Remember when Buck Showalter refused to bring in Zach Britton back in the wild-card game? That was 30 days ago. Since then we've seen 33 games, 9,560 pitches and more than 114 hours of playoff baseball. It comes down to this: Game 7 of the World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians, two franchises with a combined 176 years without a title.

This game, with these two teams, has a stage set for an ending both euphoric and tragic. Given the stellar pitching we’ve seen all postseason, we may also be headed for a Game 7 similar to 1991. That year, in the best World Series ever played, the Twins and Braves were tied 0-0 after nine innings. Twins manager Tom Kelly was going to take out Jack Morris, who had thrown 118 pitches. Morris looked his manager in the eye: "I can pitch."

"Oh, hell, it’s only a game," Kelly said and left Morris in. The Twins won 1-0.

Expect few runs tonight, but we're not going to see starters Kyle Hendricks and Corey Kluber go 10 innings; that much can be guaranteed. We've undergone a revolution of sorts this October, with managers relying less and less on their starters and more and more on their relievers -- at least their best ones. Joe Maddon pulled Hendricks, the NL's ERA leader, in his Game 3 start while he was pitching a shutout in the fifth inning. Terry Francona's entire postseason game plan has been to get the lead and give the ball to Andrew Miller and Cody Allen.

Indeed, the anxiety Cubs and Indians fans are feeling largely is tied up in the bullpen usage.

How many innings and pitches can Aroldis Chapman throw?

How many innings will Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman pitch in Game 7? Getty Images

The Chapman issue is the big question. In the midst of this revolution, we've gone from criticizing Showalter for not using his best reliever to criticizing Maddon for using his. He brought Chapman into Game 6 with a 7-2 lead in the seventh inning and two runners on base. The Cubs' odds of winning stood at about 97 percent. Maddon didn't want to see that other 3 percent come into play.

Chapman ended up at 20 pitches, after throwing 42 in Game 5. Anthony Rizzo's two-run homer allowed Maddon to pull Chapman in the ninth, saving him 15 pitches or so. Still, those 20 pitches in a low-leverage situation -- and 62 over three days -- might affect Chapman's performance in Game 7. Or they might not. That's the thing: We don't know.

Certainly, Maddon doesn't have much confidence in the rest of his bullpen right now other than Mike Montgomery. That's why many speculate that Game 5 starter Jon Lester probably is a gap between Hendricks and Chapman. You might even see veteran John Lackey before one of the other right-handed relievers.

How soon does Francona pull Kluber, who has allowed just three runs in 30.1 innings this postseason, and go to Miller?

Francona's plan is a little more obvious. Kluber, Miller and Allen have combined to throw 48 percent of the team's innings this postseason. They've allowed four runs in 59 innings for a 0.61 ERA and allowed opponents a .180 batting average while striking out 37 percent of the batters they've faced. If somebody else pitches for Cleveland, it's either bad news or the game has gone extra innings.

The toughest decision of the night may be when to take out Kluber. If he's cruising through four innings, do you bring in Miller, counting on him for three and Allen for two? Or would you prefer something like 5-3-1? As good as Allen has been, he does have a sizable platoon split and I'd be a little wary of him going two innings against a Cubs lineup with so many lefties and switch-hitters. Of course, no matter the pregame plan, the game situation may dictate when to use Miller, and then Allen.A

All the indicators point to a low-scoring game. Not only do we have two Cy Young candidates starting -- it's only the third Game 7 matchup since 1920 featuring two starters with 5-plus WAR (Roger Clemens versus Curt Schilling in 2001 and John Tudor versus Bret Saberhagen in 1985 were the others) -- but pitching has dominated this entire postseason. Batters are hitting a collective .222/.289/.362. The Cubs have hit .226; the Indians have hit .217. The team that hits the most home runs will probably win, although don't be surprised if the Indians play small ball to try and scratch out a run.

The Cubs certainly have to be feeling good after their Game 6 blowout. Since 1969, 10 of the 15 teams that won Game 6 won Game 7. The home team, however, has won nine of the past 10 Game 7s in the World Series.

The Cubs have been buoyed by the long ball; the Indians might try to scratch out a run early and get to their bullpen. Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Game 7 talking points

There are a few other talking points heading into the game. The Indians will sit rookie Tyler Naquin after his misadventures in center field in Game 6 and start veteran Rajai Davis. That makes sense, as Davis is likely to make a major mistake. If he gets on base, he's also the team's best basestealing threat, which could be a weapon against Lester or Chapman.

Should the Cubs have started David Ross behind the plate? Maddon went with Willson Contreras, who is 1-for-17 in the World Series, but you have think of Lester enters you'll also see Ross, since he's caught all but three of Lester's innings this season.

Kyle Schwarber's presence in the two-hole helps change the dynamic of the Cubs' lineup; his seven-pitch walk leading off the third inning in Game 6 helped set up that four-run rally, and if he gets on base in front of Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, it makes those a little tougher (especially since Kluber historically has a higher OPS allowed with runners on base than with the bases empty).

In truth, this hasn't been a great World Series, with only two close games and only two lead changes the entire series (and those came in the second and fourth innings). But we're playing the 38th winner-take-all game in World Series history and as Joe Sheehan wrote, you can make an argument that this game feels like the most important baseball game since Jackie Robinson made his debut in 1947. Is that overstating things? I don't believe so.

In the end, we'll get pain and we'll get joy no matter what happens. Even if it is just a game.