CLEVELAND —World Series ace Jon Lester is all set to start Game 1 for the Chicago Cubs.
Lester will be fully rested when he pitches Tuesday night at Cleveland. Corey Kluber will start for the Indians.
The 32-year-old lefty is 2-0 in three starts during this postseason, with wins over the Giants and Dodgers in the NL playoffs. He was 19-5 during the regular season.
Lester is 3-0 in three starts in the World Series with a sparkling 0.43 ERA. He helped the Boston Red Sox win championships in 2007 and 2013.
Cubs Manager Joe Maddon says Lester is “really, really in the moment” right now.
Fans hoping to see the Cubs play in the World Series for the first time since 1945 are finding a seat could cost them more than what their grandparents paid for their houses.
The euphoria from Saturday night’s victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers gave way Monday to the realization that history doesn’t come cheap.
Box seats on ticket-selling sites such as StubHub were $50,000 and up, with one seller asking $100,000 for a seat and another asking for just under $1 million.
But there are lots of box seat tickets in the $5,000 to $10,000 range. Tickets to just get into the park and stand behind those with actual seats were going for more than $2,200 each. List prices for World Series tickets at Wrigley range from $85 to $565, according to Major League Baseball figures.
World Series tickets cost a lot more in Cleveland, too – well above the $83 to $750 list price range that MLB provided for Progressive Field – but are not as expensive as those in Chicago. And there are indications that Cubs fans, getting a look at what they’d pay at Wrigley versus Progressive, are buying two tickets: one for a plane and one for a game.
Indians manager Terry Francona said right-hander Danny Salazar will be on the World Series roster.
Salazar has not pitched since Sept. 9 because of forearm tightness.
An 11-game winner, Salazar cleared his final hurdle by pitching three simulated innings on Sunday night with Francona, pitching coach Mickey Callaway and Cleveland’s front office watching.
A sprained left ankle could keep Cleveland Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis out of Game 1.
Kipnis injured his ankle last week while celebrating following the final out of the AL Championship Series in Toronto. He said his ankle has improved, but says it “isn’t exactly a mild sprain. I got it pretty good.”
Kipnis said Cleveland’s training staff has done a good job of reducing the swelling and he’ll just have to handle pain. Kipnis said the key will be making sure he has range of motion.
He got hurt when he jumped and shortstop Francisco Lindor accidentally stepped on his foot.
Two of Cleveland’s stars from the 1990s, Kenny Lofton and Carlos Baerga, will throw out ceremonial first pitches at the World Series.
Lofton, the fleet-footed center fielder, will have the honor before Game 1. Baerga, a three-time All-Star second baseman, will handle the duties before Game 2.
Indians fans had pushed on social media to have actor Charlie Sheen, who played Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn, a hard-throwing pitcher in the iconic movie “Major League,” throw out the first pitch.
However, the Indians had already decided on Lofton and Baerga, who played together on Cleveland’s 1995 World Series team.
MLB.com’s Jon Morosi reported that Cubs outfielder Kyle Schwarber, who tore two ligaments in his knee on April 7, could be in Chicago’s lineup on Tuesday.
Schwarber went 1 for 3 with a double and a run score in his second Arizona Fall League game Monday. Morosi reported that Schwarber was expected to be added to the Cubs’ playoff roster, but the team would not announce it until 10 a.m. Tuesday.
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