DETROIT _ One solution to ease the burden on a struggling bullpen is a dynamic outing from a starting pitcher, and the Indians' Trevor Bauer delivered one in a 6-0 win over the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on Wednesday.
Bauer (3-3) took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and cruised with a sizable lead all day. He tossed eight shutout innings, gave up only four hits and struck out 10, lowering his ERA to 2.59. It was Bauer's 11th career double-digit strikeout game.
And, after a brutal recent stretch for the bullpen, only Cody Allen was needed, and he recorded three strikeouts the ninth inning to end the game.
"(Bauer) looked to me like he got stronger as he went, which is really good," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "Even his strikeouts, more of them were later in the game. And we certainly needed that. It allowed us _ we wanted to pitch Cody, because he hadn't pitched in three days and there's a day off tomorrow. But we got to stay away from everybody else and let them take a deep breath and kind of get us back in order. It was good."
The Indians (21-21) took a lead in the first inning for the third consecutive game but this time they were able to make it stand. Rajai Davis and Michael Brantley opened the game with singles off Tigers starter Ryan Carpenter (0-1). Jose Ramirez then tapped a ball back to Carpenter, who threw it away to allow a run to score.
Francisco Lindor followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to make it 2-0.
That advantage was extended in the fourth when, with two runners on, Erik Gonzalez singled to center field to score Lindor, who had singled. Jason Kipnis followed with an RBI double to right field and Roberto Perez added a run-scoring single to center field, pushing the lead to 5-0.
Brantley then led off the fifth with a solo home run, his sixth of the season.
Kipnis' RBI double off a left-hander was a bright spot for his teammates, who have watched him struggle through one of the worst slumps of his career.
"You could tell everybody was pretty happy," Francona said. "Maybe you can't see in the dugout, but we need him so much and he knows that. He's been working. He's been in the cage and he's actually feeling better about things. It's just nice to see him have some results."
The left side of the infield aided Bauer's strong performance. Gonzalez, making the start at third base, made a diving play to rob JaCoby Jones of a would-be double in the first inning, and Lindor later pulled off a bare-handed play reminiscent of Omar Vizquel's signature highlight.
"Yeah, two fantastic plays," Bauer said. "I joked with Lindor that I get an assist on the one up the middle. I put the tip of my cleat on it.
"But those guys came through huge today. That was good to see. I think it was the first play of the game, down the line, that just changes the entire look. If that's a double, then OK, I gotta be a little more careful, maybe my pitch count goes up, whatever. (Gonzalez) made a tremendous play and then I locked in from there."
