Trevor Bauer turned from pitcher to politician to prize fighter.
If the weather was going to finish him
Authentic Harrison Phillips Jersey , Bauer was going down swinging.
Bauer pitched seven scoreless innings before a rain delay ended his night, and Jason Kipnis homered to lead the Cleveland Indians to a 6-2 win over the sliding and sloppy Chicago White Sox on Monday.
Bauer (6-5) allowed just three hits, struck out eight and was in line to potentially pitch his first career shutout. However, after the game was halted in the seventh for 35 minutes, manager Terry Francona pulled the right-hander following the delay.
Not before Bauer pleaded his case.
”Carl Willis was lucky he didn’t come tell me,” Bauer said, referring to Cleveland’s pitching coach. ”I told him any one but Tito and I was throwing fists.”
Bauer was joking, of course, but Francona liked how his right-hander fought to remain in the game.
”Boy, I give him credit, man,” Francona said. ”Even during the rain delay he was politicking. It just doesn’t make sense. But I gotta tell you, if you’re going to get into a little bit of a push and shove, I like it that he wants to stay in. I respect the hell out of that. I just didn’t think it made sense. I don’t have any doubt he could have done it, too. ”
Roberto Perez drove in two runs off Dylan Covey (3-2) as Cleveland improved to 15-4 in its last 19 home games against Chicago.
The White Sox committed three errors – one by Covey – in the first three innings, lost their fifth straight and dropped a season-high 23 games under .500.
Matt Davidson homered in the ninth for Chicago.
White Sox manager Rick Renteria felt Covey deserved better.
”Believe it or not even though Dylan did have a few walks, he didn’t throw the ball as badly as the numbers might show,” he said. ”We didn’t defend for him. A lot of sloppy play out there to be honest. We just didn’t catch the ball and pick him up when we could have and he still ground out five innings.”
Chicago’s hitters couldn’t get anything going against Bauer, who struck out 12 in a tough loss against the White Sox and Covey last week. Bauer was bidding to tie a club record held by two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber with his fifth consecutive game of at least 10 strikeouts.
Bauer got to eight, but was denied any more because of a line of storms off Lake Erie and Francona’s decision not to push him further. Bauer has thrown at least 100 pitches in all 16 starts this season.
The enigmatic starter is crediting his success to some new pitches and a ”tunneling approach” in which he divides the plate into quadrants.
”The more I’m able to execute those spots, with given pitches, the more confusion there is in the hitters because they see the same look over and over, and the ball goes different ways at different speeds and what not,” he said.
Perez’s two-run, ground-rule double highlighted Cleveland’s three-run second inning, which was set up by Chicago second baseman Yoan Moncada’s fielding error.
MARSHALL PLAN
Indians reliever Evan Marshall left in the eighth after complaining of elbow soreness. Francona said the team will likely have an update on him Wednesday.
MORE THAN A NAME
Looking for bullpen help, the Indians signed veteran reliever Marc Rzepczynski to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Columbus. The left-hander previously pitched for Cleveland from 2013-15, appearing in 145 games.
The club currently needs a lefty reliever with both Andrew Miller and Tyler Olson on the disabled list. Rzepczynski could be an option.
”It’s a guy we know,” Francona said. ”We’re down to one lefty right now
Authentic Taron Johnson Jersey , so it’s a guy that certainly could come here and help. He didn’t sign to stay in Triple-A.”
Francona joked that he still has trouble spelling the lefty’s last name.
”I’ve got it in my phone: Z-E-P,” he said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: Renteria said OF Avisail Garcia (strained right hamstring) is progressing well on a rehab assignment at Triple-A Charlotte. Garcia’s status will be reassessed after he plays Tuesday and Wednesday. He’s been on the disabled list since May 24.
Indians: OF Bradley Zimmer will undergo an MRI on his right shoulder. Zimmer felt discomfort while throwing after he initially strained the shoulder while doing drills after being sent to Columbus to work on his game. ”I don’t think he thought it was anything, and it just didn’t feel good. So, we’re going to go ahead and get him looked at,” Francona said.
