Bauer keeps rolling as Indians win 12th straight
CHICAGO — It has been nearly two weeks since the Cleveland Indians lost a game.
Trevor Bauer's winning streak dates all the way to July.
Bauer won his eighth decision in a row, and the Indians beat the Chicago White Sox 5-3 on Monday for their 12th straight victory.
Bauer (15-8) gave up two runs on three hits with nine strikeouts and one walk over 6 innings. A day after tying the major league record with five extra-base hits,
including two homers, Jose Ramirez homered again for the Indians, his 23rd of the year.
Carlos Santana added his 22nd home run for the American League Central-leading Indians, who are two shy of the team-record 14 consecutive wins set last season. They have not lost a game since Aug. 23 against Boston and are the first team to construct winning streaks of 12 games or more in consecutive seasons since the Baltimore Orioles in 1970 and ‘71.
“We’ll just show up tomorrow and try to win again,” manager Terry Francona said when asked about the streak. “What happened 10 or 12 days ago doesn’t matter. We’ll show up tomorrow and see if we can beat the White Sox. That’s the best way to go about it.”
James Shields (2-6) kept the White Sox in the game before taking a line drive by Francisco Mejia off the knee in the top of the seventh. Shields limped off the
“We’ll just show up tomorrow and try to win again. What happened 10 or 12 days ago doesn’t matter. We’ll show up tomorrow and see if we can beat the White Sox.”
— Indians manager Terry Francona
field and is considered day-to-day. The veteran right-hander allowed four runs and six hits in 6 innings, extending his streak to 11 starts without a win.
The 21-year-old Mejia, a top catching prospect, had a runscoring single in the fourth to make it 3-0. It was his first hit and RBI in his first career start for the Indians. Ramirez’s homer in the eighth made it 5-3.
Bauer and White Sox outfielder Avisail Garcia exchanged words throughout a fourthinning at-bat that ended with Garcia striking out.
“He likes to run his mouth,” Bauer said. “Starts sitting there talking like, ‘They don’t throw me fastballs. All they do is throw me breaking balls.’ He has said it before. I’m not sure he knows that the rules of this game say you can throw whatever pitch you want.
“I threw him a firstpitch slider. He fouled it off, stared right at me. Said something and he’s nodding like ‘I’m right on you.’ So I told him if you’re that confident step back in the box. And then he fouled off another one he should have hit, that was right down the middle and he missed it. And he looked at me and started nodding again.
“So I threw him a curveball and he swung and missed so I decided to remind him of the rules of the game, three strikes you’re out and you can go sit back in the dugout. To his credit, he took it like a champ, he put his head down, he shut his mouth and walked back to the dugout. Good for him.”