CLEVELAND -- Hey, far be it for us to send waves of alarm rippling through Cubs Nation after one game of a World Series -- even if its a game they happened to lose 6-to-zilch Tuesday night to the fearsome Corey Kluber/Andrew Miller/Cody Allen division of those rampaging Cleveland Indians. But sorry. Theres stuff you need to know about this.So what do you say we get all the terrifying Cubs notes out of the way early on? It will be easier that way.? Over the past three decades, almost every team that lost Game 1 of the World Series found it had just dug itself a canyon it couldnt climb out of. Its tough to comprehend, but Game 1 losers have lost the past six World Series. And 12 of the past 13. And 17 of the past 19. Not to mention 19 of the past 22 and 24 of the past 28. Going all the way back to 1997, the only two teams to lose Game 1 and survive were the 2009 Yankees and the 2002 Angels. Hard to believe in a best-of-seven series, but 100 percent true.? Then theres the Cubs own not-so-beautiful history when they lose Game 1 of any postseason series. Tuesdays Game 1 loss in Cleveland marked the 14th time the Cubs had lost the opener of any type of series. They went 1-12 in the previous 13, coming back to win only in the 2015 NLDS against St. Louis.? If we confine this study just to best-of-seven series, it gets even more ominous. The Cubs now have lost Game 1 of a best-of-seven series 10 times. Theyre 0-9 in the previous nine. Then again, theyre the Cubs! So losing series in just about every way possible has been one of their areas of expertise.? Finally, the Cubs have now been shut out three times in this postseason. Of the seven previous teams to get blanked three times or more in the same postseason, just one -- the 1981 Dodgers -- went on to win the World Series. So are we saying theres a chance? Sure. Why the heck not?But the words of wisdom emanating from the clubhouse of the National League champions sounded remarkably similar to the words welling up from that same group a week or so ago, after theyd been held to two hits and no runs by Clayton Kershaw in Game 2 of the NLCS, and then held to two hits and no runs again, by Rich Hill, in Game 3 of that series.This time, the Cubs were talking about another ace, Kluber. Who held them to four hits and no runs, while striking out nine, in six-plus innings.That, Cubs catcher David Ross?said, is what Cy Youngs do. Thats what aces df course, what Kluber did to the Cubs in this game wasnt quite what Kershaw and Hill did to them in the last round, if only because hes right-handed and the two Dodgers aces are left-handed. But were starting to see signs that this team can be shut down by great pitching this time of year -- when guys like Kluber and Miller show up on the mound with a lot greater frequency than they do from April through September.During the season, this Cubs lineup finished second to Colorado in runs scored. But it has now been shut out more times in 11 games in this postseason (three) than it was shut out in the 102 games it played from June 1 on in the regular season (two).The question is: What does that tell us about where this World Series is headed from here?This is not going to put all the pressure on us, just because we didnt win one ballgame, said the Cubs DH du jour, Kyle Schwarber, who somehow found a way to jet in from the Arizona Fall League, become the first position player ever to get a hit in a World Series after getting zero hits in the season and then rise up to be a voice of reason afterward.Were a good baseball team, Schwarber promised. Well be fine.But will they? They struck out 15 times Tuesday -- something they hadnt done in any nine-inning game in more than four months (since a June 13 meeting with Max Scherzer). They also set a franchise record for most whiffs in a postseason game.So what was the common thread between this game and those two shutouts against the Dodgers? According to ESPN Stats & Information, it was the unusually high percentage of fastballs the Cubs took for strikes against the starters they faced in all three of those games.When Kluber threw his fastball Tuesday, he had a 58 percent called-strike rate. It was 55 percent in that game against Hill and 54 percent in Kershaws Game 2 start. Those are the three highest rates against them by any starting pitchers they faced all year.And while the Cubs had some complaints about plate ump Larry Vanovers strike zone, those gripes mostly concerned the pitches on the corners that Jon Lester didnt get, not the pitches that Kluber did get. Their biggest issue was the number of Klubers exploding two-seam fastballs they appeared to give up on, only to see them veer back into the strike zone.Then, when Kluber went to his off-speed stuff, the Cubs didnt fare much better. They had more swings and misses against his slider and curve (eight) than balls in play (seven). So the nicest thing that happened, Ross said, gratefully, was getting Kluber out of there.But if that was the good news, the bad news was it meant they had to spend the next two innings dealing with Miller, a man who had faced 41 hitters in this postseason before this game -- and struck out 21 of them.Unlike the Red Sox and Blue Jays, the Cubs at least made Miller sweat, running four three-ball counts, drawing as many walks against him in two innings (two) as hed issued in the entire postseason before this and forcing him to throw 46 pitches -- the most hed thrown in relief in more than five years.But they also learned all about what makes Miller maybe the most feared reliever in baseball -- when they loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh and got zero runs out of it. The last two