World Series Game 7 Recap: Chicago Cubs 8, Cleveland Indians 7 (10)

YOUR WORLD CHAMPION CHICAGO CUBS

W - Chapman (2-0), all of us.

L - Shaw (2-1)

S - Montgomery (1), my faith that sometimes things work out.

Things to Take from This Game:

1. Cubs get to Kluber, Miller

Fowler got things started right with a leadoff home run. Kluber consistently left the breaking stuff up in the zone, and struck out no one in four innings. A Russell sacrifice fly and Contreras double plated two more in the fourth.

2. Baez, Ross, atone for defensive miscues

Baez made a couple of errors of youth and enthusiasm, first throwing away a grounder he went to his knee for, and then missing on an attempted barehand turn of a double play. But he made up for it by chasing Kluber from the game with a solo home run at the top of the fifth. Similarly, David Ross entered the game with Jon Lester, and had a throwing error and then let a wild pitch clang off his facemask that scored two runs. He promptly homered off of Andrew Miller.

3. Hendricks solid, Lester heroic.

Hendricks was functional if not especially dominant, but got the quick hook from Maddon after he walked Santana with two outs and no on in the fifth. Lester suffered from a squibber, a wild pitch, and some rough defense from Ross to give up two runs with two outs in the fifth, but then settled down and pitched masterful relief. Maddon pulled him with two outs in the eighth and one one, bringing in Chapman. Guyer promptly doubled to bring the game to 6-4. And then....

4.Rajai F'ing Davis

With 4 outs to go and Cleveland at a 3.5% Win Expectancy, Davis golfed a home run out down the left field line, tying the game at 6.

(We somehow survived that, and then, with 1 out to go in the bottom of the 10th and a 4.5% Win Expectancy, Davis again tormented us with a lined single to center to bring Cleveland to within a run, at 8-7. However....)

5. The 10th...

After a rain delay postponed the start of the tenth, Schwarber singled, Bryant hit a sacrifice fly to advance the pinch-runner Almora, Rizzo got an IBB, and then a go-ahead RBI double by Zobrist and RBI single by Montero gave us an 8-6 lead. Carl Edwards Jr. and Mike Montgomery nail down the save, in a nail-biter, as we hang on to win 8-7. A 10th-inning, Game 7, World Series victory on a rally started by a guy who missed the entire season from game 3 to the start of the world series, and saved by a couple of untested young relievers. But perhaps most indicative of what this year has been all about, eight different Cubs drove in an RBI, in a true team effort. After the game is over we learn the players called a meeting during the rain delay. David Ross gets carried off the field on Rizzo's and Heyward's shoulders, after the preliminary on-field celebrations.

All your best-team-in-the-world details, below...

Essential Questions

1. Did Maddon Overmanage?

Maddon had a quick hook on Hendricks, pulling him for Lester, who promptly gave up two (hard luck) runs with two outs. Lester got pulled three innings later for a fatigued Chapman, who promptly gave up three runs. Pinch-running with Coghlan instead of Almora also raised eyebrows, since it left us with one catcher, and the baserunning skill difference is perhaps less significant than the difference between Almora and Coghlan as pinch-hitters against Cleveland's very right-handed bullpen. Then there was the squeeze play call with a runner on third and 1 out in a tie game in the ninth. Almora then pinch-ran for Kyle Schwarber, Offensive Juggernaut, in the 10th. Wiser people than me can sort through how much if any of this was overmanaging. But, in the end, does it matter?

