Corey Kluber had already ascended to the rank of rotation leader through his pitching prowess, poise and performance this season. On Wednesday night, the Indians merely made things official by trading sinkerballer Justin Masterson to the Cardinals.
Masterson has led the starting staff for the past three years, but the future of Cleveland’s staff resides in the right hand of Kluber. On the day that Masterson packed his bags, Kluber took the mound for the Tribe opposite Seattle ace Felix Hernandez and delivered a three-hit shutout, leading the Indians to a 2-0 victory at Progressive Field.
It marked the third game in a row that Kluber pitched into the ninth inning and the second straight game he finished nine frames. In fact, Kluber became the first Major Leaguer in the past 100 seasons to face no more than 28 batters in consecutive starts consisting of at least nine innings (without a relief appearance between outings).
“It’s very exciting,” Indians manager Terry Francona said of having a leader in Kluber. “And anybody who’s been around him knows that he’s not content. He’ll be here tomorrow working every bit as hard and getting ready for his next start.”
In a tribute to Masterson — traded before the game to St. Louis in exchange for Minor League outfield prospect James Ramsey — the Indians took the field sporting high socks. Kluber was actually unaware of that idea during pregame warmups, so the pitcher ducked back into the clubhouse prior to the first pitch and altered his uniform.
Once on the hill, as Masterson did so often at his best with the Tribe, Kluber generated a wave of groundouts and piled up strikeouts to outperform an ever-intimidating Hernandez. Kluber’s signature, however, is precision and he was in fine form in that regard. The right-hander threw 12 or fewer pitches in eight of his nine innings, ending with only 85 pitches in his blanking of Seattle’s bats.
The Mariners became increasingly aggressive as the game wore on, playing right into Kluber’s hand.
“That’s always my game plan,” Kluber said, “is to try to get that early contact and just try to stay the course. They came out of the gates aggressive and they got more aggressive in the middle of the game.”
Kluber ended with only 16 balls for a strike rate of 81 percent. When Dustin Ackley grounded out to end the game, Kluber became the first Cleveland pitcher since 1992 (Charles Nagy) to record a shutout on 90 or fewer pitches. The last Major Leaguer to spin a nine-inning shutout on no more than 85 pitches was Boston’s Aaron Cook on June 29, 2012.
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