Russell would follow up by hitting a weak fly ball to shallow left-center. Thankfully for him, Lindor was able to touch a millimeter of the second base bag for at least one out, with Bryant advancing to third base. Ben Zobrist hit what should have been a 3-6-1 double play, but Napoli made a poor throw to shortstop Francisco Lindor, pulling him off of the bag. In the top of the fourth, the Cubs put runners on first and second to start the inning as Bryant singled and Rizzo was hit by a pitch.
Unfortunately, the Indians weren’t able to do anything with the rally as Lindor flied out and Mike Napoli lined out. Santana was initially ruled out as second base umpire John Hirschbeck thought Baez lost control on the transfer, but Santana was safe upon replay review. Baez tried to barehand the toss, but it clanked off of his hand. Russell was still able to snag the ball but rushed a flip to Baez covering second. The ball, however, hit the lip of the grass. The next batter, Jason Kipnis, hit what appeared to be an inning-ending double play to Russell at shortstop. Coco Crisp doubled, then advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Roberto Perez, and Carlos Santana brought him home with a single to right field. The Indians put themselves on the board in the bottom of the third. Chisenhall threw him out at second base for the final out of the frame. He ripped a single to right field and he decided to try for a double. Kyle Schwarber, who was able to easily steal second base off of starter Corey Kluber in the first inning, must have been feeling good about his wheels. The Cubs got in on the sloppiness in the top of the third. But Rajai Davis would end the inning by grounding into a 5-4-3 double play. Lonnie Chisenhall would then single, which all else being equal, would have set up first-and-second with no outs. But Ramirez was quickly erased when Hendricks picked him off during the next at-bat. Jose Ramirez reached base to lead off the bottom of the second, hitting a line drive back up the middle, deflecting off of Hendricks to third baseman Kris Bryant. Fortunately for Baez, starter Kyle Hendricks was able to get Mike Napoli to ground out to end the inning. The throw short-hopped Rizzo, who was unable to corral the ball, allowing Lindor to reach safely. He had to go to his right, but he appeared to slip on wet grass and had to make an off-balance throw from one knee to Anthony Rizzo at first base. Francisco Lindor hit a sharp grounder to Baez, positioned just ahead of the outfield grass. In the bottom of the first inning, Cubs second baseman Javier Baez committed the first of what would be two errors.
So it’s hard to blame the sloppy play we saw in Game 7 on anything other than just being human. Every mistake is magnified as it could make or break your team’s ability to win it all. Put yourself in the shoes of any player on the Cubs or Indians during Wednesday night’s World Series Game 7.
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