runs and six hits .
Ramirez homered in the second to put the Indians ahead, and Cleveland closed within a run in the sixth when Davis singled, stole second scored on a two-out single by Lindor , who is hitting .421 in the Series.
Bauer, his pinkie seemingly healed from a cut sustained while playing with a toy drone during the AL Championship Series, dropped to 0-2 in the Series, giving up three runs and six hits in four innings .
After a pair of relatively balmy autumn nights on the North Side, the temperature dropped to 50 degrees at game time and a 10 mph win added chill. Maddon wore a Cubs ski hat with a blue pompom rather than a baseball cap.
Bryant, in a 1-for-15 slide, led off the fourth by driving a fastball into the left-field bleachers, where a fan in the first row dropped it.
Rizzo sent the next pitch off the ivy on the right-field wall for a double, admiring its flight before hustling, took third on Ben Zobrist's single and came home with the go-ahead run when Addison Russell reached out and topped a pitch down the third-base line for an infield single.
Jason Heyward took a called third strike, slumping Javier Baez dropped a bunt down the third-base line for a single that loaded the bases and Ross, a 39-year-old making perhaps his final big league start, hit a sacrifice fly for a 3-1 lead.
"We're writing our own history. We're making history. Why stop?" Russell said. "This is entertaining to us. It's fun, and we live for this."
CARBON COPY
Ross allowed Santana's second-inning foul pop to glance off his glove and Rizzo batted the ball in the air with his bare hand, then gloved it. It was similar to Game 6 in 1980, when Philadelphia first baseman Pete Rose grabbed Frank White's foul pop after it nicked off catcher Bob Boone.
WEB GEM
Heyward grabbed onto the brick wall in the right-field corner in the third, then reached back to catch Bauer's wind-blown foul fly.
MOVING ON
This was the last game with the bullpens in foul territory at Wrigley, where new pens under the bleachers are to open next season. Zobrist had to climb the mound to catch Kipnis' seventh-inning fly.
Cleveland Indians
Manager Joe Maddon summoned closer Aroldis Chapman from the bullpen in the seventh inning for the first eight-out save of his big league career, a desperate move in a dire situation with the Cubs needing to hold off the Cleveland Indians in Game 5.
As nervous fans fretted at Wrigley Field, the big Cuban left-hander fired his 100 mph heat over and over, preserving a 3-2 win Sunday night that cut Cleveland's Series lead to 3-2.
"I didn't expect to come in so early, but I mentally prepared myself," Chapman said through a translator. "I was ready to come in at a moment's notice."
The crowd of 41,711 erupted when Jose Ramirez, who had homered earlier, foul tipped a 101 mph offering at the outside corner into the glove of catcher Willson Contreras for the final out.
A white flag with a blue "W" was raised atop Wrigley Field after a Series win for the first time since Oct. 8, 1945, in Game 6 over Detroit. Fans stayed long after the final out and sang "Sweet Home Chicago" as Cubs returned to the field for media interviews.
"High anxiety," first baseman Anthony Rizzo said. "A lot of deep breaths. Every pitch gets bigger and bigger as the game goes on. It's unbelievable. Great win here. We sent these fans off with a win. Now we have to go to Cleveland and win."
Chicago, which led the majors this year with 103 regular-season wins, will try to extend its season again Tuesday night when Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta faces Josh Tomlin. The Cubs are trying to become the first club to overcome a 3-1 Series deficit since the 1985 Kansas City Royals and the first to do it by winning Games 6 and 7 on the road since the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.
Seeking its first title since 1948, Cleveland is in search of its third-ever title and has won the championship at home just once, in 1920. Over 67,000 showed up at Progressive Field just to watch the three road games on the video board.
"It's going to be crazy. It's going to be nuts," first baseman Mike Napoli said. "They're going to be pretty fired up, and they're going to get us going."
Chapman, obtained from the Yankees in July, hadn't pitched in the seventh inning since 2012. He took a chug of water from a plastic bottle on the left-field bullpen mound when Maddon called him in with a runner on.
