Baseball: Indians beat Red Sox again to take 2-0 series lead

(The Sports Xchange) – Corey Kluber pitched seven scoreless innings and combined with two relievers on a three-hit shutout as the Cleveland Indians blanked the Boston Red Sox 6-0 on Friday in Game 2 of the American League Division Series at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

Cleveland leads the best-of-five series 2-0.

The Indians, who claimed the home field advantage on the last day of the regular season, have made the most of it, winning the first two games of the series, which shifts to Boston for Game 3 on Sunday.

In winning Games 1 and 2 at Progressive Field, the Indians improved their home record this year to 55-28.

Cleveland got all the runs it needed in a four-run second inning that was capped by a three-run home run by Lonnie Chisenhall.

Kluber, in his first career postseason start, held the American League’s highest scoring team scoreless on three hits through seven innings. He was removed from the game after walking the first batter and hitting the second batter of the eighth inning. Relievers Dan Otero and Bryan Shaw completed the shutout.

It was Kluber’s first start in 10 days. In his last start of the regular season, he was removed from the game after four innings with a strained quad. He showed no signs of the injury Friday, striking out seven and allowing just three singles.

Boston starter David Price (0-1) came into the game hoping to reverse his dismal career postseason record, but instead all he did was add to it. Price is now 0-8 as a starter in the postseason, and 2-8 with a 5.53 ERA in the postseason overall.

The Red Sox needed a big game from Price, but he never made it out of the fourth inning. He barely made it out of the second. With one out in the bottom of the second, Carlos Santana singled and went to second on an infield single by Jose Ramirez.

Brandon Guyer, hitting .342 against left-handed pitching this season, singled to left, scoring Santana with the first run of the game. Ramirez went to third on Guyer’s hit.

Chisenhall then put an exclamation point on the rally by belting a 2-1 pitch over the right field wall for a three-run home run, giving Cleveland a 4-0 lead.

Chisenhall traditionally struggles against left-handed pitching. He hit just .217, with no home runs against lefties in the regular season. But manager Terry Francona had Chisenhall in the lineup against the left-handed Price because of Chisenhall’s good numbers against Price. The home run improved Chisenhall’s career average against Price to .455 (5-for-11), with two homers and six RBIs.

The Indians added another run in the fourth inning, and again it was the bottom of the order that did most of the damage. Guyer led off with an infield single. Chisenhall popped out, but Roberto Perez drew his second walk of the game.

With that, Boston manager John Farrell had seen enough. He removed Price from the game and brought in reliever Matt Barnes.

In 3 1/3 innings, Price gave up five runs on six hits, with three strikeouts and two walks.

(Editing by Andrew Both)