Willkommen » Ko in a playoff in June in the KPMG Womens PGA for he

Go inside the numbers and matchups that will decide Tuesday nights showdown?between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians in Game 6 of the World Series, and then vote on which team will win at the bottom of the page. The Indians lead the series 3-2.How we got hereThe Cubs won 3-2 Sunday, as Jon Lester pitched six solid innings. The Cubs scratched three runs across off Trevor Bauer in the fourth inning, and Aroldis Chapman threw 42 pitches to get the final eight outs.?-- David SchoenfieldInside the pitching matchupWhen Jake Arrieta is on the mound: The 2015 Cy Young Award winner took a no-hitter into the sixth inning in Game 2, though that was a case of his being effectively wild, as he walked three batters and threw 98 pitches in 5 2/3 innings. He has pitched six innings and five innings, respectively, in his other two starts this postseason, so if that pattern continues, Joe Maddon will have to bridge some outs from Arrieta to Aroldis Chapman.Arrieta threw just 40 percent of his pitches in the strike zone in Game 2, his lowest rate all season. The cold weather in that game might have been a factor, but game-time temperatures for Game 6 are expected to be much higher, in the upper 60s. Arrieta has regained the confidence to throw his cutter/slider after losing the feel for it midseason, which led to some of his control issues. Against the lefty-heavy lineups he has seen in October, Arrieta has thrown that pitch a lot, including 21 times against the Indians in Game 2. Opponents are 5-for-25 against it in the postseason, with six strikeouts and no walks. Its not quite the wipeout pitch it was last year or in April, but its back to being a pitch he can throw inside to left-handed hitters.Even when he was walking guys in the second half, Arrieta remained difficult to hit, as he induces a lot of soft contact with his two-seamer. He doesnt throw his curveball as often as the hard cutter/slider, but it had a strikeout rate of better than 40 percent in the regular season. Arrieta doesnt do a very good job holding runners -- base stealers were 23-for-26 off him -- so the Indians might be aggressive if they get on.?-- SchoenfieldWhen Josh Tomlin is on the mound: Tomlin has been the Tribes secret weapon in October; he has allowed three runs in 15 1/3 innings, and the Indians have won all three of his starts. Tomlin is starting on three days rest for just the second time in his career, and he pitched much better this season with more rest; he posted a 5.42 ERA in 15 starts on four days rest and a 3.47 ERA after five days or more. He threw only 58 pitches in his Game 3 outing.Tomlin hits only 87-88 mph with his fastball, and he isnt going to beat himself, as he had the lowest walk rate among qualified starters. He pounds the zone with his fastball, cutter, changeup and curveball; he surrendered 36 home runs in 174 innings during the regular season but has allowed just one long ball in his past seven starts, a span of 41 innings.Tomlin has gone heavy on the curveball this postseason. After throwing it about 16 percent of the time in the regular season, he has thrown it 34, 42 and 26 percent of the time in his three playoff starts. If his curveball is working again, thats bad news for the Cubs. According to Mike Petriello of Statcast, the Cubs had the lowest average exit velocity in the majors against curveballs, as well as the lowest contact rate when swinging at curveballs. Tomlin threw 15 of them in Game 3, including five first-pitch curves, and the Cubs went 0-for-5, plus three other swing-and-misses and one foul ball.Javier Baez in particular has looked brutal against breaking balls in this series, and Addison Russell hit .122 against curveballs in the regular season. Im guessing Tomlin will once again go heavy on the breaking ball, and Terry Francona will once again have a quick hook if the Indians are leading in the fifth or sixth inning.?-- SchoenfieldPlayer in the spotlightKyle Schwarber. Hell be back in the lineup as the DH, which helps extend a Cubs lineup that hasnt had much production past the first four hitters. Schwarber has slugged .578 against right-handed pitchers in his brief career, but he is hitting just .121 in 34 plate appearances that ended in curveballs.?-- SchoenfieldDid you know ...The most recent road team to win Game 6 of a World Series and force a Game 7 was the 1997 Indians. They defeated the Marlins and Kevin Brown?4-1. Winning pitcher Chad Ogea not only defeated the Marlins ace but also had two RBIs.The Indians went on to lose to the Florida Marlins in Game 7 and extend their championship drought.?-- ESPN Stats & InformationWhat will decide the gameThe team with the better rate of turning ground balls into outs has won four of the five games in this series. The exception was when the Indians won Game 4.During the regular season, the Cubs ranked first in the majors in turning ground balls and bunts into outs (77 percent). The Indians ranked third, just behind the Giants (both at 76 percent). In the postseason, the Indians have converted 77 percent and the Cubs 76 percent.Why is this important to know for these pitchers? Because its important to their success. Arrieta had the highest ground ball out rate in MLB among pitchers with 15-plus starts in 2016 (84 percent). Tomlin ranked third in the majors and first in the AL (81 percent).?