Bryant’s jack could be Cubs’ latest jolt

CHICAGO — One step at a time. That’s how you wring the last ounce of energy out of the baseball season, and maybe just how you win the World Series.

For the Cubs, before Aroldis Chapman could come in for the longest save of his career, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo had to trigger a three-run rally with a home run and a double on back-to-back fastballs from Trevor Bauer.

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Those were the biggest moments for the Cubs’ lineup in the 3-2 victory in Game 5 on Sunday night at Wrigley Field, which sent the Series back to Cleveland with the Indians ahead, 3-2.

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   CHC 3, CLE 2 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

It’s worth remembering that 10 days earlier, Addison Russell had to blast a home run off Dodgers wunderkind Julio Urias in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, completely changing the vibe for manager Joe Maddon’s team.

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And the day before Russell hit that homer, in Rich Hill’s 6-0 victory for the Dodgers, Rizzo had to get an infield single off Kenley Jansen on a pitch that absolutely exploded his bat.

Well, at least Bryant felt that seemingly meaningless moment portended better days — the end of a long slump for Rizzo and a return to normalcy for one of baseball’s best offensive teams.

“I think that’s the hit we needed,” Bryant said late that night. “I think [Rizzo’s] going to feed off that. I’m sure it’s not the way he wanted to get a hit, but I think that’s the kind of thing you see spark a team.”

Sure enough, with Russell and Rizzo emerging from slumps in which they had been a combined 3-for-50 for the postseason, the Cubs crushed the Dodgers in the last three games of the NLCS, beating Clayton Kershaw to cap a stretch in which they scored 23 runs in 24 innings.

Maddon spoke after …

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