Zobrist named World Series MVP

CLEVELAND - Cubs leftfielder Ben Zobrist was named most valuable player of the World Series on Wednesday after delivering the go-ahead run in the 10th inning of Chicago's deciding 8-7 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

With the Indians having come back in the eighth inning to tie Game Seven at 6-6, Zobrist stepped to the plate and doubled down the leftfield line to score Albert Almora and put Chicago back in front 7-6.

Miguel Montero followed with what would be the game-winning RBI, snapping Chicago's 108-year championship drought.

It was the second consecutive year Zobrist has celebrated a World Series triumph, having helped the Kansas City Royals to the Major League Baseball championship last season.

Zobrist was 10-for-28 for a .357 batting average during the World Series with two doubles and a triple.

(Editing by Nick Mulvenney/Larry Fine)

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Cubs win World Series for first time since 1908

The Chicago Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in extra innings on Wednesday to win their first World Series since 1908 and end the longest title drought in North American professional sports.

With the win, the Cubs clinched the best-of-seven series in seven games over an Indians team that fell one victory short of their first Major League Baseball title in 68 years after squandering a commanding 3-1 series lead.

(Reporting by Larry Fine; Editing by Frank Pingue)

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Cubs crush Indians to send World Series to Game 7

CLEVELAND - The Chicago Cubs set up a winner-take-all Game Seven of the World Series by crushing the Cleveland Indians 9-3 on Tuesday to level Major League Baseball's best-of-seven championship.

Facing elimination, reigning Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta won his second game of the series, backed by 22-year-old shortstop Addison Russell, who smashed a grand slam on his way to logging a World Series record-tying six runs batted in.

Kris Bryant, who had four hits, and Anthony Rizzo also homered for Chicago, who erupted for 13 hits off six Indians pitchers.


The victory kept alive the Cubs' quest of winning their first Fall Classic title in 108 years, and for the second time in as many games Chicago put on hold Cleveland's celebration of a first World Series crown since 1948.

The deciding Game Seven will be played in Cleveland on Wednesday with the Indians starting ace Corey Kluber, winner of two games already this series, against Chicago's Kyle Hendricks, the National League ERA leader.

(Editing by Frank Pingue)

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Cubs stay alive with win over Indians

Win keeps alive dream of first title in 108 years

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs kept alive their World Series hopes by beating the Indians, 3-2, in Game 5 at Wrigley Field on Sunday to send the best-of-seven Major League Baseball championship back to Cleveland.

The Indians lead the series 3-2 ahead of Game 6 on Tuesday.

Chicago's quiet bats came to life in the fourth inning with three runs, sparked by a home run from Kris Bryant and four more hits that followed that allowed the Cubs to hold on to the dream of winning their first World Series in 108 years.

On the brink of elimination, Cubs ace starter Jon Lester turned in a strong six innings to reignite roars from the home crowd and flame-throwing reliever Aroldis Chapman did a yeoman's job in registering the last eight outs to preserve the must win.

"It didn't feel like an elimination game," said 24-year-old third baseman Bryant. "Jon (Lester) doing his thing, Chapman coming in for eight outs. That was an unbelievable win."

Rizzo, who followed Bryant's blast with a double off the wall in right and came around to score, had a different take on the mounting tension in the win-or-go-home thriller.

"High anxiety and a lot of deep breaths," Rizzo said about dealing with the pressure. "Every pitch gets bigger and bigger as the game goes on.

"Great win, to set these fans off with a win. Now we get to go back to Cleveland and take care of business."

Chapman, whose longest outing this season was 2 1/3 innings, was asked to go one out longer when Cubs manager Joe Maddon brought him in with out in the seventh and a man on first and the score 3-2.

But the Cuban-born reliever poured his 100 mph-plus fastballs in to overpower the Indians, striking out four on his way to the critical save.

Lester, who yielded two runs on four hits while striking out five, registered the victory. Cleveland starter Trevor Bauer took the loss, his second of the Series.

