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The Forest Scout

The Student News Site of Lake Forest High School

The Forest Scout

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The Forest Scout

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108 Years Comes Down to This: Cubs Win Game 6 and Force Game 7

The Cubs seem to have done it all this year. Out of the nine All-Stars this year to start for the National League team, five of those were Cubs players. Their next accomplishment was being the first team to clinch their division and a playoff spot. But they didn’t just stop there. They ended up having the best record in the majors. After a fantastic game four comeback to beat the Giants in the NLDS, the Cubs went on to win their first National League Championship since 1945. All seemed to be going great, but they were missing one extraordinary accomplishment, a World Series title. After falling 3-1 in the series to the Indians the Cubs hope of a comeback looked bleak, but every Cubs fan refused to stop believing and neither did the Cubs players. After a game five victory to send the series back to Cleveland the Cubs were in search of forcing and epic game seven. Most people were expecting a nerve-wracking night from 7-10:30 on Tuesday night. Those nerves only lasted for the first two batters 

The game six pitching matchup was described as a coin flip. For the Cubs it was Jake Arrieta. As many know, Arrieta won the Cy Young award last year and had the only no-hitter this year in baseball this season. He hasn’t had a Cy Young type year this season, but he has still stepped up in some of the Cubs biggest games, like game two when he went 5 ⅓ without allowing a hit.  On the opposing side was Josh Tomlin who has showed significant improvement this postseason with his curveball opposed to the regular season where he allowed 36 home runs, the second most in the MLB. In game three, the Cubs couldn’t hit Tomin, eventually resulting in a 1-0 Indians win. Instead of the game being close all the way to the finish line it became very lopsided right away.

It didn’t take long; as a matter of fact, the runs began pouring in the first 5-10 minutes of the game. The Cubs heart of the order has become hot over the past couple of days and it stayed hot in game six. With two outs in the first Kris Bryant did what he does best: connect with a hanging breaking ball and send it out of the yard. Bryant’s home run was only the beginning of an epic three run rally. Following the home run, Anthony Rizzo and Ben Zobrist hit back to back singles to get men on first and third. Game six was about to get wacky. Addison Russell, the next batter up for the Cubs, hit a lazy fly ball into right field that looked like out number 3. Instead of being caught, though, the Indians right and center fielder had trouble communicating and instead of the ball finding one of the athlete’s gloves, it found the grass. Rizzo was easily able to score from third. Ben Zobrist scored all the way  from first. Zobrist, who had a good jump on the play, came hustling home bulldozing over the Indians catcher who was on the base line. This gave the Cubs a 3-0 advantage over the Indians. As for the Indians, the worst was still to come.

In the third the Indians had to meet up with the heart of the lineup for the Cubs again. Quickly the Cubs loaded up the bases with a mix of singles and a walk. With only one out in the inning and the bases juiced Terry Francona decided to go to his bullpen early looking to exit a tough situation. He brought in Dan Otero who has had an up and down season, but has made some very costly mistakes. No mistake, however, would compare to the screw up he made on Addison Russell. One day after Russell was parading around in his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costume, he was facing one of the biggest moments he had to face this postseason. Russell got the count to 2-0 relatively quick, which is the second best position a hitter could be in. Obviously not wanting to walk in a run Otero through a perfect sinker over the plate that Russell connected with. Russell hit it out to deep in right center and made it fly out of the park in a flash. Russell was the youngest player to hit a grand slam in the World Series since Mickey Mantle, the legendary Yankee. The grand slam gave the Cubs a comfortable 7-0 cushion over the Indians. The offense had done their part. Now it was up to the defense to help win game six to force a legendary game seven.

For the second time this World Series, Jake Arrieta was dominant. He went 5 ⅔ only allowing two runs. The best part about his start was that after the game concluded he claimed that he could pitch in tomorrow’s game if need be. After Arrieta was Montgomery, followed by another early appearance from Chapman. Only a few minutes into Chapman’s relief pitching the Cubs had a scary moment. On a ground ball to Anthony Rizzo, Chapman came from the pitcher’s mound to cover first. When he stepped on first it seemed like he may have rolled his ankle, but the tough man made the choice to stay in the game and get the Cubs into the ninth still having a reasonable lead. Chapman came out in the bottom of the final inning handing the ball over to Pedro Strop who closed out game three with the final score being 9-3 Cubs. With the W, the Cubs have forced an epic game seven for the ages between the two teams who have the longest World Series droughts in all of baseball.

Today is, for lack of a better term, going to be insane. It will be something that Cubs fans have never felt before. Check in with The Forest Scout later today for a special edition game seven preview that will be a must read before game seven action begins. Today will be the biggest day in the history of the organization. Hey Chicago, what do ya say? Will the Cubs be raising the W flag prouder than ever today?

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About the Contributor
Joe Thomas, Author
Joe Thomas is a staff writer for The Forest Scout who has a burning passion for sports. He covers high school football, hockey and baseball along with the MLB and college basketball. He constantly dreams of being a writer for a professional sports organization when he is older. You can find the majority of his work in the In Between The Lines section.
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