3 Won! Tribe blowout has Cubs on brink

CHICAGO — There was a euphoric feeling at Wrigley Field on Saturday night, and it intensified when the Cubs scored in the first inning. Corey Kluber suddenly looked human. But that lasted one inning. Cleveland’s ace settled down, and the Indians now are one win away from winning their first World Series since 1948.

Carlos Santana smacked a solo home run, Cleveland took advantage of two errors by Kris Bryant in the second inning and Jason Kipnis belted a three-run shot in the seventh as the Indians posted a 7-2 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field and took a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven World Series. Kluber, pitching on short rest, scattered five hits over six innings and turned a six-run lead over to Andrew Miller.

• World Series Game 5: Sunday, 7:30 p.m. ET air time | 8 ET game time on FOX

Game Date Time (air time/game time) Matchup TV Gm 1 Oct. 25   CLE 6, CHC 0 Gm 2 Oct. 26   CHC 5, CLE 1 Gm 3 Oct. 28   CLE 1, CHC 0 Gm 4 Oct. 29   CLE 7, CHC 2 Gm 5 Oct. 30 8 p.m. CLE @ CHC FOX *Gm 6 Nov. 1 7:30 p.m./8 p.m. CHC @ CLE FOX *Gm 7 Nov. 2 7:30 p.m./8 p.m. CHC @ CLE FOX * If necessary | All times listed ET • World Series coverageShop for postseason gear: Cubs | Indians

Kluber shut out the Cubs in Game 1, and the North Siders were blanked again in Game 3, but they got a huge boost when they tallied in the first. Dexter Fowler doubled to lead off and scored one out later on Anthony Rizzo’s RBI single. Generations of Cubs fans were giddy. Kluber then shifted into ace mode, and the Indians continued to enjoy the role of unwanted party guest.

“I think we like the position we’re in, but the task isn’t done yet,” Kluber said. “We still have one more game to win, and I think we’re gonna show up tomorrow and we’re gonna play with the same sense of urgency that we’ve played with to this point. We don’t want to let them feel like they’re building momentum or getting back in the Series.”

This is the first World Series at Wrigley Field since 1945, and Cleveland manager Terry Francona knows first-hand about long-suffering Cubs fans. He played for the team in 1986, when it finished fifth at 70-90. No one in the Cubs’ infield was even born then. Francona now is 11-1 in World Series games, and the odds are in his favor he’ll pick up No. 12 very soon.

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Of the 43 teams to take a 3-1 Series lead by winning Game 4, 37 (86 percent) have gone on to win the championship, including each of the last 10 times.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon was hoping to avoid facing what he called the Indians’ three-headed monster of Miller, Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen, and only had to deal with Miller this time. The lefty struck out two in his two innings, but also served up a solo homer to Fowler in the eighth. Dan Otero closed it out with a scoreless ninth.

John Lackey made his 23rd postseason start, moving him past Hall of Famer Whitey Ford into sole possession of sixth on the all-time list. But the …

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