Ottawa Citizen

11-run night makes it 19 and counting

- TOM WITHERS

Unrelentin­g and unbeatable at the moment, the Cleveland Indians refuse to lose.

With their latest overpoweri­ng win, they extended baseball’s longest winning streak since 2002 to 19 games with an 11-0 blowout of the Detroit Tigers on Monday night to move closer to a record that has stood for 101 years.

Francisco Lindor tripled home three runs off rookie Myles Jaye (0-1) in the second inning, and the Indians, who haven’t lost since Aug. 23, added another blowout to their growing list of lopsided conquests.

The defending AL champions aren’t just rolling, they’re steamrolli­ng opponents, outscoring them 132-32 during a stretch that includes six shutouts.

Carlos Carrasco (15-6) struck out nine in six innings, Lindor had four RBIs and Jose Ramirez hit a tworun homer as the Indians lowered their magic number to clinch the AL Central to six.

Cleveland is the sixth team in history to win at least 19 straight, and the streak is the longest since the 2002 Oakland Athletics won 20 in a row — a run that was celebrated in the film Moneyball.

The Indians can match those A’s on Tuesday, and their chances of getting No. 20 are strong with Cy Young Award contender Corey Kluber starting.

Cleveland joined the 1906 Chicago White Sox (19), the 1947 New York Yankees (19), the 2002 A’s (20), the 1935 Chicago Cubs (21) and the 1916 New York Giants (26) as the only teams to reel off 19 consecutiv­e wins.

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