clipped the wall on the exit of Turn 14, suffering a punct

Go inside the numbers and matchups that will decide Wednesday nights showdown?between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians in Game 7 of the World Series, and then vote on which team will win at the bottom of the page. The series is tied 3-3.How we got hereAddison Russell belted a grand slam, Kris Bryant went 4-for-5 with a home run, Anthony Rizzo went 3-for-5 with a home run, Tyler Naquin and Lonnie Chisenhall botched a fly ball that cost the Indians two runs, and everyone complained when Joe Maddon brought in?Aroldis Chapman?with a 7-2 lead in the seventh inning. The Cubs won 9-3 and will attempt to become the first road team to win Games 6 and 7 since the 1979 Pirates.?-- David SchoenfieldInside the pitching matchupWhen Kyle Hendricks is on the mound: The NLs ERA leader rarely hits 90 mph with his fastball and even has an above-average strikeout rate, but what made him so special in 2016 was his ability to limit hard contact. He led all starters in lowest well-hit average as batters hit only .207 against him overall and in the postseason theyre hitting .211/.278/.282. Maddon did pull him in Game 3 after 4? innings even though he hadnt given up a run.Hendricks relies on movement and command, as his average fastball velocity was 99th out of 104 right-handed starters, just below that of Indians Game 6 starter Josh Tomlin. No starter had a higher rate of first-pitch strikes and he pounds the corners while expertly changing speeds with a sinker, curveball, cutter and changeup. No starter had a higher percentage of pitches on the outer half of the plate than Hendricks, with 62 percent of his pitches on the outer third of the strike zone.In his Game 3 start, he continued his postseason trend of throwing fewer sinkers and more cutters. In the regular season, he threw that two-seamer nearly 50 percent of the time but has been below 40 percent in each of his four playoff starts, including 31 percent in Game 3. Some of that is simply the result of facing more left-handed batters -- they hit .341 off his fastball but just .222 against the cutter -- so look for a lot of cutters again with the Indians running out at least six lefties and switch-hitters.?-- SchoenfieldWhen Corey Kluber is on the mound: How good is this matchup? As Rany Jazayerli pointed out on Twitter, this is only the third Game 7 of the live ball era that features two starters who had 5-plus WAR that season. The others were Roger Clemens versus Curt Schilling in 2001, and John Tudor versus Bret Saberhagen in 1985. Kluber also is trying to become the first pitcher to start and win three games in the World Series since Mickey Lolich in 1968 and the first to win five games as a starter in a single postseason (Randy Johnson won five in 2001, but one in relief, and Francisco Rodriguez won five in 2002, all in relief).Kluber is making his second straight start on three days rest. He has given up three runs in 30? innings, surrendered only one home run, held batters to a .200 average, and struck out 29 percent of the batters he has faced. Terry Francona limited him to six innings in Games 1 and 4 (and fewer than 90 pitches each game), and with Andrew Miller lurking probably wont ask for more than that. In Game 1, he had pinpoint command of his two-seam fastball, getting it to run on the inside corner to left-handed batters. He wasnt quite so dominant with that pitch in Game 4, but it has been the key to his playoff run:Regular season: .274/.350/.483 Postseason: .188/.291/.250He actually changed his approach a bit in Game 4, throwing his hard curveball/slider hybrid more often, 35 times compared to only 30 fastballs. Thats one of the most dominant pitches in baseball, as batters hit .115 against it. The Cubs right-handed batters can certainly expect to see it a lot. Of course, one reason Kluber is so good is that he doesnt fall into patterns. In Game 1, he often pitched backward, starting off with a breaking ball and then going to the fastball or cutter with two strikes.?-- SchoenfieldPlayer in the spotlightAll of them! OK, how about Carlos Santana? In Clevelands three victories he has reached base seven times; in the three loses he has reached twice. Hell be in the leadoff spot and needs to get on base in front of Jason Kipnis and Francisco Lindor.?-- SchoenfieldDid you know ...The Cubs are the ninth team to force a Game 7 after trailing 3-1 in a best-of-seven World Series. Five of the previous eight went on to win the Series, including each of the last two (1979 Pirates, 1985 Royals). -- ESPN Stats & InformationWhat will decide the gameTeams are 5-0 this World Series when leading entering the sixth inning (Game 3 was tied 0-0). The Indians are 7-0 this postseason when leading entering the sixth inning, and the Cubs are 7-1.