CLEVELAND — After Corey Kluber picked up his second victory in five days against the Cubs in Game 4 of the World Series, second baseman Jason Kipnis said he hoped the Indians ace would finally be given his due recognition.

“He tried to give me a hard time about it, and I told him, ‘Don't waste your breath. It doesn't matter to me,' ” Kluber said. “(Obviously) it's nice to hear your teammates say positive things about you, but probably any of us would say that about any of the guys in the clubhouse.”

Kluber was the 2014 American League Cy Young Award winner, so he's not unknown, but his performance on baseball's biggest stage could reach historic levels Wednesday as the Cubs and Indians meet for Game 7 at Progressive Field.

Only 13 pitchers in major-league history have recorded three wins in a World Series. Kluber will have the chance to be No. 14 as he takes the mound on three days' rest for his second straight start.

Indians manager Terry Francona said several factors convinced him Kluber would be fine taking on such a workload.

“Conversations with him, the way he treats his body, the way he works his routines,” Francona said. “Good players, good pitchers can do special things. He's in that category.”

Kluber enters Wednesday 4-1 with a 0.89 ERA, eight walks and 35 strikeouts in over 301/3 innings this postseason. Fittingly, he was the winning pitcher for the AL in this summer's All-Star Game, so he helped set in motion the chance for the Indians to clinch at home Wednesday.