Kluber earns 20th win as Indians blank White Sox

[September 25, 2018]  Corey Kluber struck out 11 to earn his 20th victory, and Brandon Guyer hit a seventh-inning home run to break up a scoreless tie as the visiting Cleveland Indians earned a 4-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Kluber (20-7) went seven scoreless innings and became the second 20-game winner in baseball after the Tampa Bay Rays' Blake Snell. It was Kluber's 46th career start with double-digit strikeouts. The right-hander allowed four hits and one walk.

Indians pitchers retired the last 17 batters they faced, as Andrew Miller threw a perfect eighth inning and Cody Allen did the same in the ninth.

White Sox starter Dylan Covey delivered his own gem with six scoreless innings before he was removed. Covey gave up six hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.

Guyer, the first Indians batter after Covey was removed, hit a home run to left field to open the seventh inning, his seventh long ball of the season.

Guyer went deep against White Sox reliever Ian Hamilton (0-2), who was making his ninth career appearance. The last time Hamilton faced the Indians, he gave up a game-ending grand slam to Jason Kipnis on Sept. 19.

The Indians (88-68) scored three more times in the ninth inning on five consecutive hits against right-hander Nate Jones, including a home run from Adam Rosales, his first. Brandon Barnes and Edwin Encarnacion had RBI singles.

Kluber's 11 strikeouts gave the Indians' staff 30 double-digit strikeout games from a single pitcher. It tied the 2002 Arizona Diamondbacks and this year's Houston Astros for third most ever. The California Angels had 32 double-digit strikeout games in 1973, and the Diamondbacks had 36 in 2001.

White Sox starting pitcher Dylan Covey (68) pitches during the first inning against the Cleveland Indians at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports

Kluber's 20-win season was the first from an Indians pitcher since Cliff Lee won 22 games in 2008. Kluber is also the sixth Indians pitcher ever to win 20 games while striking out at least 200 batters. Bob Feller accomplished the feat four times with Cleveland.

Covey delivered his second consecutive outing of six scoreless innings, both against the Indians. His previous one came Sept. 19, the day Kipnis hit his grand slam off Hamilton. The right-hander still has not won a start since July 21 at Seattle, although he did win a game in relief on Aug. 31.

Yonder Alonso had three hits for the Indians, who improved to 46-24 against the American League Central. Nicky Delmonico had two of the four hits amassed by the White Sox (61-95).

--Field Level Media

[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.