CLEVELAND — Corey Kluber pitched neatly into the seventh inning, Roberto Perez hit two home runs and the Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago Cubs 6-0 Tuesday night in the World Series opener.
In a matchup between the teams with baseball’s longest championship droughts, the Indians scored twice in the first inning off October ace Jon Lester and were on their way.
With the score 3-0, AL Championship Series MVP Andrew Miller escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the seventh and got out of trouble in the eighth.
Perez drove in four runs from the No. 9 spot and Francisco Lindor got three hits.
The Game 1 winner has taken the title in the last six Series and 17 of 19.
Trevor Bauer, trying to come back from a sliced pinkie, starts Game 2 for the Indians on Wednesday night against Jake Arrieta. With rain in the forecast, the start time has been moved up an hour to 7:08 p.m.
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A timeline of the World Series Game 1:
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11:35 p.m.
Roberto Perez has hit his second homer in Game 1, a three-run shot in the eighth inning off Cubs reliever Hector Rondon that gave the Cleveland Indians a 6-0 lead in Game 1.
Perez became the first No. 9 batter and first Indians player to have a multihomer game in the World Series. He has three home runs this postseason, matching his total in 61 games during the regular season.
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11:15 p.m.
Andrew Miller has struck out Kyle Schwarber with runners at the corners to end the top of the eighth inning and preserve Cleveland’s 3-0 lead over the Chicago Cubs in Game 1.
The lefty reliever worked two innings and threw 46 pitches, his most in a game since 2011, when he was a starter.
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10:45 p.m.
Andrew Miller has pitched out of a bases-loaded, none-out jam in the seventh inning to protect Cleveland’s 3-0 lead over the Chicago Cubs in Game 1.
Indians ace Corey Kluber was lifted after Ben Zobrist’s leadoff single. Miller, the AL Championship Series MVP, walked Kyle Schwarber on a full count and gave up a single to Javier Baez on an 0-2 pitch.
That loaded the bases, but pinch-hitter Willson Contreras flied out to shallow center field and Addison Russell struck out on three pitches. David Ross also struck out, and Miller pumped his fist as he bounced off the mound.
Kluber yielded four hits and walked none in six-plus innings. The 2014 AL Cy Young Award winner fanned nine — eight in the first three innings.
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10:15 p.m.
With rain in the Cleveland forecast Wednesday night, Major League Baseball has moved up the start time for Game 2 by an hour.
The first pitch at Progressive Field is now scheduled for 7:08 p.m.
Trevor Bauer is slated to pitch for the Indians against Chicago Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta.
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10:15 p.m.
The lights at Progressive Field flickered during the bottom of the sixth inning in Game 1.
Cubs reliever Pedro Strop was about to throw a pitch to Roberto Perez when plate umpire Larry Vanover raised his arms and called timeout. A moment later, the stadium was fully bright again and play resumed.
Perez struck out looking to end the inning.
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9:45 p.m.
Roberto Perez’s second home run this postseason has given the Indians a 3-0 lead over the Cubs in Game 1.
The Cleveland catcher hit a solo shot that struck the railing above the wall in left field with one out in the fourth.
The drive came after Cleveland ace Corey Kluber worked out of mild trouble in the top of the inning.
Perez, who batted .183 with three homers in 61 games during the regular season, has been starting in place of regular catcher Yan Gomes, who just returned from injury.
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9:40 p.m.
Chicago designated hitter Kyle Schwarber has his first major league hit of 2016.
Schwarber doubled off Corey Kluber with two outs in the fourth. The young slugger hadn’t played since tearing two ligaments in his left knee on April 7. He was ruled out for the year, but after a rapid recovery from surgery, the Cubs put Schwarber on their World Series roster Tuesday.
He struck out in his first at-bat but smacked a double off the wall in right field his next time up and strolled into second base.
Schwarber was stranded when Javier Baez flied out on the next pitch.
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9:10 p.m.
Indians ace Corey Kluber has set a World Series record with eight strikeouts through the first three innings. Cleveland leads the Chicago Cubs 2-0 in Game 1.
The eight strikeouts also represent the most by an Indians hurler in a World Series game.
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8:50 p.m.
The Cubs had a chance to score in the second inning but couldn’t do anything after Ben Zobrist’s leadoff double. Kyle Schwarber, added to the World Series roster Tuesday, struck out swinging. Schwarber tore two knee ligaments in early April and hadn’t played in the majors since.
Indians ace Corey Kluber has five strikeouts through the first two innings.
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8:45 p.m.
The Cleveland Indians have jumped on top 2-0 in Game 1 with a two-out rally in the first inning against a scuffling Jon Lester.
Francisco Lindor singled and stole second before Lester issued consecutive walks to Mike Napoli and Carlos Santana. Jose Ramirez drove in the first run with an infield single, a swinging bunt that produced a dribbler toward third base and left the Cubs with no play.
Brandon Guyer, in the starting lineup because of his strong numbers against left-handers, was hit by a pitch to force in another run. Nothing new for Guyer — he racked up 31 HBPs this season, most in the majors and twice as many as anyone else in the American League.
Lonnie Chisenhall fouled out to end the inning, with 39-year-old Cubs catcher David Ross making a nice play and getting a face full of padding on the net between home plate and the dugout.
The two quick runs off Lester were one more than he allowed in his previous 21 World Series innings. The lefty entered 3-0 with a 0.43 ERA in three Series starts for Boston.
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8:15 p.m.
Dexter Fowler took a called third strike from Cleveland Indians ace Corey Kluber leading off the game, becoming the first Chicago Cubs player to bat in the World Series in 25,948 days.
Chicago had not played a Series game since Oct. 10, 1945, when Don Johnson hit into a game-ending forceout against Detroit’s Hal Newhouser in Game 7.
Cleveland is appearing in its first World Series since an 11-inning Game 7 loss at the Florida Marlins in 1997.