Indians shatter club record with 15th straight win

Associated Press

CHICAGO

The Cleveland Indians didn’t need much help to match last season’s team-record 14-game winning streak, batting .317 and pitching to a 1.86 ERA over the last two weeks.

No. 15 was over almost before it started.

Cleveland jumped all over emergency starter Mike Pelfrey for seven runs in the first three innings and Corey Kluber struck out 13 in seven innings of three-hit ball on Thursday night, helping the Indians win their franchise-record 15th consecutive game, 11-2 over the Chicago White Sox.

Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer in the first inning and Cleveland went deep five times in becoming the first major league team to win 15 straight since the 2002 Oakland A’s.

“The winning streak is enjoyable and I think it’s got people’s attention, which gives me a chance to maybe brag on our guys a little, which I love,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “Other than that, we just go play tomorrow.

“The Orioles are already sitting back home waiting for us. We’ll have our hands full. It just makes the games a little bit more fun because people are watching and they care.”

Yolmer Sanchez and Jose Abreu homered in the first for Chicago, but Kluber allowed only one more hit — a fifth-inning single for Omar Narvaez.

The right-hander retired 20 of his last 22 batters on his way to double-digit strikeouts for the 14th time this season and 38th of his career.