Corey Kluber shut down the White Sox and became the first pitcher with 11 wins this season. So what else is new for the reigning AL Cy Young winner?
Kluber allowed one hit over seven dominant innings and retired his final 14 batters Wednesday as the Cleveland Indians routed Chicago 12-0. The right-hander struck out seven and issued a lone walk in his latest masterpiece.
”Every five days
Jeff Carter Jersey , you try to come up with maybe something different to say about him, but my goodness,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. ”His level of consistency is so high that, man, it’s just fun to watch. And it’s nice.”
Jose Ramirez and Jason Kipnis hit three-run homers for Cleveland, which swept the three-game series by a 24-5 margin. The Indians have won 17 of their last 21 games against the White Sox at Progressive Field, including all six this season.
Kluber (11-3) only permitted a second-inning single past third base by Omar Narvaez and a third-inning walk to Charlie Tilson, throwing 96 pitches before giving way to George Kontos to begin the eighth. Josh Tomlin surrendered a double to Jose Abreu in the ninth before completing the combined two-hitter.
”Hopefully in the long run, there will be a benefit to not throwing as many pitches as I usually do,” said Kluber, who now has one more victory than Washington’s Max Scherzer and the Yankees’ Luis Severino. ”When the game is sort of out of hand like that, if (Francona) has the opportunity to save me a couple bullets, then why not?”
Yonder Alonso added three hits and Yan Gomes doubled twice as the Indians chased White Sox righty Reynaldo Lopez (2-5) after 4 1/3 innings. Lopez gave up five runs, four earned, and is 0-3 with an 8.31 ERA in three career starts against Cleveland.
The Indians tacked on six runs in the sixth against Bruce Rondon to extend their lead to 11-0, including a two-run double by Edwin Encarnacion and Kipnis’ three-run shot.
”We’re making it really tough for opposing pitchers, which always leads to good things
Nate Thompson Jersey ,” Alonso said. ”We understand that Corey is going to do his thing and keep us in every ballgame, so we just have to be an offensive force for him.”
The White Sox matched their longest losing streak of 2018 at seven and fell to a season-low 25 games under .500. Manager Rick Renteria was ejected by home plate umpire Will Little in the sixth for arguing a strikeout.
”He should have ejected me,” Renteria said. ”He was actually pretty kind. I was calm. I was trying not to get too crazy. I just wanted to go talk to him. It was not a very confrontational exchange.”
Ramirez put Cleveland ahead 3-0 in the first with his team-high 22nd home run, extending his on-base streak to a career-high 28 games. He also scored three times and stole a base.
Brantley was caught stealing in the third, ending Cleveland’s franchise-record run of 23 successful stolen base attempts dating back to May 23.
NOT MILLER TIME
Indians president Chris Antonetti said LHP Andrew Miller (right knee inflammation) is throwing bullpen sessions, but not ready to go on a minor league rehab assignment.
”He has to go through a progression to get back to game activity, and he’s not there yet,” Antonetti said.
Miller is 1-3 with one save and a 4.40 ERA in 17 appearances. The two-time All-Star has been on the disabled list since May 26.
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: OF Avisail Garcia (right hamstring strain) could be activated Thursday. He is hitting .333 with two homers and seven RBIs during a six-game rehab stint with Triple-A Charlotte.
Indians: OF Lonnie Chisenhall (bilateral calf soreness) was a late scratch. He was sidelined with a strained right calf from April 8-June 5 and missed six weeks in 2017 with a similar injury.
UP NEXT
White Sox RHP Lucas Giolito (4-7, 7.19 ERA) takes on Athletics RHP Chris Bassitt (0-2, 2.45 ERA) in the opener of a four-game series Thursday in Chicago.
Indians RHP Shane Bieber (1-0, 3.97 ERA) faces Tigers RHP Mike Fiers (5-3, 4.09 ERA) as Cleveland continues its nine-game homestand Friday.
—
Since their last encounter with the Philadelphia Phillies, the Washington Nationals did not do much offensively.
In fact, they did not score.
After going scoreless for two games with the Tampa Bay Rays, the Nationals hope to get their offense going Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
The Nationals rallied late to beat the Phillies on Sunday night but then mustered five hits and struck out 23 times in Tampa Bay. After the low output, Washington heads into Philadelphia with nine losses in 12 games and hopes to be refreshed following a day off on Wednesday.
“We’re in a little bit of a funk right now,” Washington manager Dave Martinez told reporters following Tuesday’s 1-0 loss. “This day off couldn’t come soon enough. We’ve had a rough go with our schedule here the last few days
Authentic Oscar Fantenberg Jersey , so a little break will do the boys right.”
It is not about to get easier for the Nationals, though.
They will face Phillies ace Aaron Nola for the second time in four games on Thursday night. Right-hander Tanner Roark will be on the mound for Washington, making his second consecutive start against Philadelphia.
Nola (9-2, 2.58 ERA), well on his way to his first All-Star appearance, pitched six strong innings against the Nationals last Saturday. The righty gave up two runs on four hits and three walks and struck out five in a 5-3 Phillies win.
Nola, 26, has pitched at least six innings in 13 of his 16 starts this season and has allowed two earned runs or less in 12 of those games. His 1.016 WHIP ranked fifth in the National League as of Wednesday.
Nola has faced the Nationals 11 times in his career — the most of any opponent for the fourth-year major leaguer. He is 2-4 with a 4.35 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 60 innings in those starts.
Roark (3-8, 4.27) also has plenty of experience against the Phillies. He is 6-8 with a 4.34 ERA in 19 career games against the Nationals’ divisional rival. But Roark’s last outing against Philadelphia did not go well.
The 31-year-old had seven strikeouts, but he gave up six runs on seven hits and four walks last Friday in a 12-2 defeat. Before the loss to the Phillies, Roark gave up four runs on eight hits in four innings against the Toronto Blue Jays on June 17.
“The last two starts, I’ve left the bullpen out to dry, and I’m not happy about it,” Roark told MLB.com after his last start. “Just overall a bad start again. But I’ve got to stay optimistic. I found something in there. So, you’ve got to take a positive out of a negative all the time.”
The Phillies snapped a three-game losing streak with a 3-0 win over the New York Yankees on Wednesday night.
At 42-36, Philadelphia enters the series a game ahead of Washington for second place in the National League East. The Phillies are 2.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves for the top spot in the division.
The Phillies took two of three against the Nationals last weekend. The teams have split six head-to-head meetings in 2018 — all of which were at Nationals Park.
