Kluber, Indians take commanding 2-0 lead on Sox
CLEVELAND -- 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 Championship Series at Progressive Field.
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 in 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.
Rajai Davis grounded into a force out at third, but Perez went to second on that play and then scored on a two-out single by Jason Kipnis, as the Indians extended their lead to 5-0.
In 3 1/3 innings, Price gave up five runs on six hits, with three strikeouts and two walks.
Kluber kept putting up zeroes, and the Indians scored again in the sixth inning, thanks to a Boston error. Guyer led off with a single, his third hit of the game. Robbie Ross relieved Barnes and struck out Chisenhall for the first out.
Brad Ziegler relieved Ross, and got Perez to hit a potential double-play grounder to second baseman Dustin Pedroia. But the ball rolled through Pedroia's legs for an error. That allowed Guyer to move to third, and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Davis to make it 6-0.
NOTES: The Indians' three-homer third inning in Game 1 (C Roberto Perez, 2B Jason Kipnis, SS Francisco Lindor) is just the second time in team history the Indians have hit three home runs in an inning in a postseason game. The other came in Game 3 of the 1998 ALCS vs. the Yankees, when Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome and Mark Whiten homered. ... Indians RHP Cody Allen's save in Game 1 was the fifth time in Indians history a reliever had a postseason save of five or more outs. The others: Gene Bearden in Game 6 of the 1948 World Series, Jose Mesa in Game 5 of the 1997 ALDS, Brian Anderson in Game 4 of the 1997 World Series, and Mike Jackson in Game 2 of the 1998 ALDS. ... DH David Ortiz has played in 74 of Boston's postseason games since 2003, the most in Red Sox history. ... Boston OF Mookie Betts turned 24 on Friday. Betts and Ted Williams are the only players in Red Sox history to have a season of 30 or more home runs and 100 or more RBIs before turning 24.