--?Mark Simon, ESPN Stats & InfoThe man in blueJoe West has 39 years of experience, the longest run by an umpire in major league history. This is his sixth World Series (1992, 1997, 2005, 2009 and 2012 are the others).Top thing to know: West does not call a lot of strikes.West ranks as the fourth-least likely umpire to call a strike in MLB this season, and he has one tendency that stands out: Relative to other umpires, West rarely calls the pitch in the lower-third (and below) area a strike. The gap between him and the umpire who ranks second-least in calling those pitches is about as big as the gap between the ump who ranks second and the ump who ranks 22nd.For a right-handed pitcher, West will call the high strike and the outside strike often to a left-handed hitter. The area for a right-handed hitter in which he calls strikes often is the inside corner.For a left-handed pitcher, West doesnt call the inside strike often to a left-handed batter. He will to a right-handed batter, though. When a left-handed batter is at the plate, hell call a high outside pitch a strike a lot. For a right-handed batter, hell also call pitches in that spot (which is inside for a righty).Who does this favor? Cubs catchers excel at getting the low strike, while Roberto Perez is very good at getting the high strike, so it would seem to favor the Indians.It seems highly unlikely that we would see an ejection, but West did have six ejections this season. In fact, he ejected Francona and Maddon from separate games nine days apart in September!Those six ejections tied for fourth among umps. West led umpires with eight ejections in 2015. -- Simon, ESPN Stats & InfoBetting guide for Game 6Westgate line: Chicago Cubs (Arrieta)-140 at Cleveland Indians (Tomlin) +130 Over/under: 7 (-120 over)Game 6 PickCenter: 55 percent picking ClevelandJoe Peta: One of the fun things about writing daily for a series that goes six of seven games is the ability to conduct a comparative pricing analysis. When Josh Tomlin started Game 3 versus Kyle Hendricks, the Cubs were listed as -220/+200 favorites at first pitch. That game, of course, was at Wrigley Field, and applying the standard 8 percent adjustment for home field versus a neutral location (applied twice as were switching to Cleveland) yields an equivalent line of -155/+145 for tonights game. Click here for moreWho will win?Jake Arrieta was terrific in his previous outing. So was Josh Tomlin, but there is a stuff discrepancy here. Plus, Tomlin didnt have to deal with Kyle Schwarber as DH. Cubs win 6-2 to force an epic Game 7. -- Bradford Doolittle Well finally have a higher-scoring affair, but the clock will strike midnight on the Cubs comeback, as the Indians will take a middle-of-the-game lead and hold on with their vaunted bullpen. A 5-4 win will give the Indians the championship.?-- Jesse Rogers On Sunday night, Cubs fans got to see the W fly over Wrigley after a World Series game for the first time since 1945. Now its Indians fans turn to rejoice. Josh Tomlin will continue his late-season roll, the Indians will scratch out an early run, and the dynamic duo of Andrew Miller and Cody Allen will do the rest. Then they will all party at Napolis, as the Indians win their first World Series in 68 years.?-- Scott Lauber?Ive picked against the Indians basically throughout the whole playoffs. Now, having spent so much time in this city, Cleveland has grown on me. So for the sake of the people of Believeland, I will pick ... the Cubs.This is probably very good news for Terry Francona, LeBron James and all the nice folks Ive met in these parts. If you want a baseball reason, the Cubs have the advantage in starting pitching. Of course, every time someone not named Corey Kluber has started for the Indians, the other club had the advantage, but the Indians still usually won. -- Andrew MarchandAfter clinching the American League Central title, the Division Series and the AL pennant on the road, the Indians are ready to claim the biggest prize of their season at Progressive Field. Although its a comforting feeling to know staff ace Corey Kluber is ready to go in Game 7, Cleveland is ready to apply the hammer behind Josh Tomlin in Game 6. The Indians will muster enough early offense to get the ball to Andrew Miller and Cody Allen and put an end to Major League Baseballs second-most notable championship drought.?