Chicago Cubs at Cleveland Indians: World Series Game 2 GameThread

Chicago came up empty against Corey Kluber and the Cleveland Indians in Game 1 of the 112th edition of the World Series, so the Cubs, who lost the series opener, 6-0, will try to even things up tonight.

Cubs’ skipper Joe Maddon told reporters after the loss that he wasn’t concerned about falling behind early in the Fall Classic.

“I have no concerns,” Maddon said.

“I thought we were ready to play. Our guys looked really good. They were great in the dugout today. It's the first game. I'm fine, we're fine.”

Cleveland got all the runs they needed in the bottom of the first inning last night, when Chicago’s starter Jon Lester gave up a two-out single and consecutive walks, loading the bases before a swinging bunt and hit-by-pitch made it 2-0 early.

“I'm not disappointed by any means except for the fact that we did not win,” Maddon said.

“I thought we came out ready to play. They pitched well. The first inning hurt.

“The walks, not even the dribbler or the hit batter. It was the walks prior to that that really hurt us.”

Kluber shut the Cubs down in Game 1. Trevor Bauer, whose injured right pinky finger led to an early exit in his last start, gets the nod in Game 2 with Jake Arrieta on the mound for Chicago.

Bauer was asked yesterday what his main concern was about the Cubs’ lineup heading into his start.

“I'm not concerned about anything,” he said. “They're obviously very talented, but the Red Sox were very talented, and the Blue Jays are obviously very talented too. At the end of the day they're just hitters. They get outs nine out of ten times, like all the rest of them. It comes down to executing pitches, executing a game plan.

“Obviously there's nothing I can do to change the outcome now. I'm prepared. I'm going to go out there and execute to the best level of my ability, and it's going to be what it's going to be.”

Arrieta talked about his excitement over even getting the opportunity to pitch in a World Series.

“Well, it's why you play the whole season,” he said. “To hopefully be in this position to be one of the last two teams standing with an opportunity to win a World Series for your organization, your city, for your team, friends and family. So it means a ton. You know, there's only two of 30 even get these opportunities. Not many players -- there are some players that go their whole career without being able to get to the postseason. So we're all very fortunate.

“We worked extremely hard to get to this point, and now we're in a spot where we want to enjoy it as much as we can. We've worked extremely hard, and now it's time to go out there, have some fun and try to win four ballgames.”

Game 2 starts at 7:00 PM, in case you missed the adjusted starting time, as Major League Baseball tries to avoid rain in Ohio.

Here are the starting lineups for tonight’s game: