Cleveland Indians Win 6-0 Behind Corey Kluber’s Gem

The first-place Cleveland Indians defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 6-0 Tuesday night behind a complete game shutout by ace Corey Kluber.  The win was the Tribe’s fifth straight overall and tenth straight at home, which is the longest home win streak in the majors this season. They moved to 40-30 on the season and have their third best 70 game start since the turn of the century. The only better 70 game starts have been 2001 and 2007, the two years they’ve won the Central Division since 2000. The loss, meanwhile, dropped the Rays to 31-38 on the season. 

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Kluber was at his best this season, throwing his second complete game shutout of the season. He allowed just three hits and a pair of walks while striking out nine. He moved to 7-7 on the year with the win and lowered his season ERA to 3.86 and his FIP to 2.83, which is second-best in the American League.  Through the first eight innings, Kluber allowed just one hit, a 2nd inning single to Corey Dickerson. The last two hits both came in the 9th inning when the Rays had a base runner reach second base for the first time. No Ray reached third base on the night, that’s how dominant Kluber was on the night.

The Indians offense gave Kluber some rare run support (not that he needed it), scoring six times on the night with the first three coming against rookie left-hander Blake Snell who dropped to 0-2 on the season. The Indians scored two in the bottom of the 3rd inning on an RBI single by Jason Kipnis that scored Yan Gomes. Kipnis would come around and score on the hit after the ball got by Rays’ centerfielder Desmond Jennings for a three-base error and the “Little League Home Run”. The Indians would get a third run off Snell (second earned) in the bottom of the 6th inning on an RBI single by Lonnie Chisenhall, who had a pair of hits off the lefty, scoring Jose Ramirez and making it 3-0 Indians.

The Tribe added three more in the bottom of the 8th inning off Rays’ reliever Steve Getz on back-to-back home runs by Jose Ramirez and Juan Uribe. Ramirez’s was a two-run shot to right, his fourth of the year scoring Mike Napoli while Uribe’s was a solo shot, his sixth of the year. Uribe has now homered in four straight games, the first time in his career he’s ever done that (two in a row was his career high prior). The Indians Jason Kipnis had some fun thoughts on the back-to-back homers, which were the first such by the Indians this year…

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The Indians will go for the series and homestand sweeps tomorrow. Trevor Bauer (4-2, 3.46 ERA) will face off against former Indians’ prospect Chris Archer (4-9, 4.60) in the series finale tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 pm, a few hours after the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Championship Parade downtown.