Before the game, spirits did not seem as high among fans compared to the first two games played in Chicago, as revelers seemed subdued, wary of a third straight loss at Wrigley.

But by the end, the crowd was roaring and after Jose Ramirez struck out to end the game, fans inside and outside Wrigley stood and sang the team song with the title dream still alive.

"I'm feeling amazing," Nicole Herrington, who lives a few blocks from the stadium with her husband and four-month-old boy, told Reuters. "We can't believe that they are not (going to win).

"It's been unbelievable. One hundred and three wins in the regular season. They got to take it in Cleveland. They have to take it in Cleveland.

"How can we not win it now?"

Chicago's Jake Arrieta, the Game 2 winner for the Cubs, is scheduled to start Game 6 on Tuesday against Josh Tomlin, with a Game 7 to be played in Cleveland on Wednesday if needed.

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Indians rip Cubs to reach brink of World Series title

CHICAGO -- Cleveland's Corey Kluber pitched superbly on short rest while Jason Kipnis and Carlos Santana smashed home runs as the Indians moved within one victory of their first World Series title since 1948 by routing the Chicago Cubs 7-2 on Saturday.

The Indians took a 3-1 lead in Major League Baseball's best-of-seven final and can end their title drought -- while extending Chicago's epic 107-year futility streak -- by winning game five Sunday at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs, in their first World Series since 1945, are trying to end the longest title drought in American sports history by capturing their first World Series since 1908. The Indians' 67-year title drought is the second longest in the major leagues.

Teams with a 3-1 Series edge have won the crown 10 consecutive times, last failing in 1985 when Kansas City won the final three games to defeat St. Louis.

Kipnis, a Chicago native who grew up cheering on the Cubs, blasted a three-run homer in the seventh inning that added to the misery of long-suffering Cubs fans while Santana belted a solo homer in the second inning.

Indians starting pitcher Kluber allowed only one run on five hits over six innings with six strikeouts. The 30-year-old right-hander became the first pitcher since Cincinnati's Jose Rijo in 1990 to win games one and four of the World Series.

Kluber struck out nine and scattered four hits over six scoreless innings in Tuesday's opener as Cleveland blanked the Cubs 6-0. He's now 5-1 in the playoffs with a 0.74 earned-run average.

Chicago's 38-year-old right-handed pitcher John Lackey, a two-time World Series champion, surrendered three runs on four hits over five innings in his 23rd career playoff start, the most of any active pitcher.

Chicago batters tagged Kluber early as Dexter Fowler opened the game with a double to left field and scored on Anthony Rizzo's single to centerfield.

But Santana answered with a solo homer to lead off the second inning and two errors by Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant led to a 2-1 Cleveland lead.

Bryant's throwing error allowed Lonnie Chisenhall to reach first base and after he advanced on Roberto Perez's ground out and Tyler Naquin was intentionally walked, Kluber tapped an infield single down the third base line to set up another errant throw by Bryant, allowing Chisenhall to score the go-ahead run.

The Indians stretched their edge to 3-1 in the third when Kipnis doubled to the rightfield wall and Francisco Lindor singled to bring him home. It was Lindor's sixth hit of the Series making him, at 22, the youngest player since 1997 with so many.

Lindor walked to open the sixth and advanced on a hard-hit Santana single that knocked the glove off Cubs relief pitcher Mike Montgomery. Lindor took third base on a fielder's choice by Jose Ramirez and scored on a sacrifice fly out by Chisenhall to put Cleveland ahead 4-1.

- Kipnis follows Babe Ruth -

Indians pinch-hitter Coco Crisp batted for Kluber in the seventh inning and doubled to rightfield, then took third base on a wild pitch by Cubs reliever Justin Grimm, who then hit Rajai Davis to put runners at the corners.

That prompted Chicago to insert pitcher Travis Wood and he surrendered the homer to Kipnis that all-but sealed the Cubs' fate.

It was the first three-run World Series homer by an opposing player at Wrigley Field since Babe Ruth's famous "called shot" in 1932, when the New York Yankees legend pointed to the outfield bleachers and smashed the next pitch into the stands.