outs came on sliders he threw past Addison Russell and Ross. And the movement on both of those pitches was so severe, they were unhittable even for hitters who were pretty sure what was coming. At 3-and-1, Ross said, he threw me a strike slider that kind of backed up a little bit. So what I was seeing [on the next pitch] was, Was that slider going to start in the same place? Im trying to protect against the nasty one and the one that kind of backed up. So as Im trying to look for that, the pitch I struck out on looked like it started from the same spot, but it ended up wrapping around my back leg and pretty much disappeared.Then, an inning later, with two on and two outs, it was Schwarber who got swallowed up by another of Millers most ferocious sliders, swinging over it for the innings final out, then screaming at himself in frustration.Thats his pitch, man, Schwarber said later. Its a plus-plus pitch for a reason.Kluber and Miller were so good, it was easy for the team they beat to fire out the obligatory tip your cap quotes about them and mean every word. But the Cubs will be seeing both of them again. So if theyre going to roar back to win this World Series, theyre going to have to do to those two guys what they did to Kershaw in the NLCS -- make a radical adjustment in the game plan the next time around.The common thread I see, Ross said, is we have a young group that usually gets better the more they see guys and how theyre going to pitch them. Im holding out hope that thats whats going to help us moving forward. But I dont want to take anything away from Corey Klubers performance. It was as dominant as it gets.Well, if they enjoyed his dominance on this night, stay tuned, because there is every indication the Indians plan to run Kluber out there again in Games 4 and 7. And if they grab the lead again, it will be Miller and Allen to follow. Its a formula the Indians already have used to smother two great lineups. And now its the Cubs turn. Lucky them.Asked if he was ready for more of the same fun in Games 4 and 7, Ross laughed and said, Well see. But right now, were going to worry about whoever theyve got on the mound tomorrow. Id rather forget about Corey Kluber for a little while.And after a Game 1 loss that history tells us normally means big trouble -- even for teams this good -- who the heck could blame him? Terrell Owens Super Bowl Jersey . The catch: It needs a lot of money, and it needs it fast. Kentavius Street Super Bowl Jersey . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2. http://www.thesf49ersshoponline.com/Youth-Deion-Sanders-49ers-Jersey/ . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. Tevin Coleman Super Bowl Jersey . Instead of dwelling on the negative, Oates focused on what was good about the clubs recent play. It worked. Dre Greenlaw Super Bowl Jersey . Andrew Luck lost his favourite target and the Indianapolis locker room lost one of its most revered leaders when Reggie Wayne was diagnosed Monday with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will cost him the rest of the season. EUGENE, Ore. -- If you were not aware that Michael Carter is the only person to win an Olympic medal and a Super Bowl ring in the same year, dont feel too bad. His daughter didnt know it until after a junior high coach asked her to start throwing the shot put.I came home and told my dad and he said, Are you sure? Who told you? What did they say to you? Michelle Carter said. Because he was aware that I didnt know what he did in track. I grew up with my dad playing football, so thats what I knew. He wanted to make sure the shot put was something I wanted to choose on my own and not be something somebody made me do because they knew what my dad had done in the sport.What her father had done was win a silver medal in the shot put at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Then he won a Super Bowl ring as a nose tackle with the San Francisco 49ers roughly five months later (technically the next year, but the 1984 season).Even so, Michelle said she didnt truly understand that double achievement until she was in high school and learned more about her fathers Olympic career, at which point she thought: Ohhh, you really were pretty good.He didnt really talk about it. Thats one thing he didnt want to do, Michelle said. He didnt want to pressure us to do anything he did. If we chose it, it had to be on our own. Because he didnt want us to do anything we didnt enjoy.ddddddddddddichelle very much enjoys the shot put. She qualified for her third straight U.S. Olympic team on Thursday night by winning with a throw of 19.59 meters (64 feet, 3? inches). Her chances of matching her fathers medal success are increasing. After finishing 15th in Beijing (2008) and fifth in London (2012), she has the third-longest throw in the world this year at 20.21 meters (66-3?).Ive matured -- just growing up and learning more about my sport and more about myself, said Carter, 30. Understanding how to compete better has really made a difference. And those years of experience. Ive kind of overcome the Wow! factor a little bit.My goal is to peak big in Rio, because my goal is to win gold. Just knowing that my training is coming together and Im where I would like to be, I just will keep working and get ready for Rio.Even when informed of his athletic career, Michelle said she did not look at her father as a great shot-putter or a great football player, but merely as a great father. Well, and also a great coach because he has been coaching his daughter almost her entire career.I call him Daddy Coach, she said. Hes taught me everything that hes known so Im able to do what Im able to do. ' ' '