2. How many ways can you split the World Series MVP?

3. Ready to talk Back-to-Back?

Game Recap

Top of 1st

Fowler starts the game by taking a 93 mph fastball for a strike on the inside corner. Next pitch, fastball inside, and then fastball high.
Fowler hits a high drive to dead-center field. My mlb.tv radio feed is ahead of the FOX telecast, and Pat sounds like he wants to call it a homerun, but waits, agonizingly, before calling it gone. I then see on the FOX telecast that his wait was due to Davis making a leaping effort to rob it at the wall, coming up just short. 1-0 Cubs
Schwarber squibs one to what normally is shallow second base, where the shifted Lindor races in to barehand it. Kyle Schwarber legs out an infield hit and looks just fine doing it.
There are clear chants of MVP as Bryant comes up. Works a 3-2 count. Kluber at 13 pitches with no outs yet. Chants of "Let's Go Cubs." Bryant flies one to the warning track in right-center. Breaking pitch that didn't have the normal bite to it.
Rizzo starts 1-0. Pops out to Davis in shallow center. Looked like another breaking pitch that stayed too far up in the zone.
Schwarber gets a massive running start on Kluber, maybe 8 steps before Kluber starts his delivery. An uncontested stolen base as the Cubs dugout laughs and cheers. Pat says "I didn't expect that one, Ron." Ron replies, "Neither did Kluber."
Zobrist flies out to Chisenhall in shallow right. 19 pitches for Kluber.

Bottom of 1st

Hendricks' first plate gets too much of the plate and Santana hits it hard, but right at Heyward.
Beautiful changeup from Hendricks and Kipnis swings over it for strike three.
Lindor bounces to Baez, who goes to a knee to catch it, and in so doing stumbles and slips as he throws. Rizzo stretches for it but it pulls him off the bag, E-4.
2 pitches later, a broken-bat 6-4 from Napoli. 9-pitch first inning. 8 strikes.

Top of 2nd

Russell pops to Lindor. Kluber seems to be catching a lot of the plate.
Contreras tries to go the other way, and fouls out to Chisenhall in right.
Heyward breaks his bat popping out to Lindor. 26 pitches for Kluber.

Bottom of 2nd

Ramirez lines one off of Hendricks' glove, and Russell can't bare-hand the caromb. Infield hit.
Hendricks catches Ramirez between steps in his leadoff and throws one to Rizzo that leads him right into the tag for a beautiful pickoff. Chisenhall then promptly singles to left.
Davis bounces into a smartly turned 5-4-3, great pivot by Baez. 19 pitches for Hendricks

Top of 3rd

Arrieta, Lester, and Lackey head down to the bullpen
Baez gets just a bit ahead of a pitch and hits it off the end of the bat out to Crisp. Cubs aren't being fooled by much, outs are all in the air.
Speaking of, a hard-hit fly out from Fowler out to Chisenhall
Schwarber lines one down the right field line. Chisenhall gets to it and Schwarber slides into the tag at second, with no one getting horrifically injured. Kluber is not going to last long at this rate, even as he continues to generate outs...

Bottom of 3rd

Crisp inside-outs one past Bryant down the left field line for a double. It sure feels like we should have more than a one-run lead.
Perez bunts up the third base line, where Rizzo, who was crashing in hard, races over for it and takes the out at first. Crisp to third.
Santana takes a pitch outside and Contreras fires behind Crisp at third, to no luck. This is a gutsy team.
Hendricks gets an offspead pitch up and Santana lines it for a single into right. 1-1 tie
Kipnis chops to Russell who shovels to Baez at second. Baez tries to barehand it coming across the bag to turn the DP, but the ball slips through his fingers. The runner is at first called out, but it's clear he never had control of the ball. Two errors on Baez, whose motor is running too fast on defense.
Montgomery and Edwards Jr. warming up.
3-0 count on Lindor.
3-1 count, Lindor flies towad the left-field line Zobrist slips a bit, but recovers to make the catch. Baez's first error and this both suggest the grass is a bit slick.
0-2 on Napoli. 1-2 count, Napoli rips one to Bryant's right and he makes a nice catch on the liner. Not sure if I should be annoyed we aren't up, or relieved we aren't down.

