October 27, 2016

Chicago’s turn: Cubs pitching evens series with Cleveland Indians

Quality pitching is the name of the game. Cleveland’s ace Corey Kluber did his job on Tuesday, and then it was Chicago’s turn as Jake Arrieta took the mound on Wednesday. He allowed one run over five-plus innings and then handed it off to a bullpen as impressive as Cleveland’s, including Aroldis Chapman, who seemed to hit triple digits on his fastball with every pitch. The Indians struck out 12 times a team and the Cubs won Game 2, 5-1.

Pitching wasn’t only the story. Indians pitching wasn’t as sharp Wednesday, so the Cubs took advantage and drew eight walks as a team. You get a few free passes, combined with some key hits and runs will start to cross home plate.

The series now shifts to Chicago and Wrigley Field where Cubs fans will no doubt be bonkers, more than ready to exorcise 108 years of futility. Pressure’s on, *Derek Falvey.

Extra innings…

-Old friend Jeff Manship, who was drafted by the Twins in 2006, made a scoreless appearance in relief for the Indians on Wednesday.

-Oct. 26, 1991: Kirby Puckett hits a walk-off home run in Game 6 of the 1991 World Series to force Game 7. We’ll see you tomorrow night!

*Derek Falvey: Still assistant general manager of the Indians until the World Series is complete. That’s when he will take over as chief baseball officer of the Twins.

COMMENTS

Hi, I’m Rolf Boone, Twins fan.

I became a fan of the Minnesota Twins after a friendly wager in the early 1980s. I survived Ron Davis, the meltdown in Cleveland, Phil Bradley at the Kingdome and then marveled at a rising generation of stars and two World Series wins in 1987 and 1991. Brad Radke made the 1990s bearable, while Kirby Puckett’s eye injury, exit from the game and eventual death made it almost too much to bear. The new century ushered in more talent — Joe Mauer, Johan Santana, Joe Nathan, Torii Hunter, Justin Morneau — and consecutive seasons of playoff baseball, followed by consecutive seasons of losing baseball. A winning season returned in 2015. So here we are. Go Twins.