State played its first game without freshman starting small forward Sam Cunliffe, a Seattle native who left the

CLEVELAND -- Heres our question: Some day, when Ken Burns IV documents the Legend of Kyle Schwarber in the 2016 World Series, where will he begin?With grainy footage of the Schwarbino dashing from an Arizona Fall League game to a private plane Monday, then staring blankly at an episode of the Blacklist on the flight because his brain cant stop thinking about the World Series?Or maybe with the mind-boggling scene of the Schwarbino whomping a Corey Kluber two-seamer off the top of the right-field fence for a double Tuesday night -- after going 201 days between big-league plate appearances?Or possibly with his teammates shaking their heads and trying to describe what theyd just seen Wednesday night, when the Schwarbino got two more hits, drove in two more runs, reached base three times and improved his World Series on-base percentage to a ridiculous .556?Who does this? The Legend of Kyle Schwarber is who does this, intoned longtime catcher David Ross, sounding like a man auditioning for the narrators role in the forthcoming Legend of Kyle Schwarber feature film, after the Cubs 5-1 Game 2 thumping of the Indians on Wednesday. This guy IS a legend. Already.Well, heres the crazy part. That might be true. We searched through the baseball rulebook Wednesday, and there wasnt a single section in there that officially defines what an October legend looks like. So here is what we would tell people that one looks like.Um, he looks like a guy whos about 6 feet tall and 235 pounds, is built like a left tackle, sports a thick brown goatee and can pretty much roll off the trainers table, show up in a World Series and reach base five times in his first nine trips to the plate in six months. Thats what.Now here he is doing it. And here we are watching it. And the Cubs are tied in this World Series at one game apiece because of it. But its still hard to comprehend that this is happening in real life -- even for Schwarbers incredulous teammates. Asked Wednesday what he would tell his kids someday about the Legend of Kyle Schwarber, Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant laughed uproariously.That hes a freak, Bryant said. And that everything hes doing right now is next to impossible. I know if it was me and I took six months off from baseball and just started hitting, I would go up there and miss the ball every time.OK, so let the record show that Schwarber HAS in fact swung and missed at seven pitches in the two games he has played in this World Series. So thats proof that hes reasonably human. But thats about the only proof.He played two games in the Arizona Fall League over the last week and got one hit. He has now played two games in the World Series and gotten three hits. Yeah, thats about right.Hey, theyve got some tough pitching down there, Ross deadpanned. And those guys dont throw as many strikes. So you have to go outside of the zone a little more.Jeff Bagwell, Harold Baines and Andy Van Slyke got three World Series hits combined in their long, heralded careers. The Schwarbino just missed all but three games of an entire baseball season, never even took batting practice until a little over a week ago and already has piled up three World Series hits in 28 hours. Right. Of course he has. Because clearly, batting practice is overrated.Hed better not take one single swing in the offseason, quipped his buddy, Anthony Rizzo.Schwarbers teammates still cant believe the Schwarbino went all those months without swinging a bat and then, in his second trip to the plate in a big-league game Tuesday night, came within about two feet of hitting a home run off the otherwise-unhittable Kluber. But even that isnt the at-bat that has amazed them the most.No, that one happened in the sixth inning of Game 1, when Americas scariest left-handed reliever, Andrew Miller, came strolling in from the bullpen to face him. Miller struck out 43 percent of the left-handed hitters he faced this season, with more than twice as many strikeouts (32) as hits (13). So given those numbers and given all the rust Schwarber was theoretically shaking off, I thought Joe [Maddon] might pinch hit for him, Ross said.Ehhhhh, not exactly. Maddon let Schwarber hit -- and then, naturally, watched him work a four-pitch walk, spitting on four fire-breathing pitches just off the plate. And when he took that [3-and-0] slider, Bryant gushed, a borderline pitch, thats kind of when I said, Wow. Thats insane. Id swing at that pitch every time. So that was Game 1. But then came Game 2 on Wednesday, a game the Cubs pretty much had to win -- considering that only one of the last 17 teams to go down, 0-2, has come back to win the World Series. And what did the Schwarbino do? Heck, what do you think he did?In his second at-bat, he knocked in their second run of the game, by getting the first hit hed ever gotten on a 3-and-0 count in his career. Then he singled in yet another run in his next at-bat, to make it a 4-0 game. And the Cubs had all the breathing room they would need to put the game away.The Elias Sports Bureau reports that no position player had gone through an entire regular season without a big-league RBI -- and then drove in at least one run in the World Series -- since Tom Lawless did it with a three-run homer off Frank Viola in the 1987 World Series. But at least Lawless spent the whole season on the active roster. Schwarber spent pretty much the whole season in the trainers room. So how is this happening?Hes really seeing the ball well, Maddon said. And thats the part thats probably the most amazing part. Hitting the ball is one thing. But you can see hes not jumpy. Hes seeing borderline pitches, staying off a ball, hes not check-swinging and offering. Thats the part thats really impressive to