Josh Tomlin and Kyle Hendricks made World Series history Friday night, but not in the way either of them would have imagined.
Both starters left Game 3 before the end of the fifth inning despite working on shutouts. Hendricks departed after 4 1/3 innings when he loaded the bases, but was bailed out by reliever Justin Grimm, who induced a 4-6-3 double play from Francisco Lindor; Tomlin left in a double-switch after 4 2/3 in favor of Andrew Miller despite throwing just 58 pitches and allowing only two hits.
Miller got pinch-hitter Miguel Montero to line out to right, keeping the score knotted at 0-0.
| Pitcher | IP | R | H | BB | K | Pitches |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Hendricks | 4.1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 85 |
| Josh Tomlin | 4.2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 58 |
Hendricks' six strikeouts did give him access to an exclusive club in Cubs playoff history. He joins Orval Overall - who did it in Game 5 of the 1908 World Series to clinch the team's most recent title - as the only Cubs pitchers to strike out six and allow zero runs in a World Series game.
According to the Baseball-Reference Play Index, this is the first time in postseason history that both starting pitchers have been pulled in the fifth inning or earlier during a 0-0 game. It's only happened 18 times in the regular season since 1913.
This was the first time both starters had scoreless outings in a World Series game since Game 4 in 2005, when the Astros' Brandon Backe and White Sox hurler Freddy Garcia matched zeros for seven innings each, according to CSN Chicago's Christopher Kamka.