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Cleveland had a chance to put Chicago away in Wrigley Field, but the Cubs battled their way to a 3-2 win in Game 5, so now the Indians have two shots to win it all on their home field.
Tonight, in Progressive Field, Josh Tomlin takes the mound against Jake Arrieta in Game 6 of the 112th World Series.
Indians’ skipper Terry Francona talked to reporters on Monday about his comfort level with sending Tomlin back out to the mound on short rest after the righty started for Cleveland in Game 3.
“I've known him now for four years,” Francona said.
“That's a long time in our game. I mean, again, one, your players are your players. It's not like you get to the playoffs and then you just decide that you'll go grab some other guys. I do think knowing these guys gives you a sense of -- takes away some of the anxiety, because we've asked them to do some short rest, things like that, and I know how much they enjoy trying to meet the challenges.
“So I think it's pretty obvious, but I've really enjoyed going through these with them. We don't always win or we don't always -- we make some mistakes, but I enjoy doing it with these guys. It's a fun group. If Tomlin doesn't win, he won't beat himself, and he won't back down. All the things we talk about, not backing down from a challenge and valuing winning and things like that, being a good teammate, he embodies all those better or as good as anybody I've ever seen.”
Cubs’ skipper Joe Maddon turns to Arrieta, who was on the mound for Game 2 of the Fall Classic, giving up a run on two hits in 5 2⁄3 innings in a 5-1 win.
Arrieta said before Chicago’s season-extending win in Game 5 that he was preparing to take the mound in Game 6 in Progressive Field.
“It's going to be cold, probably, again like it was when we were out there last time,” he explained.
“I'm not really going to expose everything or the way I'm really going to attack those guys. I just want to execute with quality in and out of the strike zone, and try to get ahead in the count as early and as often as I can to open up some more options for myself.
“But you know, it's just like any other game where you feel comfortable with the game plan and you go out there to do your best to follow through on the execution. So that's really the only thing that I'll be thinking about as Tuesday approaches, is just trying to be efficient. Trying to be as good as I can about moving the ball in and out, up and down and changing speeds and trying to keep those guys off balance.”
Will Cleveland wrap it up tonight? Will Chicago force a Game 7? Game 6 gets underway at 8:00 PM tonight.
Here are the lineups for Game 6 of the World Series: