Trevor Bauer made plenty of quality pitches
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Hanifin Jersey , but it was Cleveland catcher Roberto Perez who made the
best throw of the night.
Bauer pitched effectively into the eighth inning as the Indians beat the skidding Kansas City Royals 3-2 on Wednesday for a three-game sweep.
With the Royals trailing by one in the eighth, Whit Merrifield hit a leadoff double before Perez nabbed him attempting to steal third.
”It was a huge play,” Bauer said.
Merrifield, the 2017 AL stolen base champion, said he got a good jump
”They executed. I executed,” Merrifield said. ”They got me this time. It was the right play. If I had a chance to do it again, I’d do it again.”
Perez gave credit to Bauer.
”He was thinking he was going to try and steal,” Perez said. ”He called fastball up and in and I thought that was the game right there. That was on
Bauer. He hit me right in the chest and I made a strong throw, and (Jose)
Ramirez made a good tag on him. I was fired up.”
Michael Brantley had an early RBI double and the Indians scored all their runs in the first three innings on only one hit. Bauer struck out eight and
walked one over 7 2/3 innings.
The plummeting Royals have lost six straight and 18 of 21. They have scored four or fewer runs in 25 of their past 26 games and are barely ahead of
Baltimore for the worst record in the majors.
After winning on grand slams by Francisco Lindor and Yan Gomes the previous two nights, the Indians managed only four hits – two in the ninth inning.
Bauer (8-6) has struck out eight or more in eight consecutive starts. He allowed seven hits, six of them singles, and is 3-1 in his past four starts.
”It was frustrating in a lot of ways and I was happy the team won,” Bauer said. ”I made some good pitches and gave up some weak hits. I had too many
two-strike pitches put into play. I need to clean that up.”
Cody Allen worked the ninth to earn his 18th save in 19 chances. It was his 140th career save, breaking a tie with Bob Wickman for the club record.
Lindor walked to start the game, stole second and scored on Brantley’s double. Brantley went to third on Ramirez’s flyout and scored on Edwin
Encarnacion’s sacrifice fly.
The Indians manufactured a run without a hit in the second. Jason Kipnis and Tyler Naquin opened the inning with walks. Perez advanced both with a sacrifice
bunt, and Greg Allen delivered a sacrifice fly.
Kansas City used a double steal to create a run in the second. Alex Gordon, who was hit by a pitch, and Hunter Dozier, who reached on an infield
single
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successful double steal, with Gordon scoring. It was Dozier’s first career
steal.
The last Royals player to steal home was Alex Rios on July 20, 2015, against Pittsburgh, also as part of a double steal.
Alcides Escobar singled in the Kansas City fifth and advanced to third on Drew Butera’s one-out single. Escobar scored on Merrifield’s sacrifice fly.
Royals starter Trevor Oaks (0-2), recalled from Triple-A Omaha to take Ian Kennedy’s spot in the rotation, was removed after four innings and 73 pitches.
He allowed three runs on two hits and four walks.
”The leadoff walks and not having good command, just really frustrating when I’ve walked like one or two guys an outing and now I’m back to four,” Oaks
said.
Oaks had a 0.62 ERA in his last seven Triple-A starts. Kennedy went on the disabled list with a strained left oblique.
THE HOT CORNER
Dozier made his first big league start at third base. Dozier played 401 games at third, starting 281, in the Royals’ minor league system. He had started 35
games at first base, two in right field and two as the DH this season.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Indians: OF Brandon Guyer (bruised left knee) did not play after fouling a pitch off his leg in the ninth inning Tuesday. X-rays were negative. … LHP
Andrew Miller (right knee inflammation) is scheduled to throw a bullpen
Thursday. … LHP Tyler Olson (shoulder strain) threw 17 pitches for Triple-A
Columbus on a rehab assignment. He retired two batters, walked one, struck out
one and did not allow a hit.
Royals: 3B Mike Moustakas (back spasms) was held out of the lineup for the second straight game. ”It’s not serious at all,” manager Ned Yost said. ”He came
in today and still felt it a little bit. With an off day tomorrow, there’s no
sense in pushing it.” … OF Bubba Starling (oblique strain) was sent to the
rookie-level Arizona League to begin a rehab assignment. Starling, a 2011
first-round draft pick, has not played since May 10 with Triple-A Omaha.
UP NEXT
Indians: Open a homestand Friday against the Athletics with RHP Carlos Carrasco (8-5, 4.24 ERA) starting. Oakland will counter with RHP Paul Blackburn
(2-2
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Royals: RHP Jason Hammel (2-10, 5.56) starts Friday night against the Red Sox at Kauffman Stadium. LHP Chris Sale (8-4, 2.41) gets the ball for Boston.
—
MINNEAPOLIS — Kevin Gausman has been one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dismal season for the Baltimore Orioles, who bring the worst record in
baseball to Target Field on Saturday as they continue a four-game series with
the Minnesota Twins.
Gausman takes the mound with a 2.76 ERA in his last five outings and is fresh off perhaps one of his best starts of the year. He held the Los Angeles to one
run and two hits and didn’t walk a batter in eight innings on July 2 for his
first victory since May 11 — a span of nine starts — and is now 4-6 with a 4.05
ERA this season.
“I felt like early on in the season, I kind of put together a little bit better of a month, but I feel like I’m throwing the ball well,” Gausman said. “I
feel really good in my delivery, and ever since I went hands over the head,
“I feel like this has just been night and day, able to command the ball and really all my off-speed pitches. That’s the key word — consistency. You’re
always trying to be the same guy every five days.”
Orioles manager Buck Showalter thinks Gausman’s success this season is overlooked in part because of the team’s record, but also because of the
competition he has faced.
“I don’t chuckle or eye-roll or any of that stuff,” Showalter said. “When I hear people kind of negative, Kevin has cut his teeth in the American League
East and he’s kind of a good hardened to it. This guy doesn’t dwell around too
much on successes and failures.”
Success has been hard to come by for the Orioles lately and failure has been plentiful.
Baltimore’s loss Friday night in Minnesota extended its losing streak to four games. The Orioles have dropped 11 of their last 12 games and 22 of their last
27 overall while winning only two in their last seven series.
They’ll try to turn that around Saturday against Twins right-hander Kyle Gibson, who has been the poster child for lack of run support this season.
He has allowed more than three runs in a game just once since May 18 — a span of eight starts — but has taken the victory just twice. In the six other games,
the Twins have averaged just 1.8 runs.
Gibson hasn’t let the tough luck get to him.
“We’ll start being on the right side of these games,” Gibson said. “We’ve just been running into some pitchers throwing the ball well and caught a couple
tough breaks offensively.”
His last two starts haven’t been among his best. He allowed a season-high five runs and 11 hits against the White Sox on June 27 in Chicago and the
Milwaukee Brewers followed by tagging him for four (three earned) in five
innings earlier this week in Milwaukee.
Saturday will mark Gibson’s ninth career start against the Orioles. In the eight previous meetings, he’s 3-2 with a 5.06 ERA.
He faced them once already this season, throwing six no-hit innings with six strikeouts on March 31 in Baltimore.
