Carlos Santana and Jose Ramirez homered while Trevor Bauer pitched 6 1/3 strong innings as the Cleveland Indians extended their winning run to 12 games – the longest winning streak in the Major Leagues this season -- via a 5-3 triumph over the chicago white sox Monday in the opening game of a four-game series at Guarantee Rate Field. Bauer improved his record to 15-8 after allowing two runs on three hits with a walk and nine strikeouts while Cody Allen pitched a perfect ninth for his 24th save of the season as the Indians (81-56) reduced the magic number for clinching the American League Central to 17.
During the streak, Indians starters went 11-0 record with a 1.51 ERA. Ramirez tallied his sixth extra-base hit in the last two games with his 23rd homer of the season in the eighth off Chris Beck. As of now, Ramirez leads the AL with 76 extra-base hits this season. “We’re happy, we’re relaxed, we're having a good time, we're united and that's something that’s really important,” Ramirez said through an interpreter after the game. Santana, Francisco Lindor and Roberto Perez contributed two hits each as the Indians improved to 34-16 since the All-Star break.
James Shields hit by liner on right knee
James Shields (2-6) took the loss after giving up four runs on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings of work.
His outing was cut short after he was hit by a Francisco Mejia’s liner on his right knee. Shields was taken off the game due to a bruised right knee. The team said X-ray results were negative but Shields will be day to day. “It's a little sore, but everything came out all right. I think maybe a few inches and I might have been in some trouble,” Shields said of his knee injury.
With the loss, the White Sox are officially eliminated from contention in the AL Central with a 54-82 mark.
Santana led off 2nd with homer
Santana put the Indians on the board with a solo shot to right center before Perez added a run-scoring double for a 2-0 advantage in the second inning. Mejia made it a 3-0 outing with a single that brought home Santana.
In the fifth, Rymer Liriano hit his first homer as a White Sox – a two-run shot that cut the Indians’ lead to one. In the seventh, Lindor gave a Indians a two-run lead with a RBI single, but Liriano kept the White Sox within striking distance with a run-scoring double in the bottom part of the seventh. In the eighth, Ramirez hit a solo shot over the right field wall for the final tally.
