Simulated World Series: Epic finish to a classic Game 7
How will this year's World Series play out? Using the Dynasty League Baseball online simulation, Paste BN Sports' Steve Gardner and DLB designer Mike Cieslinski will pre-play each game to provide some insight into the key matchups and strategy fans can expect to see in the Fall Classic.
Game 7: Chicago Cubs at Cleveland Indians
CLEVELAND -- If the real Game 7 between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians is anywhere close to as exciting as the one that ended Paste BN Sports' annual Simulated World Series, baseball fans will have a memory to last a lifetime.
Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez hit a stunning three-run walk-off home run against Cubs closer Aroldis Chapman to give Cleveland an improbable 4-3 victory.
BOX SCORE: Indians 4, Cubs 3
As expected, the game featured outstanding starting pitching from the Indians' Corey Kluber and the Cubs' Kyle Hendricks.
The Indians scratched out a run in the bottom of the first without even making any hard contact. Carlos Santana led off with a single, advanced to second on a soft ground out by Jason Kipnis, moved to third when Francisco Lindor hit a blooper to center field that fell in, and scored on an infield single by Mike Napoli for a 1-0 Cleveland lead.
From there, both starters kept the game scoreless until the fifth inning, when the Cubs finally got to Kluber for the first time in the entire Sim Series. The Indians ace did not allow a run in either of his starts in Games 1 and 4 -- and he didn't allow a hit in Game 7 until Anthony Rizzo's infield single broke things up with one out in the sixth.
GAME SUMMARY: Inning-by-inning recap
The next batter, Ben Zobrist, came through with the big hit -- a double to the wall in left center that plated Rizzo and tied the game. Kluber escaped any further damage in that inning, but after he hit Chris Coghlan with a pitch in the seventh, it was time for the Indians to go to their vaunted bullpen and bring in left-hander Andrew Miller.
But Miller wasn't as dominant as he was earlier in the series. He hit Addison Russell and gave up an infield single to Dexter Fowler to load the bases. After Kris Bryant struck out, Rizzo came up with a big hit once again -- bringing home two runs with a line drive to right field that gave the Cubs a 3-1 lead.
Hendricks continued to befuddle the Indians hitters before finally exiting in the bottom of the eighth with Chapman asked to get a six-out save.
Chapman hit Brandon Guyer to open the eighth, but erased him on a double play. After the Cubs failed to score in their half of the inning, the Indians sent their Nos. 3, 4 and 5 hitters to the plate in the bottom of the ninth against Chapman needing two runs to tie and three to win.
Francisco Lindor was clutch once again, lining a single to left. Mike Napoli coaxed a walk to put the tying runs aboard and bring up Ramirez.
With the count 2-and-1, Chapman fired a 102 mph missile, but Ramirez was right on it. He drove the ball 419 feet into the right field seats and in an instant turned what was shaping up to be a crushing loss into a frenzied celebration.
Despite the hitting exploits of Ramirez and Lindor, the Series MVP award went to Kluber, who allowed two earned runs in 18 1/3 innings in the series (0.96 ERA) and held Cubs hitters to a .123 batting average in his three starts.
What to watch in (the actual) Game 7
-- With such excellent starters, as well as everyone on the pitching staff of both teams available in relief, runs will be at a premium in Game 7. The team that scores first has gone 15-1 in the last two rounds of the playoffs, so getting on the board early will be important for both teams because it will impact everything they do -- from pinch-hitting to bullpen decisions.
-- Hendricks has been excellent all season at preventing batters from making hard contact. He led all MLB starters during the regular season with a 25.1% soft contact rate. The Indians scratched out their only run against Hendricks in Sim Series Game 7 on three singles and a groundout. And he kept the damage from being any worse by getting the final two outs of the inning on infield grounders.
-- All eyes will be on Chapman if the Cubs have a lead, or if the game is close in the late innings. His workload in Games 5 and 6 could impact his effectiveness if he's forced to go more than an inning in Game 7. Although fatigue wasn't a factor for Chapman in the Sim Series, the Indians did have good swings against him with five hits, three walks and three earned runs (5.40 ERA) in his five innings of work.
-- As was the case in Sim Series Game 7, one hit could be all it takes to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. FanGraphs has a "Clutch" index that measures how well a player performs in high-leverage situations. The hitter who ranked sixth in the majors in that metric during the regular season was Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez, who hit the walk-off homer in our Game 7. (Addison Russell of the Cubs ranked eighth.) If the game is on the line and Ramirez comes to the plate, don't be surprised if he comes through with the big hit.
Previous results
Game 1: Cubs 5, Indians 1 (14 inn.)
Game 2: Cubs 12, Indians 3
Game 3: Cubs 5, Indians 4
Game 4: Indians 4, Cubs 0
Game 5: Indians 8, Cubs 3
Game 6: Indians 6, Cubs 2
Dynasty League Baseball, from the designer of Pursue the Pennant, is available in both the original Board version and the online version featuring "Series," Greatest Team bracket tournaments and continuous ownership draft leagues.
Pre-play your own 2016 World Series by signing up at Dynasty League Baseball.com and selecting "Series."
Special thanks to Baseball Info Solutions for their statistical analysis.