Fowler added a homer for Chicago in the eighth, the first World Series homer by an African-American player in Cubs history. Major League Baseball's first black player, Jackie Robinson, did not break the sport's racial barrier until 1947, two years after the Cubs last played in the World Series.

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Indians seize 2-1 lead in World Series over Cubs

CHICAGO - Coco Crisp snapped a scoreless tie in the seventh inning with a pinch-hit single that gave the Cleveland Indians a 1-0 win over the Chicago Cubs in a pivotal Game Three of the World Series on Friday.

Cleveland then leaned on their bullpen to seize a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Fall Classic and spoil an Opening Night party for the Cubs, who were hosting their first World Series game in 71 years.

The game ended in frustrating fashion for the Cubs, who left runners on second and third in the ninth inning when Javier Baez struck out on a high fastball against closer Cody Allen in the second shutout loss of the series for Chicago.

Andrew Miller, who relieved starter Josh Tomlin in the fifth, was credited with the win as four Cleveland pitchers combined on a five-hitter. Reliever Carl Edwards Jr, one of six pitchers used by the Cubs, took the loss.

The Indians' victory jettisoned any chance the Cubs had of clinching the World Series title at home with only the next two games left to be played in Chicago.

With the wind blowing out toward Wrigley Field's reachable, ivy-covered outfield walls, offensive fireworks were anticipated but it was the pitchers that held sway along with bench player Crisp, who ruined the fun for a packed house of nearly 42,000.

Roars rolled through the old stadium in the opening innings but as the game wore on a worried stillness marked the tense battle.

Tomlin, spotting his pitches with pinpoint accuracy, kept the Cubs off balance and off the bases, while Chicago starter Kyle Hendricks escaped jam after jam.

Three times in the first five innings Cleveland got a baserunner to third but could not advance him the last 90 feet.

In the fifth, the Cubs escaped a bases loaded, one-out threat when Justin Grimm got Francisco Lindor to ground into a double play and the crowd erupted with cheers.

But the bubble burst in the seventh.

Roberto Perez led off with a single, was bunted over to second base by Tyler Naquin and Rajai Davis followed with a walk.

That set the stage for Crisp, who stepped to the plate to hit for reliever Miller and singled to right to score pinch-runner Michael Martinez for the game's only run.

Game Four of Major League Baseball's championship series is set for Saturday with Indians ace Corey Kluber, the Game One winner, scheduled to start against Chicago's John Lackey.

(Editing by Steve Keating)

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Fate of 'cursed' Cubs fueling World Series fever

CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs fans hoping to see their team end a World Series title drought stretching back more than a century are paying a hefty price for the opportunity.

After splitting the first two games of Major League Baseball's Fall Classic with the Indians in Cleveland, the Cubs head home for Games 3, 4 and 5 and ticket prices at venerable Wrigley Field have skyrocketed.

Prices posted on ticket reselling site StubHub for game three -- the first World Series game at Wrigley Field in 71 years -- showed a pair of standing room only tickets being offered at $2,250 apiece, while a pair of tickets to box seats near a dugout were offered at $30,000 each on Thursday afternoon.

ESPN, citing "insiders" with access to StubHub buyer and seller data, said the median price of a ticket sold via the site for game three was $3,000. The median price reflects the middle number in the series of ticket prices arranged in order of value.

The median price of tickets sold for games one and two of the series in Cleveland was $1,000.

If a spot in the stadium is out of reach, fans keen to soak up the atmosphere can purchase tickets to view the game from a "Wrigley rooftop" -- on buildings that overlook the ballpark and cater to fans. Even those cost nearly $1,000.

Prices exploded as soon as the Cubs booked their World Series berth with a National League Championship Series win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Tickets for Friday's game three were promptly listed on event ticket search engine TicketIQ for an average of $6,155.

