Indians win streak touches 19 — and counting
CLEVELAND: 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 visiting Detroit Tigers on Monday night to move closer to a record that has stood for 101 years.
Cleveland joined the 1906 Chicago White Sox (19), the 1947 New York Yankees (19), the 2002 Oakland 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. The Giants’ record run is in the books as the major-league mark although it did include a tie, which does not count as an official game in baseball, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Francisco Lindor tripled in three runs in the second inning for the Indians, who have not lost since Aug. 23. The reigning American League champions are blasting foes, outscoring them 132-32 during a stretch that includes six shutouts.
“I don’t want to say I’m surprised,” Lindor said. “We haven’t really paid attention to it. We’re just enjoying the ride.”
Carlos Carrasco struck out nine in six innings, Lindor had four RBIs and Jose Ramirez hit a two-run homer.
Pirates 7 Brewers 0: Steven Brault and four relievers combined on a three-hitter to lift visiting Pittsburgh to a victory. Milwaukee dropped to third in the Central, 2½ games behind first-place Chicago and a half-game behind the Cardinals. Those teams were idle Monday. Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte and Jordy Mercer homered for Pittsburgh, which staggered into the game with a five-game losing streak.
Rockies 5 D’backs 4: Nolan Arenado hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning off Jake Barrett, and Colorado held on to win at Arizona. The Rockies, coming off a sweep of the Dodgers in Los Angeles and winning a fifth straight game, lead the Cardinals by 3½ games for the second wild-card spot in the NL.
Yankees 5 Rays 1: In the start of a series moved from Florida to Citi Field in New York because of Hurricane Irma, Todd Frazier hit a three-run homer in a five-run fourth inning that led the “visitors” over Tampa Bay. The Yankees’ Jacoby Ellsbury broke Pete Rose’s big-league record by reaching base on catcher’s interference for the 30th time. Ellsbury nicked Wilson Ramos’ mitt on a slow curve from Jake Odorizzi.
Rangers 5 Mariners 3: Delino DeShields homered to help host Texas win the opener of a fourgame series matching teams still hoping to get a wild-card slot.