CHICAGO _ If a selfie is worth 1,000 words, there may have been a million ways to describe Wrigley Field's first World Series game in 71 years.
From Billy Williams' ceremonial first pitch to a last-gasp rally in the bottom of the ninth, fans savored every morsel like it was the only chocolate doughnut in a box full of crullers.
But karma was not in the cards for the Cubs, and a crowd of 41,703 could not will them to win on a historic night just because it felt right.
The Indians pulled out a 1-0 win and went ahead 2-1 in the World Series, assuring that the Cubs cannot clinch at Wrigley.
Even as the Cubs offense wheezed and coughed against Indians pitching, the idea of a not-so-secret weapon was in the back of everyone's minds.
As the zeros mounted up on the ancient center-field scoreboard, it seemed as though the entire city was simply waiting for Kyle Schwarber to come off the bench and save the day, just as it was written in the Gospel of Maddon.
But when Schwarber finally appear in the eighth and received his expected Wrigley roar of approval, the result was not what the script doctor ordered. Indians reliever Bryan Shaw turned his bat into a bunch of toothpicks, inducing Schwarber to hit a soft pop to short.
Miracle whipped.
The Cubs threatened in the ninth on a leadoff single by Anthony Rizzo and a two-out error by Mike Napoli on Jason Heyward's grounder. But with the tying and winning runs in scoring position, Cody Allen struck out Javier Baez to end the night with a whisper.
As the countdown began on Friday morning, it was quite apparent this would be a day unlike any in recent memory for Cubs fans, a day most of them they'd been waiting a lifetime to witness. The Cubs were actually playing in a World Series game at the corner of Clark and Addison, and no Facebook feed was safe.
President Theo Epstein tried to treat it like just another day at the world's greatest office, using the same mode of transportation he uses daily during the regular season.
"I walked here," Epstein said before Game 3. "And I'll walk home."
Usually Epstein can navigate the 10-minute walk from his Lakeview home without anyone recognizing him, especially if he pulls his hat down low. But this time he couldn't escape the madness, nor did he care to escape it.
"Today I must have taken 150 selfies from Southport (Avenue) to Wrigley," he said. "People are so happy and in such a great mood. It was a pleasure to do it. This whole thing has put everyone in the greatest mood ever. It's such a wonderful thing. Families are connecting with one another, generations. ... It's so many things on so many levels."
Epstein was told there was no way out now. The Cubs had to win this thing.
"Can't screw it up," he said with a grin. "We better win now. Wouldn't want to taint the memory for anyone."
The memories flowed like a frosty Old Style on Friday, leaving a bitter aftertaste but going down easily most of the night.
Kyle Hendricks was in and out of trouble throughout his 41/3 innings but stranded runners with strikeouts to end the first, third and fourth innings, and induced a double-play grounder to end the second.
Though Hendricks did not allow a run, manager Joe Maddon lifted him with one out in the fifth after Hendricks loaded the bases. Justin Grimm bounced a 2-2 curve to Francisco Lindor to put the crowd on edge but then got Lindor to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to escape the jam, pumping his arm and beating his chest as the ballpark erupted.
But the Cubs offense was ineffective against starter Josh Tomlin and even less so against reliever Andrew Miller. After getting pinch hitter Miguel Montero to line to right to strand Jorge Soler on second in the fifth, Miller struck out Dexter Fowler, Kris Bryant and Rizzo in succession, making them look like mannequins at Macy's.
The Indians finally broke the dam in the seventh on Coco Crisp run-scoring single to right off Carl Edwards Jr., and the way the Indians bullpen has been pitching all postseason, one run was enough.
After a rousing seventh-inning stretch performance by Bill Murray, who reminded fans it was last call for beer, the Indians gave the Cubs a shot in the bottom of the inning when Lonnie Chisenhall misplayed Soler's fly to the right-field corner into a triple.
Soler seemed to forget he was playing in a World Series, jogging down the line until Chisenhall muffed it, and only then turning on the burners. Bryan Shaw fell behind Baez 2-0 before getting Baez to ground to short, stranding the Cubs' third runner in scoring position.
That was the way the Cubs' night went, and history wasn't going to change a thing.