"I was not expecting an average asking price in the $6,000 range. It was a surprise even for a person who tracks the market all the time," Jesse Lawrence, founder and chief executive of TicketIQ, said. "From a historical standpoint, it's totally mind-boggling."

The Cubs last won the World Series in 1908 and haven't played in the championship since 1945.

Some fans consider the team cursed given the near-misses and sometimes woeful seasons that have come over the past 71 years.

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Cubs level World Series 1-1 against Indians

 

Series shifts to Wrigley Field

CLEVELAND -- Chicago's Jake Arrieta was almost unhittable and the middle of the Cubs lineup delivered at the plate in a 5-1 Game 2 win over the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday to level the best-of-seven World Series at a game each.

Dazzling Cy Young winner Arrieta used his repertoire of fastballs, cutters, sinkers and sliders to baffle the Indians as he threw 5-1/3 innings of no-hit ball before Jason Kipnis doubled with one out in the sixth.

Arrieta and relievers Mike Montgomery and Aroldis Chapman combined on a four-hitter on a chilly night on the shores of Lake Erie as the Cubs achieved a split of the opening two games in Cleveland before the next three are played in Chicago.

Anthony Rizzo, Ben Zobrist and Kyle Schwarber, the numbers three through five hitters in Chicago's lineup, combined for five hits, four runs scored and four runs batted in after the hard-hitting Cubs were shut out 6-0 in Game 1.

In contrast to the overpowering pitching from the Cubs, Cleveland used six relievers after removing starter Trevor Bauer in the fourth. The seven Indians pitchers issued a combined nine hits and eight walks.

After being shutout in the opener, the Cubs scored their first run of the World Series in the first inning.

Kris Bryant, who before the game received the National League Hank Aaron Award as most outstanding offensive player, stroked a one-out single and dashed around the bases to score when Anthony Rizzo followed with a double to right.

Chicago extended their lead to 2-0 after two outs in the third.

Rizzo fell behind 0-2 but worked a walk and Zobrist, who had three hits in Game One, singled up the middle.

Facing a 3-0 pitch from Bauer, slugger Kyle Schwarber was given the green light and drilled a single to center to score Rizzo to double Chicago's advantage.

The Cubs sent nine batters to the plate in a three-run fifth that broke the game open, with the middle of the lineup coming through again.

Rizzo walked and scored when Zobrist tripled into the right-field corner off Zach McAllister, and Schwarber singled home Zobrist. The Cubs tacked on another run when Bryan Shaw walked Addison Russell with the bases loaded to make it 5-0.

Arrieta gave up the only run for Cleveland in the sixth, when his wild pitch scored Kipnis from third. After Mike Napoli singled for the second hit off him, the right-hander was lifted.

Montgomery went two scoreless innings and fireballing Chapman got the last four outs to secure Chicago's first World Series win since 1945.

With the Fall Classic shifting to Wrigley Field, the Cubs on Friday will host their first World Series game in 71 years with Kyle Hendricks taking the mound against Cleveland's Josh Tomlin.

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World Series Cinderellas deserve to be in Fall Classic

Despite the Cinderella storylines about two of baseball's underdog franchises reaching the World Series, the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians fully deserve to be battling for Major League Baseball's title.

Chicago, despite their so-called "Curse of the Billy Goat", began the season as favorites to win baseball's top prize and the young Cubs proved they have come of age by winning a major league-leading 103 games.

The Indians, whose powerhouse lineup reached a pair of World Series in the 1990s, overcame numerous obstacles to climb to the top of the American League, relying on stellar starting pitching in the regular season and a killer bullpen in the playoffs.

The Cubs are warm betting favorites for the Series.

The winners of the best-of-seven starting in Cleveland on Tuesday will relieve their city of decades of frustration and set off a frenzied celebration.

The 112th World Series is sure to end one epic title drought, with the Indians' last triumph coming 68 years ago and the Cubs waiting a mind-boggling 108 seasons since their last championship.

The atmosphere should be electric in both Chicago, where the Wrigleyville neighborhood surrounding venerable Wrigley Field will be packed with title-hungry supporters, and at Progressive Field, where a fan has set an insistent tone with his rhythmic pounding on a bass drum from the outfield bleachers.