me.Baseball, Schwarber would say later, is a crazy game. It will do crazy things to you. But this is the moment that we all look for when we were little kids, to play in the World Series and win it.OK, wait one second. Did this man just use the expression, PLAY in the World Series? Thats an interesting expression, you see, because all he has done so far is merely HIT in the World Series, due to the miracle of the DH rule that takes effect in all Series games in American League parks. But now, the Legend of Kyle Schwarber is about to take a whole different turn.Now the World Series moves to Wrigley Field for the next three games. And what becomes of the Schwarbino over those next three games, now that the Cubs have spent the past two games feeding off his hitting genius? Hmmm. Excellent question.After Game 1, when Schwarber was asked if he could play the outfield this weekend, he shook his head and answered, succinctly: No. But when he was asked that same question after Game 2, he suddenly had a different answer. Suddenly, 24 hours later, he wasnt ruling anything out.Well see where it goes, he said. Nothings set in stone. No one has told me anything. So as of right now, the story is still the same.But in truth, nothing about this story is still the same. Not anymore. So Maddon talked about checking with the medical people, which seems like a fine idea. And then, if those medical people say the magic words, you might see him taking some fly balls [during Thursdays workout at Wrigley Field], the manager said, if theres any chance at all.Well, realistically, there might not be that chance. Those medical people are funny like that. So just think about this for a minute.The Schwarbino spends the first two games of the World Series energizing his entire team and, naturally, his teams entire fan base. Then, because he plays in a sport that cant figure out which set of rules it wants to play by, he has to spend the next three games waiting for just the right moment to turn into Chicagos most beloved pinch hitter. So why does this strike us as one of the most Cubbie-esque things ever?Well know more about where this saga heads in the next 24 hours. But at this point, after watching The Legend himself do his thing in Cleveland, his teammates pretty much expect the Schwarbino to snap his fingers and will himself back to full health by Friday night. And after what weve just witnessed this dude do, doesnt just about anything seem possible?Definitely, said Rizzo, with a laugh. He may be catching Friday for all I know. 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Buy Air VaporMax 2018 . -- Matt Rupert scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the London Knights extended their win streak to nine games by defeating the Owen Sound Attack 4-3 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. TEMPE, Ariz. -- Creighton remained one of six undefeated NCAA Division I teams on Saturday, but just by the hair on Santa Claus chinny-chin-chin.Creighton needed a remarkable defensive effort to keep its unbeaten record intact in a 66-65 home victory over Oral Roberts, which did not score in the last 6:08 after taking a 65-60 lead on a banked 3-pointer by Albert Owens.Neither team scored after guard Marcus Foster, Creightons leading scorer, hit a short jumper from the lane with 3:28 remaining. Foster had 22 points and the Bluejays squandered all of a 13-point lead in the second half before recovering.No. 9 Creighton (11-0), off to its best start in 13 seasons, will put that streak on the line at up-and-down Arizona State (6-5) on Tuesday.We scored on six of our last 29 possessions and won, Creighton coach Greg McDermott told reporters.Im disappointed we werent able to throw the knockout punch like weve done so often this year. Also pleased that we found a way with our backs against the wall. We had to get some stops. To their credit, they were able to do that.Foster, who is averaging 18.2 points per game, and point guard Maurice Watson Jr. have been the driving forces in the Bluejays fastest start since 2003-04, when a Dana Altman team started 12-0 before falling at Northern Iowa.Watson Jr., a senior guard, is the triggerman for an offense that is averaging 89.3 points per game. He had 13 points and 10 assists for his fourth double-double of the season against Oral Roberts.Watson Jr., a preseason All-Big East selection, leads NCAA Division I players wiith an average of 9.dddddddddddd2 assists per game this season. He leads active players with 740 career assists and is fifth in career steals.Arizona State continued its inconsistent ways with one of its poorer performances Saturday, an 81-70 home loss to preseason Western Athletic Conference favorite New Mexico State. After opening 2-0, the Sun Devils have alternated wins and losses in the last nine games.Forward Obinna Oleka had 18 points and 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season against New Mexico State, but Arizona State shot only 41.3 percent from the floor, including 30.3 in the second half, and were closer than 10 points only once in the final 11 minutes.I knew it was going to be a hard game, said Hurley, who was ejected with 9:47 remaining after receiving his second technical foul during the Aggies 13-2 run.Arizona State played its first game without freshman starting small forward Sam Cunliffe, a Seattle native who left the program last week. He was averaging 9.5 points per game and had made 15 3-pointers in 10 games. He indicated personal reasons were a factor in his decision.Reserve guard Torian Graham leads Arizona State with a 16.5 scoring average and guards Shannon Evans II (16.1) and Tra Holder (15.6) are next.The Sun Devils are 0-2 against Top 25 teams, losing to then-No. 1 Kentucky 115-69 on Nov. 28 in the Bahamas and to No. 15 Purdue 97-64 on Nov. 6 in the Jimmy V Classic in New York City. ' ' '