Cleveland Indians Top 3-1 Nationals Behind Strong Pitching

The Cleveland Indians topped the Washington Nationals Tuesday night in the series opener by a score of 3-1 behind some dominant pitching. In a game where neither team could do anything offensively for the first six innings, it was the Indians whose offense came alive just enough to get the win, pushing them to 63-47 on the season. Thanks to a Detroit loss as well, the Tribe increased their division lead over the Tigers to 3.5 games. The Nationals fell to 66-46 with the loss but still have a 6.5 game lead on the Miami Marlins in the National League East.

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On a night when the Tribe was no-hit into the 7th inning, starter Trevor Bauer was everything the team needed going 6 1/3 shutout innings. He allowed just four hits on the night and struck out four as he moved to 8-5 on the season with the win. He looked a bit shaky at times but worked out of a couple jams and made big pitches when he needed to. The trio of Andrew Miller, Bryan Shaw, and Cody Allen was able to get the final eight outs and secure the win for the Tribe with Allen picking up his 21st save of the season. Only a Jayson Werth solo home run (his 14th on the year) off Miller kept the Tribe from shutting out the Nationals.

Offensively the Tribe had nothing going the first six innings as Nationals’ starter Max Scherzer was lights out and looked well on his way to his 13th win of the season. He struck out ten on the night and held the Tribe hitless for 6 1/3 innings before Francisco Lindor singled up the middle to break up the no-no. Lindor would score the first run of the game on a RBI double by Jose Ramirez who would score on a Lonnie Chisenhall single, putting the Tribe up 2-0. The Indians added an insurance run in the top of the 9tyh inning on another RBI hit by Ramirez, a bloop single to center scoring Jason Kipnis and putting the Tribe up 3-1. On the night the Tribe collected just five hits, all coming in the final three innings, but it proved just enough thanks to the stellar pitching.

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Some scary news for the Tribe came just before first pitch as manager Terry Francona had to sit out the game due to illness. It was revealed to reporters before the game that he was experiencing chest pains. Indians’ bench coach Brad Mills took over for the Tribe as interim skipper for the game. The Indians will look to sweep the brief two-game series this afternoon as Josh Tomlin (11-4, 3.81 ERA) takes on lefty Gio Gonzalez (7-9, 4.13) at 4:05 pm. Following the game, the Tribe will head home to begin a nice ten-game homestand with the Los Angels Angels of Anaheim coming to town.