Indians vs. Cubs 2016 final score: Corey Kluber & Cleveland take commanding 3-1 World Series lead

Corey Kluber delivered yet another strong performance on short rest, and the Cleveland Indians’ bats came alive in a 7-2 win over the Chicago Cubs in Game 4 of the World Series on Saturday night at Wrigley Field in Chicago, pulling to within one win of the Indians’ first championship in 68 years.

Pitching on three days rest for the second time this postseason, Kluber pitched six strong innings, allowing only one run on five hits while striking out six.

The Indians, now up 3-1 in the World Series, have run roughshod over opponents all postseason, with 10 wins in 12 games, thanks to a stellar pitching staff that sports a 1.68 ERA during the playoffs. Kluber in his five starts is 4-1 with a 0.89 ERA in his first postseason.

In Game 4 on Saturday night, Andrew Miller was warming up to relieve Kluber in the sixth inning, and since he was already hot, Miller came in anyway in the seventh even after Cleveland rallied for three runs to widen their lead to 7-1.

Miller allowed his first run this postseason, but it was just a solo home run in the eighth by Dexter Fowler, Miller’s 17th inning of work this October. With two strikeouts on Saturday, Miller has 29 this postseason, the record for one relief pitcher in a single postseason, one more than Francisco Rodriguez had in 2002.

The trio of Kluber, Miller and closer Cody Allen have combined to pitch 57⅓ of the Indians’ 107 innings this postseason (53.6%), and have allowed only four total runs, an 0.63 ERA all while striking out 82.

The team that scored first had won each of the previous 14 postseason games, but it went even further than that, per Andrew Simon of MLB.com:

Naturally, that all changed by the second inning in Game 4. Chicago scored first, but a home run by Carlos Santana tied the game in a two-run second. Jason Kipnis doubled and scored in the third inning, then hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning to put the game away.

Cleveland has outscored their opponents 42-22 this postseason, and has out-homered them 15-6. Now they stand one win from a title.

The final game at Wrigley Field in 2016 is Sunday night with Game 5, as the Cubs try to stay alive with Jon Lester on the mound. The Indians will counter with Trevor Bauer, trying to close out Cleveland’s first World Series title since 1948.