CLEVELAND -- Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis was thinking about scoring from second base the whole way, once he saw a wild pitch from Jon Lester kick away from Cubs catcher David Ross. Only thing was, Kipnis was on second base. He scored anyway.
Carlos Santana scored easily from third, and a heads-up play by Kipnis gave Cleveland two runs on one wild pitch in the fifth inning to help start the Tribe's dramatic comeback in Game 7 of the World Series, although the Indians ultimately fell short in an 8-7 loss to the Cubs in 10 innings.
"That was like new life for us," said Indians outfielder Rajai Davis. "New energy."
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It was only the third time in World Series history that two runners scored on the same wild pitch, and the first since Game 6 in 1911, when the Philadelphia A's scored two on a wild pitch by Rube Marquard of the Giants. It also happened in 1910, when the Cubs scored twice against the A's Jack Coombs in Game 3.
"I've never seen that in my life," Santana said. "Especially in the World Series."
The play was set up after Santana drew a two-out walk that forced Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks from the game. Lester was the first reliever from the bullpen, along with his personal catcher Ross, to face Kipnis, who bounced a swinging bunt in front of home plate for a single; Kipnis reached second and Santana advanced to third on the play due to an errant throw by Ross.
It gave Cleveland runners on second and third with two outs with Francisco Lindor at the plate. Lester then unleashed his wild pitch, and Kipnis immediately thought he could score from second, which was confirmed when he saw third-base coach Mike Sarbaugh waving him home.
"The first step I was making sure Santana was going," Kipnis said. "Then, I saw it kind of knocked Ross onto his back leg, so he had no momentum carrying towards the direction of the ball. I got a good jump on it and was going full speed and I was thinking of scoring right away."
Those runs helped spark the Indians and energized the 38,104 fans at Progressive Field as Cleveland rallied from a 5-1 deficit to force extra innings, but they could not finish the job and secure the title.
"It got us back in the game at the time," Kipnis said. "We fought all year. We fought all game, just came up a little short."