Cuban closing relief ace Aroldis Chapman threw a career-high 2-2/3 innings for the final outs on Sunday, keeping the Chicago Cubs in the quest for their first World Series title since 1908.
The 28-year-old left-hander, known for his record 169kph fastball and strikeout skills, shut down Cleveland rallies in the seventh and eighth innings as the Cubs edged the Indians 3-2 and pulled within 3-2 in Major League Baseball’s best-of-seven final.
Obtained in a July trade with the New York Yankees, Chapman earned the save by turning in one of the most impressive closing efforts ever seen in the World Series, the longest since Madison Bumgarner’s five-inning save to seal the title for San Francisco in game seven of the 2014 Series.
“Chappy coming in and doing what he has been doing for us since he came over here, and even before that, is pretty unbelievable to see,” said Cubs starter and winner Jon Lester, a two-time World Series champion.
Chapman, who defected from Cuba while in the Netherlands in 2009, struck out four and surrendered only one hit after entering much earlier than normal, a possibility Cubs manager Joe Maddon warned him about before the must-win game.
“You want to talk in advance of the moment. We did. He was definitely aware of what may happen,” Maddon said. “That was our best opportunity, I thought, based on our bullpen usage recently.”
“He’s actually kind of fresh. He hasn’t been overused in the last part of the season nor throughout the playoffs,” Maddon added.
Chapman’s previous career-long was a 2-1/3 inning effort in July against the Indians while pitching for the Yankees. However, his ability to go beyond what he had done before was what inspired the Cubs so much.
“This guy is used to getting three outs and he goes 2-2/3. That was a huge uplift for our team,” Lester said. “He was fired up. We were all fired up. That was huge for us. That was unbelievable for us to see him do that, bite the bullet and do it.”
Chapman watched Lester roll through six innings and expected Maddon’s talk of a long night would not happen, but reliever Carl Edwards allowed the potential tying run to reach second in the seventh and in came the call.
“The way he was pitching, I didn’t expect to come in so early, but I mentally prepared myself,” Chapman said. “I physically prepared myself to come in as early as possible. And well, things came out the way they came out in terms of him being taken out, and I was ready to come in at a moment’s notice.”
“I’m always prepared for the ninth inning. That’s my job. I understand that, but I always appreciate it if they let me know that I’m going to pitch more than the ninth inning. That’s fine with me,” he added.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite