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CHICAGO -- Game 3 of the World Series was many things to many people. For Indians starting pitcher Josh Tomlin and his father, Jerry, it turned out to be like a dream come true.

Jerry Tomlin fell ill in August, ultimately becoming paralyzed from his chest down after suffering a spinal cord issue (an arteriovenous malformation). At the time, Josh was placed on the emergency medical leave list to be with his father.

During this time, Tomlin was also going through a downright terrible stretch on the mound. In August, he was 0-5 with an 11.48 ERA.

He has since righted the ship, of course, and that was on display during Game 3. Through 4 2/3 innings, Tomlin allowed just two hits -- both singles -- while keeping the powerful Cubs in the ballpark with conditions ripe for a home run barrage.

And he did it with Jerry in the house at Wrigley Field.

"It was probably one of my more emotional starts I've ever had in my entire life, career, any situation baseball-related ever" Tomlin said afterward. "I'm fortunate enough for him to even be here. So to have him get to experience a World Series game and obviously my first World Series start, it meant everything."

Tomlin had a little emotional boost during the game, too.

"I found him before the game, that way I could kind of go to him throughout the course of the game, if the game was speeding up to me, just to find that sense of calm there," Tomlin said. "What he's gone through, I mean, that's nothing to what we're going through right now. So to be able to find him and see him in the stands, it kind of calmed me down and just let me go out there and settle back into the game and try to go out there and do the best that I could for him."

On this night, Tomlin's best was good enough to hold down a great offensive team just enough for his offense to only need one run. Tomlin didn't get the win because he didn't complete the fifth inning -- and because it's a stupid stat -- but this was definitely a huge win for the Tomlin family.