The Indians pounced for four runs in the first inning, and that would be more than enough for a dominant Corey Kluber in an 8-1 rout of the Blue Jays on Sunday as Cleveland finished a three-game sweep at Progressive Field.
Kluber continued his lights-out play with 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball and a season-high 14 strikeouts. This was Kluber’s 10th straight start with at least eight strikeouts, which is a club record. Kluber had been battling a sore neck, but he showed no signs of weakness after two days of extra rest.
“He’s throwing the ball good, that’s for sure,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “He’s kind of set the bar pretty high. In this game, when you’re consistent, that’s a good thing. But once you set the bar and you’re consistent at that level. … He’s one of the best in the game. It’s nice when a guy reaches that point and continues to really get after it and work so he can even try to get better. We rely on him so much, and he knows that. It’s nice to put his name in there every five days.”
The lone damage came on Kevin Pillar’s third-inning 451-foot homer as projected by Statcast™, which is Toronto’s third-longest this season and Pillar’s longest since Statcast™ was established in 2015. Kluber only allowed two batters to reach scoring position and didn’t issue a walk until the final batter he faced.
The Indians hit Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ early and often, as he gave up a season-high seven runs. The first three Cleveland batters reached base on Happ’s first four pitches, and Brandon Guyer hit a bases-clearing double later in the inning. The Tribe added a run in the fourth on Francisco Lindor’s single to right, and Michael Brantley ended a 54-game, 232-plate appearance drought with a two-run homer to center field in the sixth.
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