World Series: Indians shut out Cubs, 1-0, to take 2-1 series lead

The belief in manifest destiny, the confidence that allows the 2016 Chicago Cubs to treat their ascension to baseball’s throne as an inevitability, sounds something like this.

“If you remember the last series — ya’ll probably do, because ya’ll remember everything — we were down 1-2,” center fielder Dexter Fowler said on Friday evening, a few minutes after his Cubs fell to the Cleveland Indians, 1-0, in Game 3 of the World series. “We came back and won it. It doesn’t matter.”

Ten days ago, after being silenced by Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill in the National League Championship Series, the Cubs inhabited ground nearly as shaky as the footing they hold now. The Dodgers have not forgotten what followed. As their opponents imploded, the Cubs feasted on the pitching in front of them, even sullying Kershaw in the clinching sixth game.

The next week will prove if the Cubs can fulfill their self-determined fate and climb out of a similar hole. This city waited 71 years for the World Series to return to Wrigley Field. It will have to wait another day, at the earliest, to see the Cubs score a run in a World Series game at Wrigley Field. Just like in the last series, they have been shut out twice in a four-day span, on Friday unable to touch starter Josh Tomlin and the three fiercest relievers in Terry Francona’s bullpen.

“We were fine,” Cubs Manager Joe Maddon said. “We played a really good game of baseball. We just did not stay within our strike zones.”

Maddon specializes in preaching calm. His team won 103 games, blessed by immense talent and a diversity of skills. The offense invites fear. The starting rotation may be the game’s best. The bullpen features heat-seeking closer Aroldis Chapman.

But in the Indians, the Cubs have found a deeper, more polished opponent than the Dodgers. The Indians run the bases with more speed than the Dodgers and field their positions with more grace. Their bullpen weapons include far more than their closer, Cody Allen. Andrew Miller, the left-handed relief ace, gobbled up four outs Friday, and Bryan Shaw picked up five.

By the time Shaw entered the game, the Indians had manufactured the game’s only run. Coco Crisp stroked an RBI single as Cleveland capitalized on a fit of erratic pitching from reliever Carl Edwards Jr. Allen escaped a jam in the ninth inning after first baseman Anthony Rizzo singled and outfielder Jason Heyward reached on an error.

Allen did not stumble. He bore down and struck out second baseman Javier Baez to put Cleveland back ahead in this series. Returning to action for Game 4 on Saturday will be the Indians’ ace, Corey Kluber, who tossed six scoreless innings Game 1.

The result Friday spoiled a bash that was decades in the making as the Fall Classic returned to Wrigley. A cordon of police horses blocked pedestrian traffic on Clark Street before the first pitch. Vendors hawked shirts boasting courage in the face of goats. During the seventh-inning stretch, Bill Murray imitated Daffy Duck as he spattered through a rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

But the Cubs offense never materialized. Tomlin, a soft-tossing right-hander, gave up two hits before exiting in the fifth. He did not allow a Cub to reach third base.

“We didn’t have the right plan against Tomlin,” catcher Willson Contreras said. “We were swinging too early, and we didn’t see a lot of pitches. We were so anxious to win this game, and that’s why we fought so hard.”

Both starting pitchers benefited from the expansive strike zone of umpire John Hirschbeck. Willing to call strikes on the lower edge of the outer half, Hirschbeck allowed Tomlin and Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks to rush through the first four innings. Neither pitcher could finish the fifth.

After Cleveland pulled ahead in the seventh, the Cubs received a gift in the bottom of the inning. The present was courtesy of Indians right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall, who had already committed several blunders in this series. Unlike the mistakes he made in Game 2, this moment only raised eyebrows about his opponents.

With two outs, Cubs right fielder Jorge Soler lofted a two-out fly ball down the right-field line. Chisenhall leaped at the wall that parallels the foul line, only to see the ball land behind him. Soler did not sprint out of the box, but he still made it to third with a triple. He said he did not believe he had a chance to score on the play.

“I don’t think that I would have gotten any further than I did,” Soler said.

The ballpark lighted up at the gaffe. The optimism did not last long. Shaw missed Baez’s barrel with a 2-0 cutter, and Baez grounded out harmlessly.

A more challenging hitter awaited Shaw in the eighth. The Cubs medical staff did not clear Kyle Schwarber to play the outfield on his surgically repaired knee. But he is still allowed to hit, as he did impressively as a designated hitter in the first two games. Shaw was undaunted when Schwarber came off the bench in the eighth Friday, and shattered his bat on a pop-up.

An inning later, the Cubs placed pressure on Allen. Rizzo got on base. First baseman Mike Napoli bungled Heyward’s grounder. As the ballpark convulsed with noise, Allen climbed the ladder to strike out Baez with a 94-mph fastball.

Inside their clubhouse after the defeat, the Cubs did not mope. They praised Tomlin and his relievers. They shrugged their shoulders, undaunted by the deficit in the series. The coming days will determine if their manifest destiny is righteous or misguided.

“We’ve been through adversity before and come out on top,” Fowler said. “This is about going out and doing it again.”

andy.mccullough@latimes.com

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