CLEVELAND _ Indians ace Corey Kluber returned to the mound on Thursday following his stint on the disabled list and quickly reclaimed his spot as one of baseball's top pitchers, mowing through the Oakland Athletics en route to an 8-0 win at Progressive Field.
Kluber, who was on the 10-day disabled list with a strained lower back for nearly a month, struck out 10 hitters in six scoreless innings and allowed only two hits and a walk. It was his best outing of the season and probably the first start while completely healthy. He pitched through multiple calluses on Opening Day and then experienced back stiffness in his second start, something he worked through until a stint on the disabled list was finally warranted.
Kluber needed 77 pitches to get through six innings. The final pitch was a breaking ball that badly fooled Mark Canha, who struck out swinging for Kluber's 10th strikeout. In all, Kluber registered 24 swings-and-misses, which tied for the second most in a start in his career.
"It was nice to see him back in game action. He was filthy today," catcher Roberto Perez said. "That brought me back to the World Series Game 1, when he had eight consecutive strikeouts (actually eight strikeouts in the first three innings). He had the same breaking ball going. He was throwing it for a strike and then throwing it off the plate late and they were chasing it. He threw the ball really well."
The Indians (28-24) did little against Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Jharel Cotton (3-6) through the first five innings before the floodgates opened _ at one point, even the sprinklers inadvertently came on in left field _ in a bizarre sixth inning.
With the Indians leading 1-0, a single, a walk and an error loaded the bases with nobody out. Michael Brantley walked to bring in a run and Carlos Santana blooped a single that fell in front of Canha in left field to make it 3-0.
With one out, Bradley Zimmer grounded a ball to second baseman Chad Pinder, who threw home for the second out in the inning. Zimmer just beat the return throw to first base. As first baseman Yonder Alonso disagreed with the call and walked a few steps toward the A's dugout, Santana rounded third and headed for home. Santana, who slid head-first into the plate, was originally called out. But after a double-review situation in which the A's (23-30) challenged the safe call at first and the Indians challenged the out call at home, both calls went in the Indians' favor, with replay showing both runners were safe.
The misfortune for the A's in the sixth continued. With Daniel Robertson at the plate, the sprinklers in left field momentarily kicked on. Robertson then grounded a ball that third baseman Ryon Healy booted and Jose Ramirez scored to make it 5-0.
"You know, those things seem to be a little more funny when you're winning than when you're losing," Indians manager Terry Francona said of the sprinklers.
The Indians continued to pile on in the seventh. With two on, Francisco Lindor singled to left to score a run. Brantley followed with another single to left and Canha had it roll under his glove, allowing two runs to score and the Indians to take an 8-0 lead.
Danny Salazar appeared out of the bullpen for the first time this season in the ninth. He allowed one hit and struck out two in a scoreless inning.
