Winner Take All! Cubs Force Game 7

02 Nov, 2016

Six RBIs from Addison Russell and an effective start by Jake Arrieta helped lift the Cubs to a 9-3 win over the Indians in Game 6 of the World Series at Progressive Field on Tuesday night.

Wednesday’s decisive contest will be the 37th winner-take-all Game 7 in World Series history. The most recent such game came in 2014, when San Francisco edged Kansas City.

The 22-year-old Russell, who became the second-youngest player behind Mickey Mantle (21 years old, 1953) to hit a grand slam in a Fall Classic game, tied a single-game World Series record with his RBI total, which he reached in the third inning.

Russell’s slam was also the first to be hit by a shortstop in World Series history. Arrieta struck out nine over 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball.

One loss from elimination after the Indians’ Game 4 win, the Cubs are back on even footing with Cleveland as they push to become just the sixth team since the Fall Classic adopted the 2-3-2 format in 1925 to win a World Series after trailing a Series, 3-1.

The most recent example of such a feat was pulled off by the 1985 Royals against the Cardinals.

The last team to win Games 6 and 7 of a World Series on the road, as the Cubs are hoping to do, was the 1979 Pirates, whose comeback came at the expense of the Orioles.

MLB.com

Image MLB twitter

Mentioned In This Post: