Jay Bruce hammered a three-run shot while Roberto Perez added a solo homer as the Cleveland Indians set an American League (AL) record after clinching their 21st straight win via a 5-3 victory over the detroit tigers Wednesday at Progressive Field. With the win, the Indians stormed ahead of the 2002 Oakland Athletics for the AL record for longest winning streak. Earlier, the Indians tied the 20-game winning streak mark set by the Athletics. The Indians are now tied with the 1935 Chicago Cubs for the second longest winning streak in major league history.
The Indians are now five games away from the record of the 26-game winning run set by the 1916 New York Giants from September 7 to September 30 of that year. The winning run included a rained-out game against Pittsburgh, which was called after eight innings with the score tied at 1-1. Those eight innings were not reflected in the standings, but the players' statistics counted. During that time, rules stated that any game interrupted in that fashion would be replayed from scratch if schedules permitted and it mattered in the standings. Under current MLB rules, the game would have been suspended and resumed from the point it was halted.
Clevinger pitched 5 2/3 frames for Indians
Mike Clevinger (10-5) earned the win after yielding three runs – one earned -- on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts in 5 2/3 frames.
Indians relievers Nick Goody, Tyler Olson and Bryan Shaw limited the Tigers to just one hit before Cody Allen pitched a perfect ninth for his 27th save of the season for the Indians (90-56) , who trimmed the magic number to clinch the AL Central to four games. They also moved 3 ½ games from the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in the Majors.
Buck Farmer (4-3) took the loss after giving four runs on four hits with three walks and seven strikeouts in four innings of action for the Tigers, who slipped to 60-85. Jeimer Candelario and Nick Castellanos each hit run-scoring doubles while Andrew Romine added an RBI single for the Tigers.
Bruce hit a three-run shot
In the first inning, the Tigers opened scoring behind Candelario’s double that scored Alex Presley for a 1-0 lead.
However, Francisco Lindor hit a double and Jose Ramirez drew a walk before Bruce’s fly flew over the left field wall for a three-run home run, his 34th homer of the season, to put the Indians ahead for good, 3-1. In the third, Encarnacion hit an RBI single that brought Ramirez home for a 4-1 advantage. In the sixth, the Tigers scored two unearned runs to knock Clevinger out of the game and cut the Indians’ lead to 4-3. However, Perez hit a solo shot in the seventh for the insurance run.