"That was a big ask, and he answered," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "That was impressive."
Of Chapman's 42 pitches, 15 flew in at 100 mph or faster.
"It's something you can't normally do during the season without beating somebody up too badly," Maddon said. . "But I talked to Chappy before the game. He was aware of being ready in the seventh inning. So we had that all in play."
Chapman struck out four, raising his total to eight over five innings in three Series appearances.
"This guy's used to just getting three outs," Cubs starter Jon Lester said. "He was fired up. We were all fired up to get through that."
With the crowd at the Friendly Confines desperate, Kris Bryant homered to start a three-run burst in the fourth off Trevor Bauer that gave Lester a 3-1 lead. The Indians nicked Lester for a run in the sixth, and Carl Edwards Jr. took over to begin the seventh with a 3-2 edge.
Chapman came in with a runner on second and one out and retired Roberto Perez on an inning-ending groundout with two on as fans screamed. After Rajai Davis stole second and third in the eighth, Francisco Lindor took a 101 mph pitch at the knees for an inning-ending called third strike, then stood in the batter's box for nearly 20 seconds in anger and frustration.
Chapman finished with a 1-2-3 ninth. He threw 35 fastballs, six sliders and one changeup.
Lester, the Game 1 loser, improved to 4-1 in Series play by allowing two runs and six hits .
Ramirez homered in the second to put the Indians ahead, and Cleveland closed within a run in the sixth when Davis singled, stole second scored on a two-out single by Lindor , who is hitting .421 in the Series.
Bauer, his pinkie seemingly healed from a cut sustained while playing with a toy drone during the AL Championship Series, dropped to 0-2 in the Series, giving up three runs and six hits in four innings .
After a pair of relatively balmy autumn nights on the North Side, the temperature dropped to 50 degrees at game time and a 10 mph win added chill. Maddon wore a Cubs ski hat with a blue pompom rather than a baseball cap.
Bryant, in a 1-for-15 slide, led off the fourth by driving a fastball into the left-field bleachers, where a fan in the first row dropped it.
Rizzo sent the next pitch off the ivy on the right-field wall for a double, admiring its flight before hustling, took third on Ben Zobrist's single and came home with the go-ahead run when Addison Russell reached out and topped a pitch down the third-base line for an infield single.
Jason Heyward took a called third strike, slumping Javier Baez dropped a bunt down the third-base line for a single that loaded the bases and Ross, a 39-year-old making perhaps his final big league start, hit a sacrifice fly for a 3-1 lead.
"We're writing our own history. We're making history. Why stop?" Russell said. "This is entertaining to us. It's fun, and we live for this."
CARBON COPY
Ross allowed Santana's second-inning foul pop to glance off his glove and Rizzo batted the ball in the air with his bare hand, then gloved it. It was similar to Game 6 in 1980, when Philadelphia first baseman Pete Rose grabbed Frank White's foul pop after it nicked off catcher Bob Boone.
WEB GEM
Heyward grabbed onto the brick wall in the right-field corner in the third, then reached back to catch Bauer's wind-blown foul fly.
MOVING ON
This was the last game with the bullpens in foul territory at Wrigley, where new pens under the bleachers are to open next season. Zobrist had to climb the mound to catch Kipnis' seventh-inning fly.
