CHICAGO _ Joe Maddon didn't exactly put a jittery Cubs fan base, many of whom emotionally found themselves plunged into despair familiar from the bad old days, at ease.
"Please be nervous. Absolutely, you should be nervous," Maddon said Sunday, a few hours before the Cubs tried to stave off elimination in Game 5 of the World Series. "We have to win tonight, so go ahead and be nervous. It's up to us to get you beyond that moment and get back to Cleveland."
The ensuing game didn't do much for those nerves, but the Cubs will play on. They received a solid outing by Jon Lester, just enough offense and a wobbly eight-out save by Aroldis Chapman in a 3-2 victory over the Indians in front of a loud gathering of 41,711 at Wrigley Field that spent much of the night standing.
The Indians lead the series 3-2, with Game 6 Tuesday night in Cleveland.
Lester, who took the loss in Game 1, allowed two runs and four hits in six innings in Game 5.
With the Cubs leading 3-2, Carl Edwards Jr. allowed a leadoff single by Mike Napoli in the seventh, and a passed ball sent him to second before Carlos Santana flied out. Maddon, showing the desperation born of an elimination game, then called on Chapman for the eight-out save.
Jose Ramirez, who homered off Lester in the second, struck out swinging on a 101-mph fastball, and after Chapman hit Brandon Guyer, he got Roberto Perez to ground to second to end the threat.
Chapman again was in trouble in the eighth. After he struck out Yan Gomes, Rajai Davis reached on an infield single when Chapman failed to cover first as Anthony Rizzo made a diving stop down the line to save extra bases. Davis stole second, but Chapman got Jason Kipnis to foul out to left. Davis then stole third but Chapman kept him there, striking out Francisco Lindor looking at a 102-mph fastball.
Chapman, acquired from the Yankees before the Aug. 1 trade deadline, pitched a perfect ninth for the save, striking out Ramirez to end it.
Lester walked two in a two-run first inning in Game 1 but was sharp from the start Sunday night, striking out the side on 13 pitches.
Cleveland right-hander Trevor Bauer was better than he had been in the Indians' 5-1 loss in Game 2, but he didn't go deep, allowing three runs and six hits with seven strikeouts in four innings. All of the runs came in the fourth.
With the Indians leading 1-0, Kris Bryant _ who was 1-for-14 in the first four games _ led off by ripping a 1-and-1 pitch to left for a tying home run. Rizzo doubled off the right-field wall and Ben Zobrist singled to center to put runners at the corners with none out.
Addison Russell's dribbler to third went for an infield single and a 2-1 Chicago lead. Bauer struck out Jason Heyward, but Javier Baez bunted for a single to load the bases and David Ross' sacrifice fly to left made it 3-1.
Santana doubled into the gap in right-center to begin the fifth and moved to third on Ramirez's grounder to short, but Guyer struck out looking and Perez grounded to second.
Davis singled with one out in the sixth and stole second, and Lindor's two-out RBI single made it 3-2. But Ross threw out Lindor trying to steal second to end the inning.
