Cleveland Indians Shutout Braves 3-0, Win 12th Straight

The Cleveland Indians shutout the Atlanta Braves in a 3-0 victory Wednesday night, sweeping the three-game series and winning their 12th in a row. It was the Tribe’s fourth straight three-game sweep, having swept the Chicago White Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, and Detroit Tigers prior. The Indians will remain (at least) six games ahead in the Central Division and move to 47-30 on the season. The lead could stretch to seven games depending on the outcome of the Kansas City Royals game tonight. The Braves fell to 26-52 on the season with the loss.

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Tribe starter Danny Salazar continued his All-Star caliber season throwing seven shutout innings and winning his 10th game of the season (10-3).  He allowed just five hits, struck out eight, and even more impressively walked none. He lowered his season ERA to 2.22, just 0.04 behind Boston Red Sox starter Steven Wright‘s lead leading 2.18. Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen each worked scoreless innings in relief of Salazar, with Allen notching his 16th save of the season.

The Indians offense wasn’t at it’s best against Braves rookie starter Joel De La Cruz, who was making his major league debut. They remained scoreless until the 5th inning when Jason Kipnis drove in a pair on a two-out single to left, scoring Danny Salazar and Rajai Davis. The only other run the Indians got off De La Cruz came an inning later when Lonnie Chisenhall hit his fifth home run of the season, a no-doubter to right field to make it 3-0 Indians. The Indians managed just one hit off the Braves bullpen and had eight on the night, but it was more than enough thanks to the strong pitching. from Salazar.

Next: The Indians Outfield Has Become a Surprising Strength

The Indians will head north of the border to take on the Toronto Blue Jays in a four-game series starting Thursday night. The Indians will look to close out the month of June on the highest of high notes. They are 21-6 with one game left in the month. Carlos Carrasco (3-2, 2.73 ERA) will get the starter in the opener while veteran knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (5-8, 4.23) will get the start for the Blue Jays. This will be the first meeting between the two clubs this season with first pitch scheduled for 7:07 pm tomorrow night.