Francona aiming to bring another parade to Cleveland

Four months ago, the Indians’ manager watched on a TV from his office at Progressive Field as Cleveland’s streets overflowed during a joyous celebration honoring LeBron James and the Cavaliers for winning the NBA championship and stopping the city’s 52-year-title drought.

After missing on their first swing at their first Series title since 1948, the Indians are home with two cracks at a championship.

Down 3-1 and desperate, Chicago manager Joe Maddon used closer Aroldis Chapman to get the final eight outs in Game 5 as the Cubs beat the Indians 3-2 at raucous Wrigley Field to extend their season and send this Series packing.

Josh Tomlin, the longest-tenured player on Cleveland’s roster, starts Tuesday night against Chicago right-hander Jake Arrieta, who held the Indians without a hit until the sixth inning in Game 2, a 5-1 Chicago victory.

Tomlin will be starting on just three days’ rest for only the second time in his career, but adrenaline and a home crowd of more than 35,000 screaming fans should help him overcome any fatigue.

The right-hander was terrific in Game 4, allowing just two hits in 42/3 innings as his dad, Jerry, who is paralyzed from the chest down and confined to a wheelchair, watched from behind home plate in noisy Chicago as Cleveland won 1-0.

The bigger issue will be stifling the Cubs, who will have Kyle Schwarber back in the lineup as a designated hitter after he was reduced to a pinch hitter during three games played under NL rules.

In the grand scheme of things, it’s still the baseball game whenever the umpire says, ‘Play ball!’ So that’s how you have to treat it.

Cleveland’s players fed off the vibe created by James and his teammates, who will be forever remembered as the team that changed the city’s sports fortunes.