Shortstop Francisco Lindor hit a solo homer, Carlos Santana drove in a run-scoring double, and Josh Tomlin pitched five strong innings as the Cleveland Indians padded their winning streak to 17 games with a 4-2 triumph over the Baltimore Orioles Saturday at Progressive Field. Tomlin (9-9) allowed two runs on four hits with three strikeouts and no walks, Cody Allen pitched a perfect ninth for his 25th save of the season, and Santana finished with two doubles for the Indians, who have outscored their opponents 118-30 during their winning run.
With the victory, the Indians joined the 2002 A's, who won 20 straight, as the only teams in the Expansion Era (since 1961) to enjoy a 17-game winning streak.
"We've got a good team. We understand that," said Tomlin. "I think, when everything starts kind of clicking and going the right direction, we're able to put up numbers like we're all putting up right now.” The win put the Indians 11 ½ games ahead of the Minnesota Twins in the American League Central. The Indians also pulled within one game of the Houston Astros for the best record in the AL.
Orioles dropped further in Wild Card race
In his first start of the season, starter Gabriel Ynoa (1-1) surrendered three runs on seven hits with no walks and two strikeouts as the Orioles suffered their third straight loss. “It's a combination of them pitching well and us not swinging the bats well,” Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said after the loss that dropped them 3 1/2 games back of the Twins in the race for the AL's second Wild Card spot.
The Orioles struck first in the opening frame when Adam Jones hit an RBI single that brought Manny Machado home. Ynoa was solid early in the game, retiring the first seven batters he faced before Yan Gomes hit a single with one out in the third inning. After that, Giovanny Urshela hit a run-scoring double to tie the game at 1-1.
In the fourth, the Indians took a 2-1 lead behind Jay Bruce’s RBI single before Santana’s run-scoring double in the fifth padded their led to 3-1. With his RBI double, Santana became the Indians' career leader in RBIs by a switch-hitter, with 585 career RBIs.
Beckham hits solo shot for Orioles
In the sixth, Tim Beckham ended the Orioles’ hitting drought against Tomlin with his 20th homer of the season, cutting the deficit to 3-2.
However, Lindor responded with his 28th homer of the year in the seventh inning for the final tally. In the finale of the three-game set, the Indians will send right-hander Trevor Bauer (15-8) to the mound against Jeremy Hellickson (8-8). Bauer is 8-0 with a 2.47 ERA in his last 10 games for Cleveland while Hellickson is 2-3 in the last five starts for the Orioles.
