The Chicago Cubs suffered a blowout loss to the Cleveland Indians on Saturday night, as they fell 7-2 and now find themselves one loss away from elimination in the series.
John Lackey worked a flawless top of the first inning, striking out a pair of batters, and his teammates picked him up on offense in the bottom of the frame. Dexter Fowler led off the inning with a double to get things started, and then Anthony Rizzo drilled an RBI single to center to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead.
Unfortunately for the Cubs, that one run was all they would get. Ben Zobrist drilled a deep fly ball to center field, but it was hauled in on the warning track, and Willson Contreras struck out to end the frame.
That inability to add any more runs came back to bite the Cubs in the very next inning, as Lackey surrendered a lead-off home run to Carlos Santana to tie up the game at 1-1.
The Indians used two defensive miscues by Kris Bryant to take the lead later in the inning. A Bryant error allowed Lonnie Chisenhall to get on base, and then on a chopped single by Kluber, Bryant's throw got away from Rizzo, allowing Chisenhall to score and put Cleveland ahead 2-1.
In the third inning, the Indians struck again. Jason Kipnis led off the inning with a double, and he was driven home by a Francisco Lindor single to extend the Indians' lead to 3-1.
That score held into the sixth inning, and the Indians were able to add onto their lead. With Lindor on third base, Chisenhall hit a sacrifice fly to deep center field to make it a 4-1 game.
Chicago Baseball
Appropriately enough, it was an Illinois native that drove the nail in the coffin to the Cubs' hopes for a victory in the game. Jason Kipnis, facing off against Travis Wood, clubbed a three-run home run into the right field bleachers to make it a 7-1 game in the seventh inning.
As the eighth inning started, Andrew Miller stayed on the hill for the Indians, but Dexter Fowler didn't seem to mind. On a two-strike pitch, he hit a home run into the left field bleachers to give Cubs fans a glimmer of hope.
That hope was short-lived however, as Miller and Dan Otero slammed the door and left the Cubs just one loss away from adding another year to their World Series drought.
