The A’s Sonny Gray was victorious in a battle of two aces, shutting out the Indians in a 2-0 victory on Sunday at Progressive Field to end the season’s first half.
Gray (10-3, 2.04 ERA) bounced back from his first real rough patch of the season by breezing through the Indians’ order, allowing just three baserunners and striking out six while going the distance for the first time this season, and the third time in his career. He was perfect through three innings, had faced the minimum through four, and retired 15 of the last 16 batters he faced.
“Annoying,” quipped All-Star catcher Stephen Vogt, when asked about Gray. “He was so good. His ball was cutting a lot, it was sinking a lot. He smells blood and just goes for it. Today, his ball was cutting up to four to six inches at times. It was just a lot of fun to watch him do what he does best.”
Corey Kluber (4-10, 3.38 ERA) completed eight innings for the seventh time this season and made just one real mistake on a fourth-inning home run to Vogt. Kluber allowed two earned runs on four hits and two walks, striking out six, and continued to receive the league’s worst run support. He entered the game averaging just 2.32 runs of support per game, and lowered that number by receiving zero.
“Today is a different day,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “We faced a really good pitcher and we didn’t do much. Kluber mislocated a fastball to the wrong guy that cost him two runs, because he pitched tremendous. I mean, you go eight innings and give up two runs and four hits, today it just seemed like more with the way Gray was pitching.”
The A’s have won their last two games, but still own a losing record (41-50) at the All-Star break for the first time since 2009. The Indians have dropped their last two, and own their worst first-half record (42-46) since 2010.
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