Kluber, Perez, Indians beat Cubs in World Series opener

Published 9:05 am Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Corey Kluber and the Cleveland Indians are off to a pitch-perfect start in the World Series.

The Chicago Cubs, meanwhile, fell completely flat in their first appearance since 1945.

Kluber dominated into the seventh inning, Roberto Perez had four RBIs with a pair of home runs and the Indians beat the Cubs 6-0 in Tuesday night’s opener of a highly anticipated matchup between the teams with baseball’s longest championship droughts.

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“It’s almost like you have that extra level of intensity,” said Kluber, who became the first Series pitcher to strike out eight batters in the first three innings.

AL Championship Series MVP Andrew Miller escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the seventh and stranded runners at the corners the eighth, preserving a three-run lead and delighting the sellout crowd of 38,091 in Cleveland’s first-ever Series home opener.

“The atmosphere in the World Series is so great,” Miller said. “You can’t help but get caught up in it and enjoy it.”

The Indians pitched their fourth shutout in nine games this postseason. After stifling two dangerous lineups in Boston and Toronto during the AL playoffs, Cleveland shut down a hard-hitting Cubs team that scored 23 runs against the Dodgers in the final three games of the NLCS.