Cleveland: Josh Tomlin has been a stabilizing force for the Indians through their run to the World Series.
Tuesday night, he’ll take the mound for Game 6 at Progressive Field with a chance to secure the Indians’ first World Series title since 1948.
The Indians lead the Series 3-2 after losing 3-2 in Game 5 Sunday night at Wrigley Field.
And Tomlin will try to do it on short rest for the first time since 2010. But that could be a simpler task than normal after he needed only 58 pitches to get through 4⅔ scoreless innings in the Indians’ 1-0 win in Game 3 in Chicago.
Tomlin is essentially preparing for this start as any other on normal rest. Part of it is the low pitch count from Game 3. Part of it is that he’s been so consistent, owning 1.76 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 15⅓ innings in the postseason.
“The preparation on the field really doesn’t change that much,” Tomlin said. “You listen to your body a little bit more on days like today and days like the couple days leading up to it just because you know you don’t have that bullpen day or that longer bullpen day. And you probably don’t get in two lifts, but I think you just listen to your body, do what you’re capable of doing in the days leading up to this.”
Tomlin, the longest-tenured player in the Indians organization, spent most of the year as the No. 5 starting pitcher. He lost his spot in the rotation in August, but now will take the ball in the biggest game of his life with the Cubs countering with Jake Arrieta, their former Cy Young Award winner who was terrific in Game 2.
“I haven’t really thought about it on a personal level,” Tomlin said. “I think about it as an organizational level and a team level, and how honored and how hard we’ve worked to get to this point. It means a lot not just to 25 guys that are in that locker room but the organization as a whole. There’s been a lot of guys that have been here a long time and never got to experience anything like this.”
Even holding a 3-2 lead and at home, it’s a tall task to finish off the 103-win Cubs.
“We understand it’s not just about getting here; it’s about trying to win as well,” Tomlin said. “There’s nobody in that clubhouse that’s complacent. It’s not like we have a 3-2 lead, [so] it’s just going to happen. That’s not the mindset we take at all. We have a game to play [Tuesday], and we’re going to try to go out there and try to win that game. If not, we’ll come back the next day and try to win that day.”
Should Tomlin deliver another quality start, the Indians’ task then becomes hitting Arrieta, which almost didn’t happen at all in Game 2, when he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning.
“We can only get better versus Arrieta,” Jason Kipnis said. “He no-hit us through however long. So, we’ve got to figure to improve on that a little bit. If you look, Tomlin’s been great after losses for us. He’s been pretty much our stopper.
“So, it’s going to be a good matchup. It’ll be a fun game. It’ll be a tough one to win. I’m looking forward to it, though.”
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at www.ohio.com/indians. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RyanLewisABJ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RyanLewisABJ