It was a night to remember in the city of Cleveland. The Cavaliers hung their 2015/16 NBA championship banner and the players collected their long sought-after rings, as they topped the Knicks in their season opener. And across the road at Progressive Field, the Indians began their quest to earn their very own championship, by attempting to win their first World Series since 1948. And the hometown team got off to an impressive start, shutting out the Chicago Cubs 6-0 in front of a raucous sell-out crowd.
Both clubs sent their aces to the mound, with Corey Kluber representing for Cleveland and Jon Lester pitching for the Cubs. Lester is a big game pitcher, and has played in two World Series before in 2007 and 2013. He's been on the biggest stage and delivered when it mattered most but tonight he was outshone by Kluber, making his first ever World Series start but you wouldn't know it by looking at his face.
Kluber was utterly dominant, as he shutout Chicago over 6 innings and allowed just 4 hits and no walks. The right-hander from Birmingham, Alabama got off to a hot start, a record setting one in fact, striking out 8 Cubs in the first 3 innings alone. Kluber went on to record a total of 9 K's and picked up the win for his efforts.
He was backed up by an offense who got to Lester early, as the Tribe took a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning thanks to a Jose Ramirez RBI single and Brandon Guyer being hit by an errant cutter in the leg, forcing home a second run with the bases loaded.
Indians catcher Roberto Perez then proceeded to steal the show. The 27 year-old from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico is having quite a post-season, and in front of millions of viewers he clubbed 2 home runs to put the game beyond the Cubs. Perez's first homer came in the bottom of the 4th inning, a solo shot that just cleared the left field wall to increase the Tribe's lead to 3-0. Then Perez returned in the 8th inning and eliminated any hope Chicago had left, smashing a deep 3 run homer into the left field stands to make it 6-0 to the Tribe. Perez only had 3 home runs in the regular season and has now matched that tally in October alone.
Special mentions must also go to Andrew Miller and Cody Allen for their sterling work out of the bullpen. Miller wasn't his dominant self but still pitched 2 scoreless innings and escaped a few jams, making the Tribe fans sweat a little in the process. Allen pitched the 9th inning and gave up a Willson Contreras double, but he struck out 3 to close out the game with ease.
And just like that the Indians won their first World Series game since 1997. Tonight will see Trevor Bauer pitch against Chicago's Jake Arrieta in game 2, which has been brought forward an hour in an attempt to avoid some incoming rain. I'm not expecting another performance on par with Kluber's but if Bauer can just get through 5 innings relatively unscathed before turning it over to Miler, I'll be happy.
Thanks for reading.
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