Chicago boasts a more potent lineup, having scored more runs (808-777) and hit more home runs (199-185) than the Indians in the regular season, though the Tribe have more variety in their game, with 134 stolen bases to 66 for the Cubbies.

Both clubs feature emerging young players, fueling the hope that more Fall Classics are in their future.

The Cubs have four standout players aged 24 or younger in their lineup in Kris Bryant, National League Championship Series co-most valuable player Javier Baez, versatile Willson Contreras and Addison Russell alongside 27-year-old slugger Anthony Rizzo.

Cleveland, whose 52-year major pro championship drought was ended earlier this year by LeBron James and the NBA Cavaliers, boast shortstop Francisco Lindor and third baseman Jose Ramirez.

The 22-year-old Lindor, who wears cleats with "Believeland" -- a rallying cry this year for Clevelanders -- written on the side, batted .301 with 15 home runs and 78 RBIs and played sensational defense as an All-Star in his first full season.

Ramirez, 24, hit .312 with 11 homers and 76 RBIs, primarily as a third baseman. He swiped 22 bases and Lindor stole 19.

Pitching has been a key ingredient for both clubs.

Chicago's veteran starting rotation of Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta, lefty Jon Lester, National League earned run average (ERA) leader Kyle Hendricks and righty John Lackey helped them lead the majors in ERA at 3.15.

Cleveland, led by 2014 Cy Young winner Corey Kluber, had the American League's second-best ERA of 3.84, in a league where more runs are scored due to use of a designated hitter for the pitcher.

The Indians were missing top offensive player Michael Brantley this season due to injury and resourceful manager Terry Francona has juggled his rotation with late season injuries to Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar and recently Trevor Bauer.

Still, Cleveland has posted a 1.77 ERA in the postseason with a heavy assist from relievers Andrew Miller and Cody Allen.

The Cubs added their own splendid finishing piece this season with a trade for fireballing closer Aroldis Chapman, who routinely breaks 100 mph (161 kph) with his fastball.

(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue/Andrew Both)

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Dodgers level series with Cubs behind Kershaw's gem

CHICAGO -- Left-handed hurler Clayton Kershaw pitched seven stellar innings and Adrian Gonzalez hit the winning homer Sunday in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 1-0 Major League Baseball playoff victory over the Chicago Cubs.

Dodgers starter Kershaw allowed just two hits to help the Dodgers level the best-of-seven National League Championship Series at one game apiece.

Gonzales belted a solo home run off Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks in the second inning, and thanks to Kershaw and closing pitcher Kenley Jansen it was enough.

Kershaw gave up back-to-back Cubs hits in the fifth inning, when Javier Baez and Willson Contreras produced two-out singles, but not before he retired 14 straight batters.

Kershaw struck out six in the dominant performance, and Jansen pitched a perfect eighth and ninth to secure the win.

Jansen struck out four, including pinch hitter Miguel Montero, whose eight-inning grand slam lifted Chicago to an 8-4 victory in game one on Saturday.

The series shifts to Los Angeles for game three on Tuesday, when the Dodgers give the ball to former Cub Rich Hill, while the Cubs send ace Jake Arrieta to the mound. Arietta threw a no-hitter at Dodger Stadium on August 30, 2015.

The winner of the series will face either the Cleveland Indians or Toronto Blue Jays in Major League Baseball's World Series championship showcase.

The Indians won two games at home to take a strong grip on the American League Championship Series, which shifts to Toronto for game three on Monday.

Indians manager Terry Francona said he expected pitcher Trevor Bauer to start the game, after being scratched from his game two start after cutting the little finger of his pitching hand while working on his drone.

"I don't think it's going to be a big deal," Francona said of Bauer's injury.

While the Cubs' title drought stretching back to their last World Series triumph in 1908 is the longest in North American sport, the Indians have endured their own epic stretch of futility since last winning it all in 1948.

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