-- ESPN Stats & InfoThe man in blueSam Holbrook ranks as a less-likely strike caller than many other umpires, though hes not to the extremes of Joe West and Larry Vanover. Holbrook ranks as the 23rd least-likely out of 80 in terms of frequency of strike calling.Holbrooks tendencies for right-handed pitcherLeft-handed batter: He does not call the inside strike frequently at any height. He will call the low strike, particularly on, or just off, the outside corner -- which is very important for Hendricks and whoever is catching him. Holbrook does not call the high strike often relative to other umps.Right-handed batter: Holbrook will call the high strike, particularly the high-outside one (notable for the Kluber-Roberto Perez combo). He does not call the low strike often relative to other umps, except for a small patch at the knees on the inner half.Tendencies with a left-handed pitcherLeft-handed batter: He calls the pitches at the top and bottom borders of the strike zone often, relative to other umps. He does not call the high-and-inside or middle-away strike often, relative to others.Right-handed batter: He doesnt really have anywhere that he calls strikes a lot, but hes stingy with strike-calling at the bottom of the strike zone.Hendricks and Kluber both benefit from pitch framingThe two most notable things to be said on the Game 7 starters: During the regular season, Hendricks got more extra called strikes than any other pitcher in MLB. He got 65 more called strikes than what the average pitcher would have gotten on the same collection of pitches. Almost all of Hendricks extra strikes came from low pitches (as noted above, Holbrook has shown a willingness to call those against lefties).Once Kluber and Perez became a regular battery, Kluber began getting a lot of extra strikes. In fact, after the All-Star break he led AL pitchers in called strike rate above average.?-- Mark Simon, ESPN Stats & InfoZiPS odds: Its a 50-50 gameThanks, ZiPS, for going out on a limb there on the projection. With a decimal point, ZiPS projects the game as 50.4 percent for Cleveland vs. 49.6 percent for Chicago, about as close to a coin flip as you can get. And isnt it fun to see a perfectly even matchup on the last day of the season for the World Series? Click here (Insider) for Dan Szymborskis full Game 7 preview.Who will win??Kluber has been Bob Gibsonesque, and if the Indians get an early lead, then their suddenly rested beast of a back-end bullpen comes into play and ... there still is no way Im picking against the Cubs. Hendricks will zoom in and keep the Indians to one or two or nothing for however long he goes, Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta will beef up the relief corps. The Cubs will be getting Kluber on short rest for the second straight turn while seeing him for a third time in a compressed time frame. The way the middle of the Cubs order is clicking will come into play in a major way. Get ready to party, Chicago, the drought is about to end. -- Bradford Doolittle Theres no stopping the Cubs now. Theyll rely on a rested Hendricks to outduel an overused Kluber and win a tight affair. It might come down to Chapman -- or Lester -- versus Andrew Miller, but the Cubs wont relinquish the lead. Theyll break their 108-year championship drought with a dramatic one-run victory.?-- Jesse Rogers?I will take the Indians to win Game 7. Kluber needs to go only five or six innings and hand a lead to Miller and Cody Allen, which could lead to bedlam in Cleveland. The city really felt as if it overcame a hurdle when the Cavaliers won in June. A loss in Game 7 would be devastating to the city. -- Andrew Marchand Everything now points toward the Cubs winning it all and the Indians blowing a 3-1 World Series lead and losing in typically agonizing Cleveland fashion. But I picked the Tribe in seven games before it began, and I dont feel comfortable bailing on them now. If Kluber can match Hendricks for five or six innings, Cleveland will ride Miller and Allen all the way to the finish line. Call me crazy, but I think the Indians scratch out a couple of early runs and cap their improbable run with a celebration at Progressive Field. -- Jerry CrasnickWhere the Series standsIts tied up! It certainly looks like a low-scoring game is in order. It will be fascinating to watch how the managers handle the middle innings -- dont be surprised if Lester is the first guy out of the Chicago bullpen. I do wonder if it will come down to the two big trade-deadline acquisitions. A rested Miller hasnt pitched since Game 4; Chapman has thrown 62 pitches in Games 5 and 6. Of course, maybe it goes extra innings. Can Cubs and Indians fans survive that??