Aroldis Chapman Gets Eight-Out Save To Keep The Cubs Alive

The Chicago Cubs staved off elimination from the World Series with a 3-2 Game 5 win over the Cleveland Indians Sunday.

Cubs skipper Joe Maddon got the most out of closer Aroldis Chapman, who took care of the final eight outs after a six-inning start from Jon Lester and one out in the seventh from Carl Edwards Jr. Chapman’s previous career high for major-league innings pitched was 2.1 innings in a July 2016 game against the Indians, when he was playing for the Yankees.

The extended appearance didn’t seem to affect Chapman’s velocity:

The Indians took an early lead in the game with Jose Ramirez’s solo homer in the second, but the Cubs’ struggling offense showed up for three runs in the fourth. Kris Bryant hit a solo dinger; Addison Russell and David Ross each had an RBI. The Indians got another run off Lester, but failed to tie the game, despite Rajai Davis stealing second and third off Chapman in the eighth after reaching first, because Chapman forgot to cover the bag.