Bauer Goes Seven Shutout Innings, Indians Top White Sox 6-2; Three Takeaways

CLEVELAND - Trevor Bauer said he felt sluggish. Roberto Perez caught nine innings sick. Other than that it was a solid night at Progressive Field for the Tribe's pitching and catching duo, as the two combined to stop the White Sox with a 6-2 win to push the team to 38-33 on the season.

Bauer went seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits, and he would have thrown longer if Mother Nature wouldn't have dumped rain at Progressive Field for a 32-minute delay.

Perez had two key hits, including a double in the second inning that gave the team a quick 2-0 lead against Sox starter Dylan Covey, who in his last outing against the Indians held them to just a pair of runs.

On a night when a lot went right for the Indians, here's three quick takeaways from the victory.

1. Bauer Stops the Sox Cold

Trevor Bauer said he just didn't feel right early on, and while he got a key strikeout/throw out in the first inning, he finally settled in and looked strong in shutting out the Sox for seven innings.

On the night he allowed three hits and struck out eight, walking two. The Indians pitchers 129 strikeouts through 71 team games are the most by an Indians pitcher since Sam McDowell had 151 strikeouts at this juncture of the 1970 season.

He continues to throw the ball as well as anyone in the Majors, and manager Terry Francona said that if not for the rain, he would have come out for the eighth inning.

Only Mother Nature could stop Bauer in this dominant outing.

2. Playing Through the Sickness

Indians catcher Roberto Perez didn't well all day on Monday, and there was concern if he was even going to play or not in the eventual Tribe win.

What made him feel a lot better was going 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, and opened the scoring with a bases-loaded, two-run double in the bottom of the 2nd inning

The two-hit effort marked his third multi-hit effort and his first game this season with multiple RBI, snapping a 28-plate appearance drought without driving in a run.

The other big play he had a part in was throwing out Yoan Moncada in the first inning after he started the game with a single. It seem to settle down Bauer, and stopped an early possible threat for the Sox.

1. Cutting Down Covey

The Indians stopped Sox pitcher Dylan Covey, making it the toughest night of the season for the young prospect, hitting him for five runs in five innings.

He threw 94 pitches, 56 for strikes, and also issued a career-high five walks as the Indians made him work, something Francona pointed out in the post game.

Covey last time out allowed two runs on 10 hits in seven innings against the Tribe, but they made him work a lot harder earlier in the game, and sent him to the showers early in the 6-2 winning effort for the Wahoo's.

Add us as a preferred source on Google