The Chicago Cubs game six win is now looking pretty bittersweet. Well, of course, it’s very sweet because they still have a chance at breaking the ‘Curse of the Billy Goat’. The only problem though, here’s the bitter, is that they are now past their star pitchers in the rotation and are onto Kyle Hendricks. Hendricks is still a very solid pitcher and has come through for the Cubs in this postseason, not to mention he was the man that locked up the NL pennant for them in September as well. So his star status may very well be just waiting in the wings and a few hours from now, he could be a Cubs legend. In the meantime though, Hendricks is the guy that gave up six hits just a few days ago against Cleveland in only 4.1 innings of work. The Indians won the game 1-0 and Hendricks slumped out of the dugout when it all came to a close.
With that said, he also pitched seven and a third strong less than a week before against Los Angeles, only giving up two hits in a 5-0 stomping of the Dodgers. So what it really comes down to is what Kyle Hendricks will show up tonight in Cleveland?
Outside of their 26-year old on the hill, the Cubs bats finally woke up in game six. Mind you, the Indians flabbergasting error in the first was a huge momentum shifter, but it had little to nothing to do with Addison Russell’s grand slam in the third. The Cubbies went on to a 9-3 rout of the home-towners but the question mark is back less than 24 hours later – which Cubs team will step up to the dish? They’ve registered over three runs just twice in this series and the Indians have been one of the strongest teams at home all postseason long.
It all comes down to the Cubs and pressure. Will they step up or will they be like the Cubs of 2015 that were instantly silenced by the Mets? If they can get on the board early and take the crowd out of it, they have a habit of adding gas to the fire. If that’s the case, we highly advise you to head to our Live Betting section to get in on the action. When the Cubbies get tough, the tough get going.
Well, here it is! The Indians, while not favored, still have complete control of their own destiny tonight. They are in front of the home crowd, they have one of their best pitchers on the hill and did we mention their home crowd? The home team has won nine of the last ten World Series winner-take-all contests and tonight could be the tenth if the Indians get their motors going early.
Looking back at the stats in this series and the team to score first has won on four of six occasions. Also looking back, Corey Kluber is 2-0 against the Cubbies giving up just two runs through 12 innings of work.
For the Indians to take this game, they will need Kluber at his finest of course, but they will also need their bats to light up. Three of their top four in the lineup (Rajai Davis, Jason Kipnis, Francisco Lindor and Mike Napoli) are batting under .235 this postseason – two of which are still under .200. They’ll need their top four to get going early and often if they want to beat the Cubs, who after last night’s stomping have a lot of momentum under their belts.
Forget the “curses” tonight. This game has the makings of an all out war and a total World Series classic. Get your bets in early, get the popcorn ready and sit back – it’s going to be a good one!
Writer’s Prediction
The Chicago Cubs win their first World Series in over 100 years, 7-6 in extra innings.
