Time to ‘beCleve’ after games one

The+Cleveland+Indians+Roberto+Perez+%28right%29+is+congratulated+by+fellow+teammates+Lonnie+Chisenhall+and+Brandon+Guyer+%286%29+after+hitting+a+three-run+home+in+Game+1+of+the+World+Series+against+the+Chicago+Cubs.+

TNS

The Cleveland Indians Roberto Perez (right) is congratulated by fellow teammates Lonnie Chisenhall and Brandon Guyer (6) after hitting a three-run home in Game 1 of the World Series against the Chicago Cubs.

BRENNAN WHISLER, Sports Columnist

Tuesday, October 25 proved to be quite a dominant night for Cleveland sports teams — a feeling that has not been experienced for quite some time now.

The Cavaliers raised their first ever World Championship banner as they also handled the New York Knicks with a final score of 117-88.

But the bigger story in Cleveland was on the baseball diamond. The Cleveland Indians are that much closer to winning their first World Series since 1948.

To record the win, they had to overcome the MLB darling Chicago Cubs, who are themselves looking for their first Series win since 1908. It’s the largest combined drought in Series history.

To say the night started well for the Indians would be an understatement. Their starting pitcher, Corey Kluber, started with eight strikeouts on the first nine batters, a new record for a World Series game.

The heat Kluber was showing the Cubs didn’t rub off on them. Chicago’s own defense was ineffective and their starter, Jon Lester, had lackluster throws to start the game. He allowed three ER’s (earned runs), with two of them in the first.

He also walked three batters over 5 2/3 innings. The Cub’s biggest problem was closing out innings. Five of the six runs Cleveland scored came with two outs and nobody on base. Kluber allowed four hits versus nine SO’s (strikeouts) over 7 1/3 innings

To complement the pitching performance, catcher Roberto Perez batted .500 on four plate appearances. Both of those hits were homers that drove in four runs total.

Perez drove in every run after the first inning and assured the home team would win. On the flip side, only two Cubs reached base multiple times, Ben Zobrist and Kyle Schwarber. This game saw Schwarber return after missing most of the season; he was a success when compared to his teammates. In total, the Indians scored six runs on 10 hits.

The Cubs, on the other hand, were stymied by great pitching and tallied zero runs on seven hits. Neither team recorded an error.

While it’s not time to panic if you are a Cubs fan, this game does bring up some concerns. Chicago can’t afford to have their offense go AWOL.

There are a few reasons to hope though: this was Cleveland’s best pitcher and he will be gone until Game 4. Chicago has two other Cy Young-level pitchers in the stable ready to throw the heat.

If you’re an Indians fan, take the dub while you can because the Cubs will come back swinging, just ask the Dodgers.

Cubbies, you need to relax – it’s taken 71 years to get back here, don’t jump ship because of one wave.

As of press time, game two of the World Series had not yet been played.