UP NEXT
Indians RHP Mike Clevinger will face the White Sox for the second straight start. He set a career high with 11 strikeouts and held Chicago to one run over seven innings last Thursday. Carlos Rodon will start for the White Sox.
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Marcus Stroman ended his winless drought against a Detroit Tigers team struggling to snap out of their worst losing streak in nearly 15 years.
Stroman pitched seven innings to get his first victory this season, Justin Smoak hit a two-run home run and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Detroit 3-2 Friday, handing the slumping Tigers their 10th consecutive defeat.
Stroman (1-5) had not won since beating the New York Yankees last Sept. 24 in Toronto’s final home game of the 2017 season, but snapped a career-worst streak of six straight losing decisions.
Making his second start after missing 39 games because of a sore shoulder, Stroman allowed two runs and five hits, lowering his ERA from 6.80 to 6.20. The right-hander struck out four and didn’t issue a walk for the first time in nine starts this season.
The emotional pitcher said he felt like himself again after taking down the Tigers.
”It’s a relief just being able to be myself out there,” Stroman said.
Manager John Gibbons agreed that success had given his pitcher a new spring in his step.
”He looks like the old guy,” Gibbons said. ”He’s got a little strut going, like John Travolta.”
It’s Detroit’s longest losing streak since a 10-game skid from Sept. 13 to 22, 2003.
”The guys are really pushing hard in the dugout but it’s just not happening right now,” manager Ron Gardenhire said.
Detroit slugger Nick Catsellanos said Stroman kept the Tigers off balance both with good stuff, and a funky delivery full of pauses and hesitations.
”He’s a very unorthodox pitcher with the way he delivers,” Castellanos said. ”He kind of dances on the mound a little bit. That can be difficult to get in synch with.”
Seunghwan Oh pitched the eighth and Tyler Clippard gave up an infield single to begin the ninth but retired the next three batters in order for his fifth save in nine chances.
Detroit opened the scoring when JaCoby Jones scored on Dixon Machado’s double play groundout in the third, but the Blue Jays answered with a three-run fourth, with the first six batters reaching safely against Detroit’s Francisco Liriano.
Smoak hit his 10th home run and first since June 3 at Detroit, and Randal Grichuk added a two-out RBI single.
Tigers infielder Jeimer Candelario cut it to 3-2 with a solo homer, his team-leading 12th, to begin the seventh.
Liriano (3-4) allowed three runs in six innings to lose his third straight decision. The left-hander is winless in seven starts since a victory at Baltimore on April 28.
OSUNA UPDATE
Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said he expects RHP Roberto Osuna to rejoin the team when his 75-game suspension for violating baseball’s joint policy on domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse. It’s the first time the team has publicly endorsed Osuna’s return to the roster since his arrest in early May. Osuna is still facing an assault charge in Toronto. His next court date is July 9.
”Roberto is our closer,” Atkins said. ”We’re running a baseball team and our goal is to win championships. Roberto could potentially be very much a part of that.”
Osuna has no record and a 2.93 ERA with nine saves in 10 chances this season.
MILESTONE K
Stroman fanned Tigers C James McCann in the fifth for his 500th career strikeout. He’s the 21st pitcher in Blue Jays history to reach the mark.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Tigers: LHP Daniel Stumpf (ulnar nerve) allowed one run and two hits in one inning at Triple-A Toledo. It was the first time Stumpf had pitched in back-to-back games since beginning his rehab assignment June 19.
Blue Jays: RHP Aaron Sanchez (right index finger) has not been able to throw since landing on the 10-day disabled list June 22 and is unlikely to be ready to return when eligible Monday, manager John Gibbons said. … Toronto selected utilityman Darnell Sweeney from Triple-A Buffalo to take the roster spot of OF Steve Pearce, who was traded to Boston on Thursday.
UP NEXT
Tigers LHP Matthew Boyd (4-6, 4.15) faces Blue Jays RHP Sam Gaviglio (2-2, 3.98). Boyd is 0-3 with an 8.66 ERA in four career starts at Toronto. Gaviglio is winless in five starts since beating Philadelphia on May 25.
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