World Series 2016: Player ratings for Game 3 as Cleveland reclaims series lead

Jesse Spector

World Series 2016: Player ratings for Game 3 as Cleveland reclaims series lead image

CHICAGO — With the wind blowing out at Wrigley Field for Game 3 of the World Series, the expectation was that the first Fall Classic game on the North Side since 1945 would be a slugfest. Instead, it was anything but, as Cleveland squeaked out a 1-0 win to take a 2-1 series lead.

Cleveland and Chicago played scoreless baseball until the seventh inning, when pinch hitter Coco Crisp singled to right field off Carl Edwards Jr. That only dampened the mood at Wrigley Field briefly, as Bill Murray then came out to sing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame."

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Wrigley got to be electric when Jorge Soler tripled with two outs in the bottom of the inning, but fell quiet again when Javier Baez grounded out to end that threat. The Cubs got a runner on first with two outs in the eighth, but Cody Allen came in to strike out Kris Bryant. The ninth inning brought one more chance, as Anthony Rizzo led off witht a single, and Chicago wound up with the tying and winning runs in scoring position, but Allen fanned Javier Baez to end it.

Game 4 of the best-of-seven series is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. ET. Here are the player ratings for Game 3 from 1 (worst) to 10 (best).

CLEVELAND

Carlos Santana – 6: Struck out leading off the game. Handled his first fly ball in left field with aplomb. Drew a two-out walk in the third and a one-out walk in the fifth. Left for a defensive replacement in the bottom of that inning.

Jason Kipnis – 5: Couldn’t have thrown the ball better to come up with an infield single just between the mound and first base in the first inning. Whiffed for the last out of the third. Walked to load the bases in the fifth. Stupidly dove headfirst into first base in the seventh inning, turning what would have either been an infield single or an error on Anthony Rizzo into an out.

Francisco Lindor – 4: Laced a single into left field in his first at-bat, but got picked off first base after video review. Snuck a ground ball past Anthony Rizzo for another single in the fourth inning. Grounded into a double play with the bases loaded to end the top of the fifth, at that point huge moment in the game. Tapped softly back to the pitcher in the eighth.

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Mike Napoli – 3: Struck out to end the first inning. Struck out again in the fourth. Grouunded out leading off the sixth. Made a nice diving stop on Willson Contreras’ grounder in the seventh. Struck out one more time in the eighth. Error in the ninth inning kept the game alive.

Jose Ramirez – 6: Singled off the glove of Anthony Rizzo, a kind scoring decision, to start the second inning. Singled solidly to right field in the fourth. Popped up to shortstop in the sixth. Flied out to end the eighth.

Lonnie Chisenhall – 2: Reached in the second inning on a fielder’s choice on which he was fortunate not to have hit the ball harder, or it would have been an easy double play. Hit another ball the Cubs couldn’t turn two on in his next at-bat. Struck out to end the sixth. Played Jorge Soler’s fly ball down the line into a triple in the seventh — a tough play, but he couldn’t have handled it much worse. Struck out in the ninth.

Roberto Perez – 4: Grounded into the double play in the second that Chisenhall didn’t, ending the frame. Struck out with runners at the corners to end the fourth. Singled leading off the seventh, then left for a pinch runner.

Tyler Naquin – 6: Robbed of a hit on a line drive to shortstop in the third inning. Singled to left field leading off the fifth, wisely not trying to extend it to a double. Got down a sacrifice bunt in the seventh.

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Rajai Davis – 5: Double-switched into the game in the fifth inning, replacing Santana in left field. Walked in his first plate appearance, with a runner on third and one out in the seventh inning. Got thrown out trying to go from first to third on Crisp’s subsequent single. Moved to center field in the eighth.

Michael Martinez – 6: Pinch-ran for Roberto Perez in the seventh inning. Moved up to second on a bunt and third on a wild pitch. Scored on Crisp’s single. Was useful for his presence, because Perez may not have been able to advance on the wild pitch, which bounced up the third-base line, and had he been on second, may not have been able to score on Crisp’s single. Stayed in the game in center field, moving to third base in the eighth inning. Struck out in the ninth.

Yan Gomes – 4: Replaced Perez behind the plate in the seventh inning. Grounded out in the ninth.

Brandon Guyer – 5: Entered the game in left field in a double switch in the eighth inning.

Coco Crisp – 8: Pinch-hit for Andrew Miller and darn well delivered with a single to put Cleveland ahead.

Josh Tomlin – 7: Got through the first inning on nine pitches, showing no nerves in his historic assignment. Gave up a leadoff single in the second, but retired the next six Cubs. Worked around a leadoff walk in the fourth. Got down a good sacrifice bunt in the top of the fifth. Allowed a leadoff single to Jorge Soler in the bottom of the inning, then got two outs before Terry Francona made an aggressive move to go to the bullpen with pinch hitter Miguel Montero coming up.

