Progressive Field erupted in cheers with the first two pitches called as strikes from Josh Tomlin. That sentiment was short lived though. Cubs 3 rd baseman Kris Bryant hit a home run. That was the start of a bad run. Shortly thereafter bad outfield coordination between Lonnie Chisenhall and Tyler Naquin gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead.
A grand slam at the top of the third inning further deepened the cubs lead, this time started by Addison Russell. That left it at 7-0 favoring Chicago.
The game was punctuated by Manager Terry Francona trying to gain traction through mixing up pitchers on the mound, but none of the switches from Tomlin, to Otero, Salazar, and Manship and really caught on.
A double from Jason Kipnis at the bottom of inning four felt like it could be the start of a rally but this too was quickly stopped, though Kipnis did bring in a run. The 5 th inning was also good to Kipnis when he knocked a ball out of the park for a solo home run. It took another four innings at the bottom of the 9 th for Cleveland to close the gap 9-3.
A bright moment came not from the Indians but the arrival of Cleveland Cavalier LeBron James in the stadium to watch the game after beating the Houston Rockets 128-120.
In the 7 th inning Aroldis Chapman threw only two pitches and had to run to cover a play at first base, tagging Francisco Lindor. Initially ruled safe, Lindor was outed upon review. The interesting bit was that as Chapman tagged first base with his foot, he suddenly let up in a sharp jab seeming to have hurt himself and still was slightly limping shortly afterwards. Chapman didn’t receive any medical treatment but continued to pitch in the 8 th.
9-3 Chicago victory Tuesday. Both teams have won 3 games now. Game 7 starts at 8PM and will decide it all.
* An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported Game 7 starting at 7PM.