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Go inside the numbers and matchups that will decide Friday nights showdown?between the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians in Game 3 of the World Series, and then vote for which team will win at the bottom of the page. The series is tied 1-1.How we got hereKyle Schwarber fell out of his hospital bed and delivered two RBI singles, Jake Arrieta took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, Trevor Bauer pitched some excruciatingly mind-numbing baseball, the Indians walked eight batters, the weather was cold and miserable, and the game plodded along for four hours and four minutes. But the Cubs got their first World Series victory since Game 6 in 1945.?-- David SchoenfieldInside the pitching matchupWhen Josh Tomlin is on the mound: Only seven right-handed starters had a lower average fastball velocity than Tomlin, and two of them were knuckleballers. He may hit only 87-88 mph with his fastball, but hes not going to beat himself: With 20 walks in 174 innings, he had the lowest walk rate among qualified starting pitchers. He pounds the zone with his fastball, cutter, changeup and curveball, but did give up 36 home runs.After a terrible August in which he allowed 46 hits and 35 runs in 26? innings, Tomlin barely pitched for two weeks. But over his past six starts, including two in the postseason, he has a 1.98 ERA and just one home run allowed. Dont be fooled: While he has rediscovered his cutter after batters hit .407 against it in August, he hasnt suddenly turned into a ground ball pitcher (although his rate has gone up). He has given up 28 fly balls in those six starts and just that one home run, so there probably has been a little good fortune there. The Indians just need the bubble to keep from bursting for one or two more outings.Tomlin actually had a strong reverse split. Including the postseason, right-handed batters have an .832 OPS off him, while lefties have a .666 OPS. Whats odd about that, however, is that lefties have slugged .539 against his fastball while righties have hit .191/.238/.390 against it. So the fastball works against righties while everything else works better against lefties. The cutter could be his key pitch, as hell need to get that in on the fists of the Cubs left-handed hitters. -- SchoenfieldWhen Kyle Hendricks is on the mound: Like Tomlin, Hendricks relies on movement and command, as his average fastball velocity was 99th out of 104 right-handed starters, just below Tomlin. But as we saw in Game 6 of the NLCS, theres a reason Hendricks led the majors with a 2.13 ERA. 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. He pitches down in the zone, and away to lefties and away to righties.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. As a result of that great command and movement, he led all starters in limiting hard contact (and batters hit just .207 against him overall).Hendricks has had an interesting approach in his three postseason starts (one of those abbreviated after getting hit in the forearm), as hes throwing fewer two-seam sinkers and more cutters and changeups. Look at his pitch breakdown:Regular season:Fastball: 49 percentChangeup: 27 percentCutter: 16 percentCurveball: 8 percentPostseason:Fastball: 33 percentChangeup: 30 percentCutter: 28 percentCurveball: 9 percentOf course, part of what makes Hendricks so good is hes not going to fall into a pattern. Still, the Indians will be able to load up their lineup with five or six lefties/switch-hitters, so Hendricks may keep using that cutter more, as he did so effectively against the Dodgers. -- SchoenfieldPlayers in the spotlightJorge Soler?and?Carlos Santana. Schwarber isnt going to play the field, so that leaves Joe Maddon the option of putting Jason Heyward back in the lineup, or using Soler or Chris Coghlan in right field. Given Tomlins reverse platoon split, Soler may get the start. Soler does big damage to fastballs (.941 OPS), but struggles with wiggly stuff. As mentioned, Tomlins fastball is more effective against righties than his off-speed stuff, so if Soler starts it looks like strength versus strength.?Its certainly understandable why Cleveland manager Terry Francona wants to get Santanas bat in the lineup -- hes the teams best hitter and Hendricks has a small platoon split, so the more left-handed batters the better. But starting Santana in left field is a huge risk, especially if the wind is going to be so severe. Santana has played just four innings in left field in the majors, in 2012 (although he did start 21 games there for Vero Beach ... way back in 2006). There was discussion last year about the Royals playing Kendrys Morales in the outfield, but Ned Yost refrained (sticking with light-hitting Alex Rios) and that worked out OK.Santana did play some third base in 2014, so Francona could have played him there and moved Jose Ramirez to left field (where he started 47 games this year), but