Chicago Cubs: A return to Cleveland and the World Series

A short, but sweet set of games

It won’t have the World Series feel it had before, but it will no doubt bring the anticipation of it. The Indians Josh Tomlin (0-2, 8.00) will hope to get off on the right foot as he was skipped in his last start. As he recovers from a back injury, it will be a small feat for Tomlin to go the extra mile for his club. If anything, Terry Francona will look to get five innings out of his starter–if that–and turn it over to the bullpen.

The Cubs’ Tyler Chatwood (0-3, 4.60) like what they see out of his pitches. But they’re going to need to see better control from his in this series. Chatwood has walked 14 in 15 2/3 innings. While he will need to contain his walks, it’s more about keeping the pitches in line so he can go at least six innings or more.

Bauer faces off against Lester

In the second game, it will be the Indians’ Trevor Bauer (1-2, 2.67) to face off against the Cubs and Jon Lester (2-0, 3.10).

Bauer, outside of his first start, has gone 7+ innings in his last three starts. He went eight innings against the Royals but took a loss as he allowed just one run on three hits. He followed that up with seven innings, allowing just two runs on seven hits. In his last start, he allowed three runs to the Orioles but took the loss. In all four of his outings, he’s thrown 100 pitches or more in each game.

For Lester, he comes off a strong start in which he allowed just one earned run on two hits against the Cardinals. For the Cubs, Lester should figure to get around 13 wins this season with an ERA under 4.00. For the Cubs, I’d say they would take that.