Top of 4th

Lester throwing to Ross in the bullpen
Full count to Bryant, Kluber at 38 pitches. Bryant singles one through the left-side shift, between Lindor and Kipnis.
On an 0-2 pitch Kluber drills Rizzo in the elbow. 2 on, no outs, no one up for the Cleveland pen.
Zobrist bounces one to Napoli who throws high to second. Lindor comes down with it and tags the base as Zobrist comes barreling in. Not conclusive that Lindor ever really got his foot on the bag, but Rizzo slides into Lindor so that Lindor's taggingi him while Rizzo is off the bag, anyway. That's likely the basis for the out call. Runners on 1st and 3rd, one out.
Russell flies to Davis in shallow center, and as Pat describes it, I think to myself "Davis has a bad arm, right?" Pat is surprised to see Bryant tagging up, and Davis sails a throw that Perez has to leap for, with Bryant sliding in before Perez can get the tag down. 2-1 Cubs. Zobrist advances to second.
2-2 count to Contreras, who lines one into deep right-center, on another breaking pitch that got too much of the plate. Davis breaks in and has no hopes of catching up with it as it hits off the wall for a double. Real nice swing by Contreras. 3-1 Cubs.
Heyward gets ahead 3-1. Foul, 3-2. Kluber at 55 pitches. Pops up to Lindor.

Bottom of 4th

Ramirez grounds to Rizzo, ranging to his right, and hey, look at that, a pitcher who covers the bag, for the 3-1 putout.
0-2 count on Chisenhall, who pops to Zobrist in shallow left.
Davis flies to Heyward. A much appreciated quick inning.

Top of 5th

Miller ready to go in the pen, but Kluber starts the inning. Baez, just as all the RHH had been working on, waits on an elevated breaking pitch and slams it out to the deepest part of right-center field. 4-1 Cubs
1-2 slider from Miller and Fowler lines it for a single, past a diving Lindor.
Schwarber squibs one to Lindor who starts a 6-4-3. Schwarber hustles down the line, forcing a review, but is just barely out.
Bryant works a full count and watches Miller throw a 3-2 slider just off the plate, for a walk. Nice AB. Nice to see Miller getting burned in the fifth.
Len tells me Holbrooke is the game 7 homeplate ump because, by the metrics, he graded out as the most accurate pitch-caller. Hooray for meritocracy in this situation.
Bryant runs, and Rizzo lines one down the right field line. Chisenhall gets to it before it hits the wall, but Gary Jones sends Bryant. Bryant, on review, got a great jump off first and scores easily on the double. 5-1 Cubs.
Zobrist cracks one to deep left-center, where Davis makes a nice running catch on the warning track.

Bottom of 5th

Crisp rolls out to Baez.
Perez watches a fastball on the outside corner for strike three.
two curveballs to start Santana, 0-2 count. Lester continues to warn up in the pen. Been doing a lot of throwing out there. Arrieta sort of wandering around. Santana meanwhile works a full count, it looks like a 2-2 changeup should have been a stike three. . And ball four. At 63 pitches, Hendricks is pulled for Lester, with Ross coming in to catch.
Second pitch, a 92 mph fastball on the corner, 1-1.
Kipnis squibs one up the third base line and Ross throws to first. It sails into the path of the runner, and Kipnis collides with Rizzo's back. ball goes into the stands to put runners at 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs. Error on Ross.

Lester bounces one in front of Ross. It hits him in the facemask and knocks Ross back on his butt, as the ball rolls toward the Cubs dugout by first base. Both runs score. 5-3 Cubs.

2-2 count, borderline pitch on the low outside corner called a ball. Full-count pitch gets Lindor swinging.

Top of 6th

Miller facing Russell, who pops foul to Napoli.
Yeah, the best ball-and-strike ump in baseball this year clearly missed what should have been strike three on Santana.
David Ross, in what clearly is a fake World Series brought to you by Disney, takes a 1-2 pitch from Miller and hits it out to dead-center field for a home run. 6-3 Cubs.
Heyward rolls to Napoli who gets to first in advance of a head-first diving Heyward.
Baez swings over a slider to end the inning.