| View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-Pitch | Inning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Cleveland - Top of 1st | SCORE | |
|---|---|---|
| Jon Lester pitching for Chicago | CLE | CHC |
| Davis struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Kipnis struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Lindor struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Chicago - Bottom of 1st | SCORE | |
| Trevor Bauer pitching for Cleveland | CLE | CHC |
| Fowler struck out looking. | 0 | 0 |
| Bryant struck out looking. | 0 | 0 |
| Rizzo flied out to left. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Cleveland - Top of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Jon Lester pitching for Chicago | CLE | CHC |
| Napoli popped out to second. | 0 | 0 |
| Santana fouled out to catcher. | 0 | 0 |
| Ramírez homered to left (383 feet). | 1 | 0 |
| Guyer grounded out to third. | 1 | 0 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Chicago - Bottom of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Trevor Bauer pitching for Cleveland | CLE | CHC |
| Zobrist lined out to right. | 1 | 0 |
| Russell singled to center. | 1 | 0 |
| Heyward struck out looking. | 1 | 0 |
| Báez struck out swinging. | 1 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Cleveland - Top of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Jon Lester pitching for Chicago | CLE | CHC |
| Pérez fouled out to third. | 1 | 0 |
| Bauer fouled out to right. | 1 | 0 |
| Davis lined out to second. | 1 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Chicago - Bottom of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Trevor Bauer pitching for Cleveland | CLE | CHC |
| Ross grounded out to shortstop. | 1 | 0 |
| Lester struck out looking. | 1 | 0 |
| Fowler lined out to right. | 1 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Cleveland - Top of 4th | SCORE | |
| Jon Lester pitching for Chicago | CLE | CHC |
| Kipnis bunt grounded out to catcher. | 1 | 0 |
| Lindor flied out to left. | 1 | 0 |
| Napoli fouled out to catcher. | 1 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Chicago - Bottom of 4th | SCORE | |
| Trevor Bauer pitching for Cleveland | CLE | CHC |
| Bryant homered to left center (387 feet). | 1 | 1 |
| Rizzo doubled to deep right. | 1 | 1 |
| Zobrist singled to right, Rizzo to third. | 1 | 1 |
| Russell reached on infield single to third, Rizzo scored, Zobrist to second. | 1 | 2 |
| Heyward struck out swinging. | 1 | 2 |
| Báez reached on bunt single to third, Zobrist to third, Russell to second. | 1 | 2 |
| Ross hit sacrifice fly to left, Zobrist scored. | 1 | 3 |
| Lester struck out looking. | 1 | 3 |
| 3 Runs, 5 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Cleveland - Top of 5th | SCORE | |
| Jon Lester pitching for Chicago | CLE | CHC |
| Santana doubled to right. | 1 | 3 |
| Ramírez grounded out to shortstop, Santana to third. | 1 | 3 |
| Guyer struck out looking. | 1 | 3 |
| Pérez grounded out to shortstop. | 1 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Chicago - Bottom of 5th | SCORE | |
| Mike Clevinger pitching for Cleveland | CLE | CHC |
| Clevinger relieved Bauer. | 1 | 3 |
| Fowler flied out to left. | 1 | 3 |
| Bryant walked. | 1 | 3 |
| Rizzo lined out to center. | 1 | 3 |
| Bryant stole second, Bryant safe at third on throwing error by catcher Pérez. | 1 | 3 |
| Zobrist walked. | 1 | 3 |
| Russell lined out to right. | 1 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 Errors | ||
| Cleveland - Top of 6th | SCORE | |
| Jon Lester pitching for Chicago | CLE | CHC |
| Crisp hit for Clevinger. | 1 | 3 |
| Crisp grounded out to third. | 1 | 3 |
| Davis singled to shallow left. | 1 | 3 |
| Davis stole second. | 1 | 3 |
| Kipnis struck out looking. | 1 | 3 |
| Lindor singled to center, Davis scored. | 2 | 3 |
| Lindor caught stealing second, catcher to second. | 2 | 3 |
| 1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Chicago - Bottom of 6th | SCORE | |
| Bryan Shaw pitching for Cleveland | CLE | CHC |
| Shaw relieved Clevinger. | 2 | 3 |
| Heyward struck out looking. | 2 | 3 |
| Báez struck out swinging. | 2 | 3 |
| Montero hit for Ross. | 2 | 3 |