-- Schoenfield Christian McCaffrey Youth Jersey . Ashley Youngs cross was inadvertently headed by Chester into his own net in the 66th minute, allowing United to claim a third straight league win. "We had to dig deep with our fighting spirit and weve done that," United striker Wayne Rooney said. Sam Mills Panthers Jersey . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005. http://www.shoppanthersonline.us/panthers-dj-moore-blue-jersey/ . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Brian Burns Panthers Jersey . Thousands of fans at Mosaic Stadium will be cozying up to each other in an effort to stay warm in chilly temperatures and block the Prairie wind that locals say can knock your socks off. Carolina Panthers Jerseys .ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we look back at Boston Strong - a citys recovery from tragedy. MARINA BAY, Singapore -- Nico Rosberg took pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix with a dominant display under the lights at the Marina Bay Circuit as Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton failed to put a clean lap together and slipped to third behind Daniel Ricciardos Red Bull.Rosberg set a new record lap time of 1:42.584, beating Sebastian Vettels best time on the same layout in 2013 by over 0.25s. The stellar lap not only beat the historic record but also smashed the attempts of his rivals, with a 0.531s gap to Daniel Ricciardo in second and a 0.704s margin over Hamilton.Rosberg set his fastest time on his first attempt and despite a clean second lap, he couldnt improve. Hamiltons first effort was far from perfect, but as he attempted to chase Rosbergs benchmark he went deep into the second corner and made another mistake on the exit of Turn 7. Ricciardo improved significantly between his first and second runs in Q3, beating Hamilton to second, and was actually the fastest driver of all through the final sector. Max Verstappen struggled to get his tyres working on both runs and finished 0.744s off Rosberg in fourth.Although Rosberg made the battle between Mercedes and Red Bull look rather one-sided during qualifying, it could swing back the other way in the race as both Red Bulls will the start the race on a harder compound than the Mercedes due to their tyre choices in Q2. That will allow Ricciardo and Verstappen to run longer into the race than Rosberg and Hamilton, which could put them in strong positions after the first pit stops.Kimi Raikkonen was the sole Ferrari in the top ten after Sebastian Vettel dropped out of qualifying in Q1 with a rear anti-roll bar issue. Raikkonens time was 0.212s shy of Verstappen ahead of him but a comfortable 0.dddddddddddd657s clear of Carlos Sainz in sixth. Both Sainz and Toro Rosso Daniil Kvyat returned to Q3 after two disappointing weekends in Spa-Francorchamps and Monza and will line up ahead of Nico Hulkenbergs Force India, Fernando Alonsos McLaren and Sergio Perez in the second Force India.The two Williams failed to make the top ten, with Valtteri Bottas just 0.003s shy of Hulkenberg in tenth while Felipe Massa was another 0.251s off his teammate. Q2 ended with two sperarate accidents as Romain Grosjean lost the rear of his car under braking at Turn 10 and hit the barriers and Jenson Button clipped the wall on the exit of Turn 14, suffering a puncture on the run down to Turn 16. The incidents ended the qualifying hopes of both drivers but also brought out yellow flags at two points on the track. Perez appeared to pass Esteban Gutierrez under the yellow flags for Buttons stricken McLaren while on the hot lap that secured his place in Q3. Button ended up 13th ahead of Gutierrez, Grosjean and Marcus Ericssons Sauber in 16th.Vettels suspension problem in Q1 saw his Ferrari lift its wheel into corners, but the team initially told him to stay on track and attempt to set a time. However, as he clocked sectors times several tenths shy of the next slowest car, it soon became clear that he did not have the pace to make the cut for Q2 and he returned to the pits. The mechanics attempted to solve the problem in the closing moments of the session, but ultimately ran out of time leaving Vettel 22nd and last on the grid. He will start behind the two Manors, Jolyon Palmer, Felipe Nasr and Kevin Magnussen, who also dropped out in Q1. ' ' '