Bottom of 6th

Lester still in, 2-2 to Napoli, who has an awkard swing at a 93 mph fastball for the strikeout.
Lester blows another 93mph fastball past Ramirez for strike two. Ramirez reaches for one, and Russell just does get him at first.
Guyer hits for Chisenhall, and singles to left.
Lester still hitting 93 at pitch 27 to Davis. Cody Allen warning up. 3-1 count to Davis. Davis hits a chopper up the middle, Baez charges and throws to Rizzo to end the inning.

Top of 7th

Miller still in, and his 38th pitch Fowler lines into right for a single, with Guyer keeping it to a single.
Schwarber with a nice AB against Miller, but eventually flies out down the left field line. Allen comes in.
Bryant pops foul near the first base dugout, neither Napoli or Perez can quite get to it. Allen giving a lot of attention to Fowler, slow pace to this AB
Bryant K's while Fowler runs, and get thrown out on a close play, no challenge. Strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play

Bottom of 7th

Crisp pops Lester's 32nd pitch to Zobrist.
Full count to Perez, pitch just inside for the walk. 39 pitches for Lester. Naquin pinch-runs.
We get Peak Lester, as Santana hits one hard back to Lester. For a brief moment he contemplates throwing to second, but the ball is also a bit stuck in his glove, so as he yanks it out he settles for what we all knew was inevitable, the underhand toss to first.
1-2 to Kipnis, and Lester throws a big sweeping curve that K's Kipnis, swinging. 44 pitches for Lester. FanGraphs tells me Cleveland's Win Expectancy is at 6.5%

Top of 8th

Rizzo swings over a curve in the dirt, with Perez making the throw to first.
Chapman ready to go in the pen.
Zobrist bounces to Napoli, guarding the first base line
Russell jams a popup to Napoli for a quiet eighth inning

Bottom of 8th

Lester still pitching. Lindor hits a sharp one-hopper right to Russell for the first out.
Napoli takes a 94 mph fastball on the outside corner for strike three.
Lindor bounces up to Russell's left, he can't quite field it as it bounes away for a hit.
Maddon comes out, and Lester leaves the game. The Cubs fans give him a great ovation. In comes Chapman.
100 mph to start Guyer. 99. According to Pat, the temperature for the first seven innings was about 62. It's now 73. 2-2 count on Guyer. 101, fouled off.
Ramirez runs on a 3-2 pitch, and Guyer splits the right-center gap for a run-scoring double. 6-4 Cubs.
Fastball high and outside to Davis, for ball one. Wind now blowing out to right. Davis keeps fouling off 98 to 101 mph fastballs. 13 pitches... Davis, choking up on the bat, swings at a low fastball and golfs it down the line in left field for a game-tying home run. 6-6 tie.
Crisp lines a single to left.
Gomes hits for Perez. Chapman laboring, "profusely sweating" as Pat describes it." Chapman going to the breaking stuff. As the runner steals, Gomes strikes out swinging. The throw gets into center field, but it's inconsequential, as the inning had ended. When Napoli K'd, Fan Graphs had Cleveland's Win Expectancy at 3.8%.

Top of 9th

Allen continues to pitch.
It begins to rain. Hard. 3-0 to Ross, 3-1, and a leadoff walk.
Coghlan runs for Ross, meaning Montero will catch.
2-0 to Heyward, Cleveland thinking bunt. 2-2, Allen at 27 pitches. Rain letting up, wind picking up.
Heyward grounds to Kipnis who struggles to get the feed to Lindor. No attempt at the double play.
The grounds crew is about to put the tarp on, while the umpires start to examine Coghlan's slide. It sure looked like a clean slide, and after some confusion, that's what's ruled.
Shaw in. 3-1 count to Baez. Heyward goes, and Baez swings through a fastball. A good throw would get Heyward, but it is short, clangs off of Kipnis's leg, and goes into center, a throwing error on Gomes. Heyward goes to third. To defend against a sacrifice fly to left, Francona swings Guyer around to left, with Martinez now in the game in right, and the weak-throwing Crisp taken out of the game. Infield in.
Shaw throws a fastball and the safety squeeze is on. Baez jabs at it and fouls it at his feet for a strikeout.
Fowler hits a soft liner up the middle. Lindor ranges far to his left, gets to the ball and easily throws out Fowler at first

