The Cleveland Indians took a 2-1 lead in the series after defeating the Chicago Cubs 1-0 last night at Wrigley Field in Chicago. 

It was a great pitching duel even though neither starting pitcher made it out of the fifth inning; both teams flaunted its high-powered bullpen.

This marked the fourth time the Cubs have been shutout this postseason and second time in this series.  

It will be another difficult task for the Cubs as Corey Kluber, the pitcher who helped shut them out in game one, will be on the mound again for the Indians.

Kluber was nothing short of dominant in game one as he struck out eight of the first nine outs he recorded, a MLB postseason record. 

Designated hitter Kyle Schwarber, the only hitter who had semi-success against Kluber in game one, is not cleared to play the field, and will not be in the starting lineup. 

For the Cubs to have success they will need to be aggressive earlier in the counts. Kluber was throwing a lot of strikes and the Cubs hitters were seemingly always in 0-2, 1-2 counts and falling a behind to a pitcher of his caliber is not ideal for hitters.

The Cubs have proved they are able to make necessary adjustments against top tier pitching. 

The team was shutout in game two of the National League Championship Series when Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher, dealt a gem, but then the Cubs came back in the pennant-clinching game six and were aggressive early. This game should be no different. 

The Cubs will send starting pitcher John Lackey to the mound tonight. Lackey has no decisions in his two postseason starts and boasts a 5.63 ERA coming into tonight’s game.

The Cubs will need Lackey to improve on his aforementioned starts in order to stay in this pivotal game four. 

The keys for the Indians for tonight are very similar to last night’s game. 

Cleveland can put a lot of pressure on the Cubs hitters if the Indians were to score an early run, so expect the team to be aggressive on the base path’s early. Look for the Inidans to try and manufacture a couple of early runs to put the pressure on Lackey and the Cubs. 

The Indians will need six solid innings from Kluber before handing the ball over to relief pitcher Andrew Miller and the rest of Cleveland’s bullpen. 

For the Cubs, the keys to the game will be simple. They need to score, and it needs to happen early. They cannot afford to give up an early lead and forced to play from behind with Kluber and the rest of the Indians bullpen looming. 

The team to score first in both of the championship series’ and the World Series have gone on to win the game, so that is vital. 

Each of Chicago’s last four losses have come in result of a shutout, so if they score they should be fine. 

Prediction for game four: Cubs win 5-3