Bauer ‘a monster’ in shutout
DETROIT — Trevor Bauer has accomplished a lot of things in his career, but there was one box he wasn’t able to check off until Sunday in Detroit.
Bauer pitched his first shutout as a pro, ending the longest winless streak of his career as the Indians beat the Tigers 8-0 Sunday for a three-game sweep.
Bauer (5-6) gave up four hits, struck out eight and walked none. This was his 224th professional start since being drafted out of UCLA, including 166 in the majors.
“I’m only disappointed that my strikeouts lagged a little,” he said. “If you pitch a complete game with 10 strikeouts and no walks, you’re really getting into rarified air.
“I have some mechanical stuff that was out of whack, but I was able to compensate and go out there and get those results.”
The 28-year-old righty had been 0-5 in his last eight starts before dominating the Tigers in his third career complete game.
“Any time you go out there and throw nine innings without giving up a run, you are doing a lot of things right,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “He got out of an early jam when it was still 1-0 and then we got him some runs and he settled in.”
Harold Castro hit a leadoff triple in the second, but Bauer stranded him with a popup, a ground ball and a strikeout.
“He was a monster out there,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He’s such a fierce competitor and he went out there and spun the ball against us. When he needed a fastball, he always had it.”