Bottom of 9th

Chapman continues to pitch. 3-1 count to Santana, Chapman seems to be fading fast, yet still is throwing 98. Montgomery up. Santana pops to Zobrist; it was a slider that caught a lot of the plate.
Rain has stopped. Full count to Kipnis, Chapman continuing to get breaking pitches out over the plate. Another one, fouled off.Fastball up and in, 98, strikes out swinging at ball four.
Lindor flies to Heyward in shallow right. Extra Innings.

Top of 10th

A rain delay pushes back the start of the 10th. About 20 minutes later, Shaw is staying in the game.
Schwarber smokes a low and in fastball past Kipnis, shifted over into short right field for a single. Almora in to pinch-run. Edwards, Bauer, and Otero all warming up. Shaw getting pitches elevated to Bryant, who fouls them off.
Bryant hits a fly to the warning track in the deepest part of right-center. Almora tags up. Half an hour ago the wind was blowing out enough to have nudged it out.
Rizzo intentionally walked.
1-2 count to Zobrist. Zobrist lines one down the left field line for a double, Almora scoring easily. Zobrist is leaping and pumping his fists in ecstacy as he bounds into second base. Rizzo has his hands on his helmet in disbelief at regaining the lead. 7-6 Cubs
With first base open, Russell intentionally walked.
Montero up, and he grounds one the opposite way against the shift, scoring Rizzo. Bases still loaded. 8-6 Cubs
Bauer in. Heyward K's trying to check his swing on a curve in the dirt.
Baez works a 2-2 count before flying out to center on a hittable inside fastball

Bottom of 10th

Everyone who had Carl Edwards Jr. as the guy trying to close out the 10th inning of Game 7 of the World Series, please step forward so that we may identify the liars.
I missed it, but hear from others that Chapman was in tears in the dugout. Credit where it's due, he did his very best in very tough conditions.
96 MPH fastball on the corner gets Napoli swinging.
Ramirez bounces to Russell ranging toward second, for an easy out. Two down.
3-0 to Guyer with Rajai F'ing Davis up next....
Ball four. Rajai Davis comes up as the tying run....
Ball one, Guyer takes second on defensive indifference
Davis lines one up the middle, and Guyer scores. 8-7 Cubs.
Montgomery in to pitch. Starts Martinez with a curveball strike. Martinez hits a slow roller to Bryant who comes in on it, and fires to Rizzo. How appropraite, Bryant to Rizzo for the world championship. Rizzo pockets the ball and races to the mound to start the celebration. Cubs Win, Cubs are the World Champions.

Parachat Recap

Pregame:

Thoughtful conversations about the place of the Cubs in our lives. How and where and with whom we're watching. Relationships. Coffee. Music.
Me, johann, CTSteve, bizmarquis, Brick, crunch, MorningtonCrescent, waveland, Wes, Ryno, Just_a_Girl all present and accounted for.
Who feels like puking? (Most of us.)

1st Inning

We lose are shit over the Fowler home run. RichK and John Beasley join. Hot_Karlos shows up.
Carlos's halloween costume. mister_whipple shows up.
Laughing manically at the Schwarber SB.
SOTBLAN, TOOTBLAN, King of the Hill, and Please Clap.
Panic over the E-4

2nd Inning

sbwilliams joins.
Parachat spoilers, like watching a horror movie through your fingers.
How on-edge we are, even after the HR.
Things city-folk don't get.
What Joe West is doing out in right field.
A Joe Buckless off-season
Biased broadcasters
Charlie joins.
Ramirez's hair, crunch's crops, DFAs, and Chisenhall facts.
HAR: Happiness above Replacement.

