Pitching dominates Rays, Tribe wins rubber match 6-0

Danny Salazar dazzled as the he gave the tribe another quality start today going six innings without allowing a run while picking up his second consecutive win to start the season. The flame throwing righty gave up only three hits while striking out nine and walking three.

Zach McAllister, Bryan Shaw and Trevor Bauer helped seal the deal for the Indians, each pitching an inning. The three combined to allow only two hits and strike out five.

It was especially nice to see Shaw bounce back from his horrendous outing against the White Sox. He pitched a one-two-three eighth, striking out two.

The scoring got started in the fifth when Roberto Perez came around to score on a Francisco Lindor single after drawing a walk earlier in the inning.

Marlon Byrd followed that up in the sixth when he drove a two run home run to deep left center field giving the Tribe a 3-0 lead. Rajai Davis would put another run on the board with a solo blast later in the inning.

The Indians tacked on another run in the seventh before Jose Ramirez hit his first home run of the year in the ninth to give the Tribe six runs.

After an eighth inning hiccup during Tuesday’s game, causing the Tribe to lose, the team bounced back nicely to take two out of three from the Rays.

The big three at the top of the rotation were locked in all series long. Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Salazar combined to pitch 21.2 innings while striking out 23 and allowing only four runs on 11 hits.

Along with the starting pitching the bullpen was fantastic during the final two games of the series, both wins for the Indians.

The bats came alive Thursday as the Tribe tallied their season high in hits with 13. Although the Indians combined for only 10 hits in the first two games of the series, they were able to outscore the Rays 11-6 during the three games.

The Indians return home on Friday to begin a three-game set with the defending National League Champion New York Mets.