Indians Take Down Blue Jays
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CLEVELAND (AP) -- Mike Clevinger struck out 10 and allowed one hit over five scoreless innings, then left with upper back tightness as the Cleveland Indians beat the struggling Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 Sunday to complete a four-game sweep.
Clevinger (1-0) hasn't allowed a run in 12 innings over his first two starts, striking out 22. He retired his first nine hitters, walked Socrates Brito leading off the fourth, then gave up a double to Freddy Galvis. Clevinger fanned Randal Grichuk, Rowdy Tellez and Teoscar Hern'ndez in order, all swinging. He threw 75 pitches in all.
Indians pitchers struck out 16, raising their three-game total to 57.
Toronto dropped to 3-8 and has struck out a major league-leading 111 times.
Carlos Santana, reacquired during the offseason, had an RBI double in the first and is hitting .419 with a 1.067 OPS. Tyler Naquin had three hits, including a run-scoring single in the first. Jose Ramirez added an RBI double in the fifth.
Brad Hand got five outs for his fourth save, completing a three-hitter. Pinch-hitter Lourdes Gurriel grounded into an inning-ending double play in the eighth.
Marcus Stroman (0-2) allowed three runs and six hits in six innings with six strikeouts. Danny Jansen had an RBI single in the eighth off Adam Cimber.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Blue Jays: Justin Smoak has a sore neck and was scratched from the original lineup for the third time in the series. Smoak was 1 for 5 with a double Saturday, but couldn't play in the finale.
Indians: 2B Jason Kipnis had a scheduled day off at his rehab assignment for Triple-A Columbus. He strained his right calf late in spring training. Kipnis hopes to return during the upcoming road trip.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays: RHP Matt Shoemaker (2-0, 0.00 ERA) started Tuesday at Fenway Park, where LHP Chris Sale (0-2, 8.00 ERA) takes the mound in Boston's home opener.
Indians: RHP Corey Kluber (0-2, 5.23 ERA) starts for Cleveland and RHP Jordan Zimmermann (0-0, 0.66 ERA) for the Tigers in the opener of a three-game series at Detroit.
Yankees 15, Orioles 3
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Gary S'nchez hit three of the Yankees' seven home runs, their most on the road in more than a half-century, and New York routed the Baltimore Orioles to complete a three-game sweep.
Astros 9, Athletics 8
HOUSTON (AP) -- Jose Altuve drew a four-pitch walk from Oakland closer Blake Treinen with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday, giving the Houston Astros a win and a three-game sweep of the Athletics.
Tigers 3, Royals 1
DETROIT (AP) -- Tyson Ross pitched seven impressive innings in his Comerica Park debut, and the Detroit Tigers extended their winning streak to five with a victory over the Kansas City Royals.
Mariners 12
White Sox 5
CHICAGO (AP) -- Daniel Vogelbach homered twice, hit a bases-clearing double and set a career high with six RBIs, helping the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox to extend the best start in club history at 9-2.
Edwin Encarnaci¯n had a two-run homer and three hits for the Mariners, who have the AL's best record. Seattle has homered in each of its first 11 games to extend a franchise record and leads the major leagues with 26.
Angels 7, Rangers 2
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Mike Trout homered for the fourth straight game and the Los Angeles Angels, after waiting out a five-minute delay caused by a swarm of bees, beat the Texas Rangers.
Trout hit five home runs in the four-game series -- he became the fourth Angels player to connect five times in a set.
INTERLEAGUE
Rays 3
Giants 0
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash kept getting the most from his pitching staff, moving reliever Adam Kolarek to first base in a piece of matchup strategy, and the Rays blanked the San Francisco Giants.
Yandy Diaz homered on the second pitch of the game and Yonny Chirinos (2-0) threw five scoreless innings. The Rays have opened the season with three straight series wins for the first time in franchise history.
Phillies 2
Twins 1
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Rhys Hoskins hit a two-run homer, Zach Eflin threw seven sharp innings and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Minnesota Twins.
Eflin (2-0) allowed a leadoff homer to Max Kepler and five singles, striking out five.
Red Sox 1
Diamondbacks 0
PHOENIX (AP) -- Mitch Moreland homered off Merrill Kelly on the first pitch of the seventh inning, and the World Series champion Boston Red Sox ended an awful opening trip with a win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Boston went 3-8 against Seattle, Oakland and Arizona, its worst start since losing nine of 11 to begin a 2011 season that ended with a third-place finish in the AL East at 90-72. The last team to reach the postseason after losing at least eight its first 11 games was Tampa Bay, which finished 91-71 in 2011.