New game, new hero for Indians
Many have come through in a major way for Cleveland during amazing 19-game winning streak
The Cleveland Indians have put together the second-longest winning streak in the major leagues — 19 games — over the last 69 seasons. Only the Oakland Athletics, they of Moneyball fame, mustered a longer streak when they won 20 in a row in 2002.
A brief look at how the defending American League champions have put together such an impressive run.
1. Indians 13, Red Sox 6 The bat: Yandy Diaz.
The memorable streak started against, of all pitchers, Cy Young Award candidate Chris Sale. And it was Diaz, of all hitters, who gave the offense a much-needed jolt by going 4-for-4 with four runs scored and two RBI.
The arm: Trevor Bauer. The enigmatic right-hander was given the luxury of eight runs of support in 51⁄ innings pitched and 3 made it hold up despite not having his best stuff. Bauer allowed four earned runs, scattered seven hits and struck out eight.
2. Indians 4, Royals 0 The bat: Francisco Lindor.
It was fitting that on the first day of the inaugural Players Weekend, a player with as big of a personality as Lindor shined. “Mr. Smile” had two hits, including a two-run homer in the fifth that gave Cleveland a cushion against Kansas City’s Jason Vargas.
The arm: Ryan Merritt. The left-hander is best known as the guy who helped the Indians’ injury-plagued rotation win the pennant-clinching Game 5 of the AL Championship Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. He shut out the Royals over 62⁄ innings in his 3 third start of the season.
Overheard: “I always want to be that guy that they can call upon when they need to. Going up and down, it’s better than not coming up, you know?” — Merritt
3. Indians 4, Royals 0 The bat: Roberto Perez.
Rookie outfielder Bradley Zimmer broke up a perfect game bid by Kansas City’s Jason Hammel with one out in the sixth inning,
and one batter later Perez homered to center field. The arm: Mike Clevinger.
Coming off a rough start vs. the Red Sox, Clevinger possibly saved his spot in the rotation by throwing six scoreless innings with a career-high nine strikeouts.
4. Indians 12, Royals 0 The bat: Lindor.
He ignited the offensive explosion by drawing a walk to lead off the bottom of the first. By the time the second was over, Lindor was 2-for-2 with two runs and two RBI, and the Indians were up 12-0.
Numbers game: Cleveland outscored Kansas City 20-0 in its three-game sweep to mark the first time since 1956 it had posted three shutouts in a row.
5. Indians 6, Yankees 2 The bat: Jose Ramirez.
The All- Star third baseman slugged two solo homers, including the tying shot in the sixth inning.
The arm: Corey Kluber. The 2014 Cy Young winner allowed two runs or fewer for the 13th time in 17 starts. Numbers game: A Chase Headley homer ended the Indians’ string of scoreless innings at 30, longest in the majors.
6. Indians 2, Yankees 1 (DH, Game 1)
The bat: Ramirez.
hurled six strong innings, but the bullpen trio struck out five in three scoreless innings.
7. Indians 9, Yankees 4 (DH, Game 2)
The arm:
Merritt. Making another spot start, Merritt wasn’t fazed by the Bronx and allowed one run in 51⁄ innings. He im3 proved to 2-0 with a 1.74 ERA.
Numbers game: Cleveland’s four-game sweep was its first sweep of three or more games in New York since 1989.
8. Indians 3, Tigers 2 (DH, Game 1)
The bat: Jay Bruce.
Bruce hit a one-out pinch-hit triple in the top of the ninth inning and scored the go-ahead run on a Francisco Lindor RBI single.
The arm: Joe Smith. Smith bailed out Allen when he got Miguel Cabrera to line a 1-1 pitch to Lindor at short for the final out.
9. Indians 10, Tigers 0 (DH, Game 2)
The arm: Mike Clevinger.
He shut out the Tigers over six innings with six strikeouts to get his eighth win of the season.
Overheard: “When we score early and spread it out, it’s a good way to play.” — Francona
10. Indians 5, Tigers 2 The bat: Abraham Almonte.
The latest unlikely contributor smacked a two-run single in the first inning that handed Cleveland and Kluber a four-run lead.
11. Indians 11, Tigers 1 The bat: Ramirez.
An epic performance, as Ramirez tied a major league record with five extra-base hits — three doubles and two homers — scoring three runs and driving in three.
Noteworthy: Lindor’s home run in the sixth gave him 26, a team record for a shortstop.
12. Indians 5, White Sox 3 The bat: Ramirez.
Chicago clawed within a run in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Ramirez led off the top of the eighth with a line drive that cleared the right-field fence.
The arm: Bauer. The righthander allowed two runs on three hits in 61⁄ innings, while striking 3 out nine, to extend his streak to 10 starts without a loss.
13. Indians 9, White Sox 4 The bat: Greg Allen.
In his second career start, the rookie ripped a tiebreaking two-run double in the third inning to notch his first two career RBI and Cleveland never looked back. The arms: The bullpen.
Danny Salazar made his first start since Aug. 20 and couldn’t get out of the first inning. What followed were 81⁄ scoreless innings by re3 lievers — Nick Goody, Dan Otero, Zach McAllister, Smith, Olson, Shaw and Shawn Armstrong.
Noteworthy: When the White Sox took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the first, it became just the second time that the Indians trailed in 117 innings during their streak.
14. Indians 5, White Sox 1 The bat: Carlos Santana.
Cleveland took a 1-0 lead into the top of the eighth inning when Santana smacked a two-run homer to deep right-center field for his 13th home run since the AllStar break. The arm: Carlos Carrasco.
The right-hander threw an efficient complete game, allowing one run on three hits with nine strikeouts on 97 pitches.
Overheard: “Carrasco was … my goodness. … I don’t know if he threw maybe 20 balls the whole game. That’s pretty impressive.” — Francona
15. Indians 11, White Sox 2 The bat: Encarnacion.
His three-run homer in the first inning put a cap on a four-run frame, and another Cleveland rout was underway.
Noteworthy: The win gave the Indians an 11-game sweep of their road trip to Chicago, Detroit and New York, the first time in team history they have accomplished such a feat.
16. Indians 5, Orioles 0 The bat: Encarnacion.
Cleveland’s slugger wasted no time delivering for the home crowd, which hadn’t seen its team in almost two weeks. For the second time in two games Encarnacion blasted a three-run homer in the first inning.
The arm: Clevinger. For his third consecutive start, Clevinger held his opponent scoreless. He worked six innings, allowing three hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. The shutout was the team’s fifth within the streak and 17th for the season.
Overheard: “Everyone is aware of (the winning streak), but I think we’re just going out there and doing our thing.” — Roberto Perez
17. Indians 4, Orioles 2 The bat: Bruce.
The waiverdeadline acquisition lined an RBI single to right that broke a 1-1 tie and gave Cleveland the lead for good.
Noteworthy: When Baltimore grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning, it marked the first time during Cleveland’s streak that it wasn’t the first team to score. 18. Indians 3, Orioles 2 The bat: Perez. The Orioles tied the score in the sixth inning, but Perez led off the bottom of the inning with a tiebreaking home run. Noteworthy: The Indians took over the No. 1 seed in the AL, knocking the Houston Astros from that perch for the first time since May 10.
19. Indians 11, Tigers 0 The bat: Lindor.
He hit a bases-clearing triple to highlight a five-run second inning.
The arm: Carrasco. The offense made his job easy as the right-hander fired six scoreless innings, allowing seven hits and one walk with nine strikeouts.
Numbers game: The Indians have now outscored their opponent by 100 runs — 132-32 — during their streak.