I guess the feeling is Santana could do less potential damage in left field. As they say, well find out -- SchoenfieldDid you know ...Hendricks will be the third pitcher in the wild-card era (since 1995) to start a game in the World Series after winning the ERA title during the season with an ERA lower than 2.25. He joins Roger Clemens in 2005 (Astros) and Greg Maddux in 1995 (Braves). -- Dan McCarthy,?ESPN Stats & InformationWhat will decide the game Friday nightBe aggressive. Cleveland hitters should be aggressive against Hendricks, looking for a pitch to hit early in at-bats. If they cant find a pitch to hit early, they could struggle deeper into the count. This season, including the playoffs, Hendricks allowed an .814 OPS in the first two pitches of the at-bat. That dropped to .489 once he got at least three pitches into an at-bat. If the Indians cant be aggressive early, Hendricks could find a way to silence their offense. --?McCarthyThe man in blueJohn Hirschbeck has been an MLB umpire for more than 33 years. He previously umpired in the World Series in 1995, 2006, 2010 and 2013. His postseason claim to fame is being the umpire for Roy Halladays no-hitter (Game 1 of 2010 NLDS, Phillies versus Reds).Statistically speaking, Hirschbeck is more likely to call strikes than any of the other umpires on this World Series crew. From 2013 to 2015, he ranked among MLBs most likely strike-callers when compared to his peers (11th out of 88 umpires with at least 30 games behind the plate in called strike rate above average), but this season, hes closer to the MLB average (38th out of 87).Hirschbecks key tendency when a right-handed pitcher is on the mound: He often calls strikes on pitches on (or slightly off) the inside corner to left-handed batters.And when a right-handed batter is up, he will call the outside corner pitch a strike more often than his peers.Why is this important? Hirschbecks presence is notable because the two starting pitchers both tend to get called strikes at a high rate. Hendricks got called strikes on 39 percent of the pitches he threw that were taken, the fourth-highest rate in the majors. Tomlin ranked fifth at 38 percent.In the nine starts in which Tomlin had a called strike rate of 41.5 percent or higher, his ERA was 2.34. Hendricks isnt as reliant on them as a part of his success, though in the four starts in which he had his highest called-strike rate, he allowed five earned runs in 26 innings (1.73 ERA). -- Mark Simon, ESPN Stats & InfoBetting guide for Game 3Westgate line: Cleveland Indians (Tomlin) +180 at Chicago Cubs (Hendricks) -200, Over/under: 8 (-110 over)Game 2 PickCenter: 56 percent picking the CubsJoe Peta: The tone of baseball headlines sure changed after Game 2, but as you know from reading these pages, there was never a need for the Cubs to panic after Game 1. They are simply the much better team, and as weve seen this October, it takes a superior pitching performance to negate that advantage. Corey Kluber, like Clayton Kershaw, Johnny Cueto, et al., before him, has the skill set to turn in such a performance. Josh Tomlin , frankly, does not. In fact, Tomlin, a fly ball pitcher with a career-long penchant for giving up the long ball, pitching in Wrigley Field, a venue that consistently rewards right-handed home run hitters, is in just about the worst spot possible. On top of that, he doesnt have the one skill that can negate the Cubs offensive prowess -- the ability to strike batters out. Among qualified MLB starters in 2016, only four starters had a lower strikeout rate than Tomlins 16.2 percent. Click here for moreChoosing sides: Who will win??Hendricks versus ?Tomlin in the first World Series game at Wrigley Field since 1945. Yeah, Ill take Hendricks in this one -- Bradford Doolittle?The wind blowing out with warm temperatures for Game 3 is reminiscent of an October affair last season when the Cubs slugged their way past the St. Louis Cardinals. The same result will happen here in easily the highest-scoring contest so far. Tomlin is in for a long night. -- Jesse Rogers?While I think the Indians will take one of the three games at Wrigley, I dont think it will be this one. Though Tomlin has had a lot more success with extended rest, I think the Cubs lineup gets to him and Chicago will win Game 3. -- Andrew MarchandWhere the series standsThe first two games featured no lead changes -- in fact, they werent even tied after the first inning -- so maybe were due for a wild, back-and-forth contest. The wind is predicted to blow out at a good rate, which would seem to help the Cubs since Tomlin serves up more home runs. Wrigley is going to be crazy loud. The fans want to fly that W ... especially knowing Corey Kluber lies ahead in Game 4.?