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Andrew Miller – 7: Summoned with two outs and a runner on second in the fifth inning, got Miguel Montero to fly out. Struck out Chicago’s top three hitters in order in the sixth. Had to leave for a pinch hitter in the seventh inning because Cleveland had runners at the corners with one out, and this game was played under inferior National League rules that prevent the best players in the game from playing to their maximum capability.

Bryan Shaw – 6: Gave up a triple that was barely his responsibility in the seventh, then got out of trouble. Gave up a soft, shift-aided single in the eighth, and came out of the game.

Cody Allen – 8: Struck out Kris Bryant to end the eighth inning. Worked around Rizzo's leadoff single and Mike Napoli's error in the ninth, getting the game-ending strikeout on Baez.

CHICAGO

Dexter Fowler – 4: Grounded out to first base to start the bottom of the first inning. Lined out to right to end the third. Struck out leading off the bottom of the sixth. Squirted a single to left field in the eighth.

Kris Bryant – 4: Flied out weakly to left field his first time up. Walked leading off the fourth inning. Struck out in the sixth. Struck out again to end the eighth with the tying run on first base.

Anthony Rizzo – 5: Bounced out to first base to end a quick first inning. Was lucky to avoid an error on Jose Ramirez’s single in the second. Popped up in foul territory in the fourth. Struck out to end the sixth. Bungled Jason Kipnis’ grounder in the seventh, but got bailed out by Javier Baez’s backup and Kipnis’ decision to go headfirst into the base. Came through in his most important moment of the game, singling to lead off the ninth inning. Left for a pinch runner.

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Ben Zobrist – 4: Singled up the middle leading off the second inning. Reached on a fielder’s choice his next time up. Grounded out in the seventh. Struck out in the ninth.

Willson Contreras – 3: Bounced back to the mound in his first at-bat, moving up the runner. Flied out to center to end the fourth inning. Grounded out his next time up. Grounded out in the ninth.

Jorge Soler – 6: Went down swinging in the second inning. Singled to lead off the bottom of the fifth. Tripled with two outs in the seventh when Lonnie Chisenhall couldn’t make the play on his fly ball at the side wall in right field. There will be those who argue that he should’ve run hard out of the box, and it’s true that he should’ve, but he wasn’t going to score on that play anyway. Left for a pinch runner.

Javier Baez – 3: Popped up to end the second. Hit a dribbler in the fifth that basically played out like a sac bunt. Saved Rizzo’s bacon, and the Cubs from enduring a lengthier Cleveland rally on the Kipnis ball in the seventh inning. Grounded out to end the bottom of the inning when the tying run was on third base. Struck out to end the game.

Addison Russell – 4: Made a great diving catch in the top of the third inning to steal a hit from Tyler Naquin. Grounded out in the bottom of the inning. Grounded out again in the fifth. Struck out swinging in the eighth.

Miguel Montero – 4: Pinch-hit for Justin Grimm in the fifth inning, and ended the frame by flying out to right field against Andrew Miller.

Jason Heyward – 5: Ran for Soler in the seventh, was stranded at third base when Baez grounded out. Reached on an error in the ninth. Stole second base to give Chicago the winning run in scoring position.

Kyle Schwarber – 4: Pinch-hit for Pedro Strop in the eighth inning and popped up when he broke his bat.

Chris Coghlan – 5: Pinch-ran for Rizzo in the ninth. Running with the pitch when Contreras was up kept the Cubs out of a game-ending double play.

Kyle Hendricks – 6: Pitched around a pair of one-out hits in the first inning, thanks in part to his own work in picking off Francisco Lindor. Pitched an unconventional 1-2-3 second thanks to a double play, then a conventional 1-2-3 third. Worked in and out of trouble in the fourth without allowing a run. Gave up a single, sac bunt and two walks in the fifth to load the bases for Lindor, and came out of what had quickly deteriorated from an excellent performance. Survived to still call it a scoreless outing.

Justin Grimm – 7: Got Francisco Lindor to bounce into a inning-ending double play in the fifth after being one pitch away from walking in the game’s first run.

Carl Edwards Jr. – 4: Worked a perfect sixth inning. Gave up the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning on a single, bunt, wild pitch and another single. Such is life. He probably shouldn’t have been in for a second inning, but that’s second-guessing.

Mike Montgomery – 6: Retired both batters he faced after the Cubs fell behind.

Pedro Strop – 6: Retired both batters he faced to close the eighth inning.

Aroldis Chapman – 6: Pitched a perfect ninth inning.

Jesse Spector