3rd Inning

The scientific engineering of sad commercials.
Feeling good about hitting Kluber
TOOTBLAN as TOOTBLKS
Memories of Cub futility and futility infielders.
Anguish
Freaking out.
Setting Cleveland on fire (except Drew Carey)
Mike Napoli's girlfriend.
Napoli as the final batter in a kids movie about baseball

4th Inning

An appropriate Wells Fargo apology
Our goals in run-scoring.
Mascots for insurance companies.
When to pull Hendricks
Rally Quacks.
Cleveland's running game involves running backs?
Starting Lester for 2 IP before going to Hendricks?
Reminding crunch it's an AL game.
Thrilled at regaining a lead.
Forehead-licking.
What we're supposed to be working on right now.
Ryno almost calls the 2-2 double.
Rally Quacks.
What they're doing in Caracas
Big Hits and Big... uh....
Carlos, Most Valuable Parachatter.
We appreciate that we've been a parachat community for a long, long time.
Parachat-dating.
redsfan joins.
RobG joins
Three Cheers for CTSteve
And to RobG

5th Inning

The progression of our booze-consumption.
The transative property of North Carolinians.
How we're going to cope with tomorrow.
Carlos proposes to Dexter Fowler.
Whose phones are or aren't lighting up with messages
My contractual obligation to recap game 7.
Death to Trans.
When to pull Hendricks
We get really excited.
My effort to artfully write around the cleavages fails when RichK reminds me not to forget the cleavages. Ok, fine. I won't.
What we would endure for a World Series Championship.
Also, don't forget the Clevengers.
Lester's very long warmup
Debating the switch to Lester/Ross
We begin to panic. Anxiety, recrimination, and dread.

6th Inning

Continuing to debate the move to Lester.
We happily tease the parachatters who would have rather had Contreras up to hit instead of Ross
We doubt that this game is real. It's clearly an overly sappy cliched movie.
Soft underbellies.
Fake historical facts about pre-1915 baseball
Fake Winston Churchill quotations about the Cubs.
Audio clips of ballplayers not saying anything = White Sox broadcasts, when losing.
How fans of rival teams are handling our success.

7th Inning

Return of the gay witchcraft.
A quack can't be a herring, you silly goose.
The Miller Trade We Didn't Make.
Conditions we impose on trick-or-treaters if they want candy.
Coffee-talk.
The 2017 roster.
Potential WS MVP picks.
Matusz's World Series share, ring.
JB is not allowed to stop drinking until this is over.
Big_Lowitzki joins.
and with him, we get a johann's mom joke.
Garden Weasel, Garden Claw Gold
Getting really excited
How do we get through the 8th and 9th?
Win Expectancy: do we want to know it or not?

8th Inning

Pat's high?
Chapman's workload tonight?
Who's dropping dead after this game?
Are there any normal men out there? (no.)
We want Lester to stay in the game.
Newport joins. Parachat presently at 21. More have been in, total, ove rthe course of the night.
Making fun of Joe Buck.
Alcoholic consumption, supply updates.
Who owns TCR? Who does the Twitter feed.
Heart attacks and dying in Parachat.
Cubbery....

9th Inning

Trying to muster hope.
Why Coghlan pinch-running over Almora, when the Cleveland bullpen is so right-handed?
RALLY CAPS; RALLY QUACKS
Freaking out over the near double play.
Keeping an eye on when we all have to go work
Debating the squeeze play.
Debating Chapman coming out for the 9th.
Utter dread and foreboding.

10th Inning

Second-guessing through the rain delay.
Milli Vanilli lyrics. Other songs about the rain.
RALLY CAPS; RALLY QUACKS
CTSteve finally gets my Big Lebowski reference. Except it was Whipple's.
Ecstacy.
Who gets to pitch the 10th?
How are our pets handling this?
We wish Harambe could see this.
We've exceeded the the recommended weight limit for Parachat. Someone call the Fire Marshall.
Imagining a lineup for next year in which Heyward reverts to his norm.
Giving Chapman credit where it's due.
Counting down....
Also, Coffee and Corner Gas. And BEEEEEEES. And Bowl Scrapers.
They've boarded up the Wrigleyville Starbucks....

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