-- Schoenfield Rafael Ortega Jersey . The 29-year-old Baines has established himself as one of the top attacking full backs in the country and was the subject of two bids from United during the last off-season. Everton manager Roberto Martinez says that keeping Baines at the club is a "massive boost and exciting for the future" because he brings "maturity and football knowledge in a very specialized position on the pitch" and an "infectious and positive influence to the rest of the squad. Custom Chipper Jones Jersey . Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. http://www.custombravesjersey.com/custom-cito-gaston-jersey-large-647z.html . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. Luke Jackson Jersey . Louis Blues. Shane Hnidy joins Brian Munz for the broadcast on TSN 1290 Radio at 7pm ct. Touki Toussaint Jersey . -- New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis is retiring after a 16-year career to become the goalie coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Field hockey has not been one of the most successful Olympic sports for the United States. Neither the men nor the women have ever won a medal, unless the Olympics were held in Los Angeles. The men won their only bronze in 1932, and the women won their only bronze in 1984. It was difficult enough that I recall tales from the 1996 Olympic of players having to beat snakes with their sticks while practicing at the training center.The women finished dead last at the 2012 Olympics in London after finishing eighth in 2008. They did not compete in the two Olympics previous to that.The sport is improving, however, at least on the womens side. The American women won the championship at last summers Pan Am Games in Toronto by beating rival Argentina. They finished third in the Champions Trophy event in London this summer (with Argentina winning). They have risen to No. 5 in the world rankings. They showed they are a force to be reckoned with here by beating world No. 2-ranked Argentina 2-1 on Saturday in their opening Pool B game of these Olympics.How have they gotten better? Part of it is drawing determination from the poor London 2012 showing. Much of it also is Craig Parnham, who played for Great Britain in two Olympics and took over as coach after the London Games.Hes great. The entire coaching staff is great, goalkeeper Jackie Briggs said. Craig, [assistant coach] Janneke Schopman and our trainer, they work so well together, and they balance each other out. They give us a lot of confidence and let us set the standard. And thats what we have to live up to.More weight drills, conditioning and scientific training have made a difference as well. Players say everything is closely tracked and monitored. Briggs said if they were lifting at 100 percent before, they are at 110 percent now.We really had to grind it out it, she said. It wasnt easy. It was just work, work, work. We just keep going.There wasnt a large crowd for Saturdays game, and not surprisingly, most of the fans were for neighboring country Argentina. When the small group of American fans cheered U-S-A! U-S-A! the Argentinians booed just as loudly, iff not more so.ddddddddddddThe U.S. and Argentina have a fierce rivalry. They have played for the gold medal at every Pan Am Games competition except 1991. Argentina also won every time until 2011, when the U.S. finally beat them. The U.S. came through again last summer.It is a huge rivalry, Briggs said. Theyre an amazing team, and they always give us a great game. We know them inside and out because we play them pretty frequently. They didnt have Carla Rebecchi at Pan Ams, so that hurt them a little bit. Shes back here, so that made them better here. We tried to deny her the ball a little bit. We were outstanding with our one-to-one defense and coverage all over the field.Playing on a blue turf field that made the game seem as if it were at Boise State, the two teams squandered several scoring opportunities in the first two periods and were tied 0-0 at halftime. Argentina took an apparent 1-0 lead early in the third period, but that goal was taken away when a referee video review ruled that the shot should not count. The U.S. responded quickly, with a goal from Katie Reinbrecht in the 35th minute to take a 1-0 lead, then extended it to 2-0 with a goal by Michelle Kasold on a penalty corner.Argentina scored to make it close with barely over three minutes left, but the U.S. held firm for the victory.We had to defend well, Parnham said. We did that, and that gave us a nice platform to build off. Even before halftime, I thought we created some really good opportunities to score, and that continued into the second half.The schedule doesnt get a lot easier for the U.S., which faces No. 3 Australia on Monday in its next Pool B game. The Netherlands, the gold medal team in 2008 and 2012 and currently ranked No. 1, is in Pool A. The top four teams in each pool advance to the quarterfinals.With the way the U.S. has improved since London, dont be surprised to see the Americans going very deep and perhaps up on the podium for the first time in 32 years -- even though these Olympics arent in Los Angeles. ' ' '