-- Jerry CrasnickWhere the Series standsThe series moves back to Cleveland, which some have hypothesized could help the Cubs, as it not only allows them to start Schwarber but also gets them away from the pressure of winning in front of the home fans. I dont know if I buy that, especially considering the Indians hit much better at home -- 136 points higher in OPS -- and returning to the AL game allows Francona to insert Andrew Miller and Cody Allen without worrying about pinch hitting for them. Its all hands on deck. The Cubs know they have to stay alive, and the Indians know they have Corey Kluber in reserve for Game 7.?-- SchoenfieldCapitals Jerseys China . Collaros, 25, was solid last season, posting a 5-2 record as the starter while incumbent Ricky Ray was injured. Collaros also started Torontos 23-20 regular-season finale loss to Montreal — Ray didnt dress because the Argos had already clinched first in the East Division — but was one of three quarterbacks to play that day. Cheap Custom Capitals Jersey . -- Mike Smith never saw his first NHL goal go in. http://www.customcapitalsjersey.com/ .Y. -- Bills receiver Stevie Johnson has a bone to pick with the NFL schedule maker. Authentic Custom Capitals Jersey . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. Cheap Capitals Jerseys . The third-ranked Ivanovic, who won the event in 2008 and 10, served five aces and broke Wickmayer, also a former winner in 2009, five times. "The result looked easier than it really was," Ivanovic said.FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- Patrick Reed didnt break anything Thursday except par.Two days after Reed broke the gavel during the ceremonial closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange, the American kept a clean card and shot 5-under 66 to share the lead with Martin Laird at The Barclays.Reed was dressed in a blue blazer with an American tie when he was asked to bang the gavelthree times at the stock exchange closing on Tuesday. On the third hit, the top of the gavel flew off into the crowd, and Reed later made a joke at his own expense on Twitter.They told me to give it 3 good hits, so I did! he tweeted.He was much better with a golf club in hand at Bethpage Black, running off three birdies and an eagle on the front nine to close out his 66.The start of the FedEx Cup playoffs, with a $10 million bonus waiting at the end, was more about a cup that doesnt pay a dime. A dozen or so Americans are still in the mix to make the Ryder Cup team. Qualifying ends after this week for the top eight, and then Davis Love III has four captains picks over the next month. Reed is winless this year and holding down the No. 8 position in the Ryder Cup standings.Reed and Laird were a shot ahead of three other Ryder Cup hopefuls -- Rickie Fowler, Kevin Chappell and J.B. Holmes, whose 67 was the best score among those who played in stronger wind in the afternoon. Defending champion Jason Day, the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, was among those at 68.The Barclays is the start of a four-tournament series in which the field size shrinks until 30 qualify for the finale at the Tour Championship. Laird started at No. 89, and with only the top 100 in the standings advancing, starting well was crucial.U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson, the No. 2 seed in the FedEx Cup, recovered from a bogey-bogey start to post a 70, while Adam Scott (No. 3) shot 69. Jordan Spieth had a 71.British Open champion Henrik Stenson withdrew after a 74 becauuse of pain in his right knee.ddddddddddddCANADIAN PACIFIC WOMENS OPENPRIDDIS, Alberta -- Three-time champion Lydia Ko was back on the Canadian Pacific Womens Open leaderboard. Canadian star Brooke Henderson got left behind after a late start.The top-ranked Ko shot a 5-under 67 on Thursday at Priddis Greens in the round delayed for nearly three hours because of lightning, leaving her two strokes behind leader Chella Choi.Ko has won three of the last four years, the first two as an amateur. The 19-year-old New Zealander has four LPGA Tour victories this season, winning the ANA Inspiration for her second major title.The 18-year-old Henderson was 1 under with three holes left when play was suspended because of darkness. Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ontario, beat Ko in a playoff in June in the KPMG Womens PGA for her first major title, and successfully defended her Cambia Portland Classic title in early July.Choi was 7 under with four holes left. Celebrating her 26th birthday, the South Korean player made consecutive birdies on the par-5 18th and first holes and also birdied the par-4 second and fourth.Northern Irelands Stephanie Meadow was a stroke back after a 66. Frances Karine Icher -- playing alongside Choi -- was 6 under with four holes left.MADE IN DENMARKFARSO, Denmark -- Tom Lewis flirted with the first 59 in European Tour history, then made three late bogeys and settled for a 9-under 62 and a share of the Made In Denmark lead.Lewis made a 45-foot eagle putt on the par-5 fourth hole to reach 12 under through 13 holes at Himmerland Golf and Spa Resort. He needed to play even par over the last five holes for a 59.He bogeyed the next hole and closed with two more bogeys to drop into a tie for the lead with Belgiums Thomas Pieters and Swedens Joakim Lagergren. ' ' '