| Montero struck out swinging. | 2 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Cleveland - Top of 7th | SCORE | |
| Carl Edwards pitching for Chicago | CLE | CHC |
| Edwards Jr. relieved Lester. | 2 | 3 |
| Contreras catching. | 2 | 3 |
| Napoli singled to left. | 2 | 3 |
| Napoli to second on passed ball by Contreras. | 2 | 3 |
| Santana flied out to left. | 2 | 3 |
| Chapman relieved Edwards Jr.. | 2 | 3 |
| Ramírez struck out swinging. | 2 | 3 |
| Guyer hit by pitch. | 2 | 3 |
| Pérez grounded out to second. | 2 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Chicago - Bottom of 7th | SCORE | |
| Bryan Shaw pitching for Cleveland | CLE | CHC |
| Contreras grounded out to shortstop. | 2 | 3 |
| Allen relieved Shaw. | 2 | 3 |
| Gomes catching. | 2 | 3 |
| Fowler hit by pitch. | 2 | 3 |
| Fowler stole second. | 2 | 3 |
| Bryant struck out looking. | 2 | 3 |
| Rizzo intentionally walked. | 2 | 3 |
| Zobrist popped out to shortstop. | 2 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Cleveland - Top of 8th | SCORE | |
| Aroldis Chapman pitching for Chicago | CLE | CHC |
| Gomes struck out looking. | 2 | 3 |
| Davis reached on infield single to first. | 2 | 3 |
| Davis stole second. | 2 | 3 |
| Kipnis fouled out to left. | 2 | 3 |
| Davis stole third. | 2 | 3 |
| Lindor struck out looking. | 2 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Chicago - Bottom of 8th | SCORE | |
| Cody Allen pitching for Cleveland | CLE | CHC |
| Russell struck out swinging. | 2 | 3 |
| Heyward singled to right center. | 2 | 3 |
| Heyward stole second. | 2 | 3 |
| Báez struck out swinging. | 2 | 3 |
| Heyward stole third. | 2 | 3 |
| Chapman struck out swinging. | 2 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Cleveland - Top of 9th | SCORE | |
| Aroldis Chapman pitching for Chicago | CLE | CHC |
| Napoli grounded out to shortstop. | 2 | 3 |
| Santana flied out to right. | 2 | 3 |
| Ramírez struck out swinging. | 2 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
Cleveland Indians
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | #P | AVG | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davis CF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20 | .200 | .294 | .267 |
| Kipnis 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 16 | .238 | .273 | .476 |
| Lindor SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 14 | .421 | .476 | .474 |
| Napoli 1B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | .200 | .294 | .200 |
| Santana LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | .267 | .421 | .533 |
| Ramírez 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 15 | .300 | .333 | .500 |
| Guyer RF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 | .143 | .455 | .143 |
| Pérez C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | .188 | .278 | .563 |
Allen P
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Bauer P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | |
a-Crisp PH
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | .286 | .286 | .429 |
Shaw P
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
Gomes C
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Totals | 32 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 142 | |||
| a-grounded to third for M Clevinger in the 6th | ||||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Santana (1, Lester) HR: Ramírez (1, 2nd inning off Lester 0 on, 2 Out) RBI: Ramírez (2), Lindor (2) 2-out RBI: Ramírez, Lindor Indians RISP: 1-10 (Kipnis 0-2, Santana 0-1, Guyer 0-1, Ramírez 0-2, Lindor 1-2, Pérez 0-2) Team LOB: 4 | ||||||||||
| BASERUNNING SB: Davis 3 (3, 3rd base off Chapman/Contreras, 2nd base off Lester/Ross, 2nd base off Chapman/Contreras) CS: Lindor (2, 2nd base by Lester/Ross) | ||||||||||
| FIELDING E: Pérez (1, throw) | ||||||||||
Game Information
| Stadium | Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL |
| Attendance | 41,711 (101.9% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 3:27 |
| Weather | 50 degrees, cloudy |
| Wind | 10 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Tony Randazzo, First Base - Joe West, Second Base - Sam Holbrook, Third Base - Chris Guccione, Left Field - John Hirschbeck, Right Field - Marvin Hudson |
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