How the Cubs erased a 3-1 deficit to win the World Series
CLEVELAND – A team hadn’t overcome a 3-1 deficit to win the World Series on the road in 37 years. But this year’s Chicago Cubs team seemed destined to defy history from the moment they took the field for the first time in 2016.
“Coming into spring training, it was just a different feel with this group of guys. It just seemed like everyone was on the same page,” shortstop Addison Russell said in the champagne-soaked visitor’s clubhouse after the Cubs finished off their comeback by defeating the Cleveland Indians in Game 7.
“That could be a testament to (manager) Joe (Maddon) that he got us all on the same page, but I know that since Day 1 we had something special.”
Even when they lost three of the first four games in the series, the Cubs never lost confidence. But they still had to rise to the occasion to make their championship dream a reality.
Here then, are the five most memorable moments in the Cubs’ rebound from the brink of elimination to their first World Series title in 108 years.
Chicago Cubs, World Series champions: Game 7 provides excruciating final test
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Game 5, 7th inning
Leading 3-2 with one out and the potential tying run on second base, Maddon summons closer Aroldis Chapman to get out of the jam.
It’s the earliest Chapman has been in a game in four years. And he’s going to be asked to keep the Indians from scoring over the final 2 2/3 innings.
“I don’t think you’re human if you didn’t get nervous in Game 5,” third baseman Kris Bryant said. “It was the most nervous I’ve ever been on a baseball field.”
Though Cleveland did get the tying run to third base in the eighth, Chapman struck out Francisco Lindor to end the inning. Then he pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to nail down the eight-out save.
That changed the whole dynamic of the series,” Cubs reliever Mike Montgomery said. “We knew it was going to be a long road. I think Chapman was really the difference-maker to kinda turn us back around. He was a huge part of it and that was a big moment in the series.”
Though they still trailed three games to two, the win allowed the Cubs to send the series back to Cleveland.
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Game 6, first inning
With two outs and no one on base, Kris Bryant steps to the plate against Indians starter Josh Tomlin – the same pitcher who shut the Cubs out for 4 2/3 innings in Game 3.
Tomlin gets a quick two strikes on Bryant, but makes the mistake of leaving a curve ball on the inner half of the plate and the NL MVP candidate – who hit 39 home runs during the regular season – connected for his second one in as many games in the World Series to give the Cubs a quick 1-0 lead.
“My favorite pitch to hit is the hanging curveball,” Bryant said. “Usually if you just put your swing on it and it’s hanging up there, there’s a good chance it’s going to go pretty far.”
The Cubs added two more runs in the inning on Russell’s double that fell between Cleveland outfielders Tyler Naquin and Lonnie Chisenhall.
In a series in which the team that has scored first has enjoyed a huge advantage, the Cubs 3-0 lead before the Indians ever came to bat loomed large.
Bryant’s hit was one of four he would eventually collect in the game.
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Game 6, seventh inning
After the Cubs went ahead 7-0 on Russell’s grand slam in the third, the Indians began to chip away at the lead. Single runs in the fourth and fifth cut the margin to five.
But in the playoffs, no lead is safe. And Maddon isn’t going to take any chances when the Indians put two runners on base with two outs. Despite the big lead, the skipper goes back to Chapman to end the threat, which he does.
The Cuban left-hander allows a hit in the eighth, but gets out of it thanks to a double play. Anthony Rizzo’s two-run homer makes it 9-2, but no one started warming in the Cubs bullpen so Chapman makes four more pitches and gets an out in the ninth before being replaced by Pedro Strop.
There’s some second-guessing the decision to have Chapman throw a total of 20 pitches in a game that seemed well in hand – especially with Game 7 looming – but Maddon doesn’t look back.
“It’s about winning right now … that was really a clear-cut decision for me,” he said. “The threat there was that had we not done it, then Aroldis would have had a more stressful 1 2/3 innings in the eighth and ninth inning.”
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Game 7, 9th inning
The Cubs seem to have the game in hand, jumping out to an early four-run lead. But the Indians still have some fight left in them.
Chapman gets the call to protect a three-run lead in the eighth, but gives up an RBI double to Brandon Guyer and a game-tying two-run homer to Rajai Davis to make the score 6-6.
The Cubs have a chance to push the go-ahead run across with one out when Jason Heyward reaches on a fielder’s choice, steals second and advances to third on a wild throw by catcher Yan Gomes.
That’s when Maddon makes perhaps his strangest call of the postseason. With the count 3-and-2, he asks Javier Baez to drop down a squeeze bunt. But Baez strikes out when he can’t get the bunt down in fair territory and the Cubs don’t score.
Chapman keeps the Indians off the board in the bottom of the ninth to preserve the tie, but then Mother Nature intervenes.
A rain delay sends both teams to their clubhouses after end of the ninth inning. But something happens once the Cubs leave the dugout.
Veteran outfielder Jason Heyward notices Baez is upset about his unsuccessful bunt attempt – and he calls a quick meeting in the weight room just outside the clubhouse.
Heyward has a message for Baez, but one that’s applicable to everyone: “We all as a group live and die with each other’s at-bats,” he tells reporters afterward.
“I just wanted to remind him that we’ve all overcome it before. We can do it again. Just everybody be ready. I know the situation it is now. It’s game tied. It’s Game 7. Just know that you can get it done.”
The rain shower passes and the teams return to the field tied 6-6, but the Cubs have a new sense of energy among them.
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Game 7, 10th inning
The Cubs mount a threat almost immediately with some smart baserunning. Pinch-runner Albert Almora tags up and advances to second on Kris Bryant’s fly ball to deep center.
After a walk to Rizzo, Ben Zobrist steps to the plate.
Zobrist and Maddon have a long history together, going back to the Tampa Bay Rays squad Maddon took to the World Series in 2008.
“Who sets a better example of how to work an at-bat?” Maddon asked. “His work ethic is incredible to watch … he’s just a different cat. Everybody would like to have one of those on their team.”
Last season, Zobrist won a World Series ring as a member of the Kansas City Royals. The Cubs signed him as a free agent in the offseason for occasions just such as this.
Zobrist comes through with a double into the left-field corner that scores Almora with the go-ahead run.
“The guy’s won a championship before … actually last year so it’s fresh in his mind,” said outfielder Dexter Fowler. “He knows how to get it done and he got it done. We wouldn’t lean on anybody else.”
It’s Zobrist’s 10th hit in the World Series, raising his average over the seven games to .357. He’s named the series MVP as the Cubs hold on to win 8-7 in 10 innings and snap their title drought of more than a century.
“This is in the history books,” Russell said. “We made our mark and what’s crazy is this is such a young core, we’re just getting started.”
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