Lester and Chapman save Cubs season, World Series heads back to Cleveland for Game 6

After dropping the first two World Series games to be played at Wrigley Field in decades, the Chicago Cubs scraped out a tough win against these ever-resilient Cleveland Indians on Sunday night. Chicago now faces a 3-2 Series deficit as the teams travel back to Cleveland for Game 6 on Tuesday night. Working in Chicago’s favor? Cubs ace Jake Arrieta is back on the mound for Game 6 and as proven time and time again, Chicago always has a chance when Arrieta’s on the mound.

But back to Game 5 and the gem that Jon Lester tossed. Lester routinely was getting Cleveland batters to hit uncomfortable pitches, leading to easy outs, be they routine pop-ups or groundouts, and when he wasn’t getting those he was more than happy to get them to whiff. Lester tossed five strikeouts to zero walks and that mechanical efficiency could not have come up at a more perfect time. Here’s Chicago’s Dexter Fowler discussing with MLB Network Radio’s Casey Stern what Lester’s performance meant to the team.

Chicago’s backs were to the wall following two-straight home losses and Lester kept the Cubs in this game (and World Series) before the calvary arrived in the form of Aroldis Champman. Between Chapman and Lester the Cubs have hope as the games shift back to Progressive Field and with Jake Arrieta taking the mound on Tuesday night, the Cubs have to feel good about playing a Game 7 on Wednesday.

Mad Dog in Chicago

Not one to ever miss the action, SiriusXM’s own Chris “Mad Dog” Russo was broadcasting from the Second City. Check out below as Dog talks with Chicago’s play-by-play man Jim Deshaies about the Cubs, the Curse and more.