Everything was a mess for the Indians in World Series Game 2

CLEVELAND — There was no blood this time, but it was even more of a mess.

The Cleveland Indians, who made it this far in the postseason because so many things had gone right for them, turned in a sloppy, ugly, uncharacteristic loss in Game 2 of the World Series.

The final was 5-1, and it felt so much more out of touch than that. The Chicago Cubs jumped on Indians starter Trevor Bauer right away, scoring by the time their cleanup hitter came to the plate, and the Indians never regained control.

And, oh Bauer. He’s the Indians pitcher whose last start didn’t even last an inning because his injured pinky started gushing blood on the mound. The pinky was fine this time. The only thing that gushed was disappointment out of Progressive Field, where Indians fans left knowing the World Series is going to Chicago for three games knotted at one.

Game 2 was proof, things catch up with you eventually in the postseason.

“It’s not going to be your day every single day,” said shortstop Francisco Lindor.

This was actually the opposite of the last Bauer start, where the bullpen turned into wizards and six pitchers got 25 outs. Except for the blood, everything was coming up Indians in that one. This time, there was a litany of things that went wrong.

Errors, two of ’em. There was only one other game in which they made an error this postseason — Game 4 of the ALCS — and that’s the only other game the Indians have lost in the playoffs.

Hits, none of ‘em until the sixth inning, when Jake Arrieta finally cracked and allowed one. In total, the Indians struck out 12 times in the game. That’s also their high in the postseason. They matched it in Game 1 of the ALDS.

Mother nature, even that wasn’t on their side. It was a cold night. Rain was supposed to disrupt Wednesday’s game, which is why MLB bumped up the start time by an hour, but it never did. At least if the game had been suspended and dragged into Thursday, the finality of Game 2 would have been delayed and the Indians could have seen if a new day treated them better.

Nope, this day was a mess, on the scoreboard, in the box score and even in the bathroom where — possible TMI warning — Indians skipper Terry Francona couldn’t even get things to work right.

“It was so cold I tried to go to the bathroom in the fourth inning and I couldn’t,” Francona said. “That tells you enough.

“We gave up nine hits, eight walks, two errors and only gave up five runs,” Francona said. “We’re probably pretty fortunate because there was traffic all night. For us to win, we generally need to play a clean game and we didn’t do that.”

That was evident early. Lonnie Chisenhall threw to second base instead of home after Anthony Rizzo’s first-inning double, allowing Kris Bryant to score the game’s first run. Chisenhall also fell down in right field later in the game, chasing a ball that led to another Cubs run.

The fact that we made this far into the story without talking about that? Yep, it was that kind of night.

“They put up a couple runs early,” said Mike Napoli. “But I mean, we’re facing Arrieta, it’s tough. They did what we did to them yesterday.”

For all the hopes that hinged on Bauer, mostly that he’d make it past the first inning, that neglected to worry about another problem: What if he wasn’t effective?

He threw A LOT of pitches, 87 through just 3 2/3 innings. In that time, he allowed six hits, walked two and had trouble locating his curveball.

“It’s tough on a cold night, there’s no moisture in the air. [The ball is] slippery, it’s hard to get a feel for it,” Bauer said. “I just wasn’t sharp for whatever reason.”

And it was virtually the opposite for Arrieta. He threw a lot of pitches too — 98 through 5 2/3 — but the Indians still weren’t able to muster much anything, even when he gave them something.

“The pitches that were good to hit,” Lindor said. “Either we fouled ’em off or we rolled over or we swung and missed. He definitely made us look uncomfortable.”

Maybe that’s the headline here: The Indians, a team that has played its brand of ball so well this year, that had defied expectations time and time again, finally were made uncomfortable.

Thing about the Cubs is, they’re built to do that, from the deep bench, to the effective group of relievers to the fact they can pull Kyle Schwarber out of thin air to become their best hitter after seven months off.

And now this series is off to Chicago, where the scene will be unlike anything the Indians have seen this postseason. Unlike anything any of us have seen, really.

“It’s going to be Wrigley Field,” said Jason Kipnis. “It’s going to be a World Series game. A lot of people there. It’s going to be fun. And it’s going to be a good chance for us to take the lead back in the series.”

Maybe if that happens Terry Francona can relieve himself.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz