CHICAGO — Jason Kipnis had three hits on Saturday night, including the three-run homer that turned Game 4 of the World Series into a romp for Cleveland. The second baseman is from Northbrook, Ill., and grew up dreaming of playing in the World Series at Wrigley Field, and he did it, and it was really cool to see how happy he was.
There was something beyond making his youthful dreams come true that made Kipnis so happy. In one night, he matched his total number of hits from the previous eight games. From the start of the ALCS through Game 3 of the World Series, Kipnis was 3 for 31. And he’s hardly been alone in not hitting.
“You look at probably batting averages and you look at our lineup, you’re not going to see anybody except Frankie (Lindor, currently at .467 for the World Series) jumping off the page,” Kipnis said. “That means it’s the pitching staff that’s done the dirty work and the hard part.”
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To be fair, Kipnis is up to .294 now for the World Series, and Carlos Santana is at .273 after his three-hit Saturday night that included a solo homer. Coco Crisp is at .333, but that’s with two pinch hits and an 0 for 4 in the one game he started. Jose Ramirez has a .313 World Series average, though he went 0 for 5 in Game 4.
You get Kipnis’ point, that Cleveland is one win away from winning its first World Series since 1948 because of pitching. And it’s certainly true, given that Chicago has managed to score only seven runs in four games. In 12 postseason games, Cleveland has a team ERA of 1.68. As great as Corey Kluber has been, going 4-1 with a 0.89 ERA in the playoffs, the rest of the staff has been exceptional. The non-Kluber ERA is 2.00.
The effect that this pitching dominance has, especially with the success of the bullpen, is that it makes Cleveland believe that if they can get a lead, they’ll win. Because, well, that’s exactly what they’ve done.
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“Once we get ahead in any game, it feels like we’ve won,” said outfielder Rajai Davis. “I can only imagine what they feel, having seen it, because they’re showing the stats on TV all the time about how dominant our bullpen has been. … It gives you more confidence. You believe they’re gonna come through, as opposed to thinking the opposite, where it’s, oh, what big hit are they gonna give up now? What big home run are they gonna give up now? That’s not a good mindset to have as a team, when you have a fear of your bullpen giving it up.”
Davis did not specifically name a team where he had that feeling, but he didn’t have to. He was on the 2014 Tigers, who had back-to-back bullpen meltdowns in the first two games of the division series in Baltimore, then went home and were utterly lifeless against Bud Norris in Game 3 before Andrew Miller and Zach Britton combined to slam the door.
This Cleveland team is the opposite of that, playing with such clear energy that it’s hard to believe their offensive numbers are as rough as they are. When a pitching staff gets on a roll like this, that’s how it goes.
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“We feel comfortable, if we get a lead early, no matter what it is, that our pitching staff is gonna do a great job,” said outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall. “Five shutouts in the postseason — that’s fun to play behind. And it’s fun to play on offense, knowing that even a limited amount of runs could win you a ballgame.”
Cleveland’s offense was not limited in Game 4. And if it’s really starting to perk up, combined with the way they have been pitching, it’s going to be awfully hard for the Cubs to get three straight wins and wrest the title away.