The Cleveland Indians sit with a comfortable lead in the AL Central, and they showed why that lead is so large on Monday night. Trevor Bauer held the Minnesota Twins to three hits over six shutout innings as the Indians cruised to a 10-0 blowout win at Progressive Field. Bauer struck out 11 in his 11th win of the season as The Tribe extend their Central lead to 10 games with a win over the second place team.
The Indians supported Bauer with four home runs, including Edwin Encarnacion connecting with a three-run shot in the seventh inning to get the Indians in to double digits. That was the slugger's 25th long ball of the season, giving him seven straight seasons with at least that many homers, dating back to his time with the Toronto Blue Jays. Encarnacion finished the night with four RBIs, leading the Indians in their 35th home win of the season.
Bauer's efforts puts him at 206 strikeouts on the season, which is just one behind Chris Sale of the Boston Red Sox for the American League lead. He now has 10 double digit strikeout games, tying him with Sale for the league lead, as he also leads the American League with 159.2 innings pitched.
Yonder Alonso, Brandon Guyer, and Jason Kipnis all went deep on the night, as the Indians started to pull away with a four-run fourth inning, which included long balls from Guyer and Alonso. Twins starter Kyle Gibson suffered this damage in his ninth loss of the season. He gave up two of the four Indians' home runs, while reliever Matt Belisle gave up the other two. Gibson was charged with six runs, four of which were earned, over five innings.
The Indians recorded their 12th shutout victory of the season as Adam Cimber, Oliver Perez, and Dan Otero each pitched a scoreless inning to finish things off. That sealed the win for Bauer as well, and he has not lost since June 29th. The right-hander is 4-0 in seven starts during that time. The Indians will continue this home series with Game 2 on Tuesday night.
The Indians supported Bauer with four home runs, including Edwin Encarnacion connecting with a three-run shot in the seventh inning to get the Indians in to double digits. That was the slugger's 25th long ball of the season, giving him seven straight seasons with at least that many homers, dating back to his time with the Toronto Blue Jays. Encarnacion finished the night with four RBIs, leading the Indians in their 35th home win of the season.
Bauer's efforts puts him at 206 strikeouts on the season, which is just one behind Chris Sale of the Boston Red Sox for the American League lead. He now has 10 double digit strikeout games, tying him with Sale for the league lead, as he also leads the American League with 159.2 innings pitched.
Yonder Alonso, Brandon Guyer, and Jason Kipnis all went deep on the night, as the Indians started to pull away with a four-run fourth inning, which included long balls from Guyer and Alonso. Twins starter Kyle Gibson suffered this damage in his ninth loss of the season. He gave up two of the four Indians' home runs, while reliever Matt Belisle gave up the other two. Gibson was charged with six runs, four of which were earned, over five innings.
The Indians recorded their 12th shutout victory of the season as Adam Cimber, Oliver Perez, and Dan Otero each pitched a scoreless inning to finish things off. That sealed the win for Bauer as well, and he has not lost since June 29th. The right-hander is 4-0 in seven starts during that time. The Indians will continue this home series with Game 2 on Tuesday night.
