Indians blank Cubs in opener

Kluber, Perez anchor 6-0 romp

CLEVELAND – Corey Kluber and the Cleveland Indians are off to a pitch-perfect start in the World Series.

The Chicago Cubs, meanwhile, fell completely flat in their first appearance since 1945.

Kluber dominated into the seventh inning, Roberto Perez had four RBIs with a pair of home runs and the Indians beat the Cubs 6-0 in Tuesday night’s opener of a highly anticipated matchup between the teams with baseball’s longest championship droughts.

“It’s almost like you have that extra level of intensity,” said Kluber, who became the first Series pitcher to strike out eight batters in the first three innings.

AL Championship Series MVP Andrew Miller escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the seventh and stranded runners at the corners in the eighth, preserving a three-run lead and delighting the sellout crowd of 38,091 in Cleveland’s first-ever Series home opener.

“The atmosphere in the World Series is so great,” Miller said. “You can’t help but get caught up in it and enjoy it.”

The Indians pitched their fourth shutout in nine games this postseason. After stifling two dangerous lineups in Boston and Toronto during the AL playoffs, Cleveland shut down a hard-hitting Cubs team that scored 23 runs against the Dodgers in the final three games of the NLCS.

Back in the Series for the first time since 1997, the Indians scored twice in the first off October ace Jon Lester.

Perez hit a fourth-inning solo shot and added a three-run drive in the eighth against Hector Rondon, becoming the first Cleveland player and the only No. 9 batter to homer twice in a Series game.

“Oh, I don’t think I’ve ever had a night like that,” Perez said.

He has three home runs in 27 at-bats during the postseason after hitting three in 153 during the regular season.

“I’ve come a long ways,” Perez said.

Francisco Lindor added three hits as the Indians improved to 8-1 this postseason. Cleveland manager Terry Francona is 9-0 in the Series, including sweeps by his Boston teams in 2004 and ‘07.

The Game 1 winner has taken the title in the last six Series and 17 of 19.

“I have no concerns,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “It’s the first game. I’m fine. We’re fine.”

Trevor Bauer, trying to come back from a sliced pinkie caused by a freak drone accident, starts Game 2 for the Indians on Wednesday night against Jake Arrieta. Because the forecast called for an increased chance of rain later in the evening, Major League Baseball took the extraordinary step of moving up the first pitch by an hour to 7:08 p.m.

Kluber painted the corners, and 24 of his 59 strikes were called by plate umpire Larry Vanover. Twelve batters were caught looking, including seven Cubs.

“I think his ball was moving too much today,” said Perez, Cleveland’s catcher. “We got guys off balance the whole night.”