KLUBER, TRIBE WHITEWASH TWINS
Aviles, Dickerson Amass 3 Hits Apiece
MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 21 (AP) – Corey Kluber fired a two-hit shutout, fanning 11 in the process, and the Cleveland Indians went on to defeat the Minnesota Twins 5-0 at Target Field. The victory was the eighth in nine contests for the suddenly resurgent Indians who now stand four games behind first place Minnesota in the American League’s Central Division. The teams have six head-to-head games remaining, all of them in September. The complete game was Kluber’s third of the season; the shutout was his first.
Cleveland took the lead immediately, with two runs in the top of the first off Twins starter Phil Hughes. Michael Bourn led off with a base hit and Mike Aviles doubled him to third. Michael Brantley’s grounder to short scored Bourn, giving the Indians a 1-0 lead. Carlos Santana flied to center for the second out but Jason Kipnis doubled off the center field wall, scoring Aviles to give the Indians a 2-0 advantage.
Cleveland added a run in the second when Lonnie Chisenhall led off with a base hit and, one out later, advanced to second on Chris Dickerson’s single to center. Bourn flied out but Aviles dropped a base hit into right, scoring Chisenhall with the third run of the game.
In the bottom of the sixth, Kipnis reached second on third baseman Trevor Plouffe’s throwing error, and scored on a single to left-center off the bat of Yan Gomes.
The Indians capped the scoring in the seventh when Dickerson led off with a base hit, was sacrificed to second by Bourn and scored when center fielder Jordan Schafer misplayed Aviles’ base hit.
Kluber, meanwhile, dominated the Tins. He took a no-hitter into the sixth after striking out the side in the bottom of the fifth, but yielded a lead-off single to Kurt Suzuki. He retired the next 10 batters he faced before surrendering a base hit to Schafer with one out in the ninth, then easily retired Danny Santana and Brian Dozier to end the game. The two lone singles were the only Minnesota baserunners of the game.
8/21/2014, Cle14-Min14, Target Field
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2014 Indians 2 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 5 12 0 9 0
2014 Twins 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 0
Indians AB R H BI AVG Twins AB R H BI AVG
Bourn cf 4 1 1 0 .199 Santana,Da ss 4 0 0 0 .260
Holt,T rf 0 0 0 0 .455 Dozier 2b 4 0 0 0 .257
Aviles ss 5 1 3 2 .203 Mauer 1b 3 0 0 0 .276
Brantley lf 5 0 1 1 .304 Vargas,K dh 3 0 0 0 .280
Santana,C 1b 3 0 0 0 .246 Arcia rf 3 0 0 0 .219
Kipnis 2b 5 1 1 1 .213 Plouffe 3b 3 0 0 0 .285
Gomes,Y c 4 0 1 1 .254 Suzuki,K c 3 0 1 0 .239
Chisenhall 3b 4 1 1 0 .243 Parmelee lf 3 0 0 0 .233
Walters dh 4 0 1 0 .258 Schafer,J cf 3 0 1 0 .237
Dickerson,Ch rf 4 1 3 0 .267 29 0 2 0
38 5 12 5
Indians INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Kluber W 14-9 9.0 2 0 0 0 11 105 72 2.73
9.0 2 0 0 0 11 105 72
Twins INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Hughes,P L 11-9 8.0 10 5 4 1 7 118 76 3.76
Pressly 1.0 2 0 0 1 0 22 12 2.40
9.0 12 5 4 2 7 140 88
Cle: Holt,T inserted at rf in the 9th
Dickerson,Ch moved to cf in the 9th
E-Plouffe, Schafer,J. 2B-Aviles(8), Brantley(37), Kipnis(15).
RBI-Aviles 2(26), Brantley(55), Kipnis(22), Gomes,Y(44). K-Bourn, Santana,C,
Kipnis, Gomes,Y 2, Walters 2, Santana,Da, Dozier 3, Vargas,K, Arcia 2,
Plouffe, Suzuki,K, Parmelee 2. BB-Santana,C 2. SH-Bourn.
GWRBI: Brantley
Temperature: 65, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: right to left at 7 MPH.
Attendance: 38,091
Game Time: 2:19