The set-up: The Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians will pitch their postseason aces in Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday. It's hard to imagine that anyone (baseball fan or not) doesn't know the history by now. Cleveland has not won a World Series since 1948, coming up short in its three appearances since, 1954 (4-0), 1995 (4-2) and most recently in 1997, when Edgar Renteria's walk-off single in the 11th inning of Game 7 gave the Florida Marlins the title. Then there are the Chicago Cubs, who have not been in the Series since 1945 and have not won it since 1908. The Indians have won seven of eight postseason games despite batting a combined .208 while scoring just 27 runs (3.38 per), led by a pitching staff which owns a 1.77 ERA and 1.10 WHIP. The Cubs were MLB's best team this regular season (103 wins and a MLB-best plus-252 in run differential) but has a little tougher time than the Indians this postseason, needing a four-run 9th-inning rally to close out the Giants in four games in the NLDS and then needed to break a 21-inning scoring drought after getting shut out in Games 2 and 3 of the NLCS vs. the Dodgers, to win three straight by scoring 23 runs in Games 4, 5 and 6.

The pitching matchup: Jon Lester (2-0, 0.86 ERA) goes for Chicago and Corey Kluber (2-1, 0.98 ERA) for the Indians. Lester was a star on Boston's 2013 World Series-winning team, going 4-1 with a 1.56 ERA and 0.91 WHIP. He has been even better than that for the Cubs here in 2016, going 2-0 in three starts (Cubs are 3-0) with an 0.86 ERA and 0.76 WHIP. "You know, there will be nerves and there will be adrenaline and all that stuff when I go out there to throw the first pitch and kind of get the ball rolling," Lester said, "but once you get into the game, I feel like then you're able to go back to your game plan." The 2016 playoffs represent Kluber's first postseason experience and the 2014 Cy Young winner has risen to the challenge. He's 2-1 with an 0.98 ERA and 1.09 WHIP. "Obviously, you're in the World Series, and there's two teams left and all that kind of stuff," Kluber said. "For me at least, it's been all about getting prepared and being ready when it is time to throw that first pitch."

The pick: The Cubs closed out the Dodgers in style, as Russell (.462) and Rizzo (.500) led the way to Chicago scoring 23 runs in winning three straight games. However, the Cubs have batted only .222 in the playoffsand not only face Cleveland's ace (see Kluber's starts above) but the dominating 1-2-3 relief ‘punch' of Shaw, Miller and Allen. Miller deserves special mention, having pitched 11 2/3 innings with 21-2 KW ratio, an 0.00 ERA and an 0.60 WHIP (1 win, four holds and one save). Allen gets overlooked because of Miller but he's got five saves and one hold with an 0.00 ERA (7 2/3 innings), 1.04 WHIP and a 12-3 KW ratio. Something's gotta give in Game 1 and my bet is a 10* play on the Indians.