Indians Beat Braves 3-0 For 12th Straight Win

Jason Kipnis embittered right-hander Joel De La Cruz’s Major League debut with a two-out, two-run single in the fifth and Danny Salazar threw seven strong innings as the Cleveland Indians extended their winning streak to 12 games with Wednesday night’s 3-0 victory over the Braves at Turner Field in Atlanta.

Indians Beat Braves 3-0 For 12th Straight Win

Salazar (10-3) dominated, allowing five hits with no walks and eight strikeouts. He also won his sixth consecutive start while lowering his ERA to 2.22, the second-best in the American League.

“Of course I want to keep going with the streak and that was my main goal today, to try to get a win for the team, and I got it,” Salazar said.

The hashtag #WWWWWWWWWWWWindians began appearing on Twitter following the game. Cleveland has now swept its fourth straight series to extend the majors’ longest winning streak this season. The Indians entered the game leading the second-place Kansas City Royals by six games in the AL Central, and are now one victory away from matching the 13-game winning streaks recorded in both 1942 and 1951. They had another 12-game streak in 1922.

Kipnis opened scoring with a hard ground-ball two-run single off De La Cruz in the fifth inning–thus extending his hitting streak to 11 games–that followed Rajai Davis’ two-out single.

Lonnie Chisenhall then blasted a two-out solo homer– his second of the series– into the right-field stands to extend the Indians’ lead to 3-0 in the top of the sixth.

Salazar acknowledged he struggled early to adjust to the Atlanta heat, even though the first-pitch temperature of 88 degrees was moderate for recent weeks.

“I thought early it didn’t look like he had the energy in his body,” manager Terry Francona said. “Even when you think he’s not as sharp, he can put up zeroes.”

The Braves have lost six of eight since recording a season-best six-game winning streak. De La Cruz allowed three earned runs over six innings. The 27-year-old Dominican was promoted from Triple-A Gwinnett to fill the rotation spot vacated when another right-hander, Aaron Blair, was optioned to Gwinnett.

“I am very thankful to the Braves for giving me this opportunity,” De La Cruz said through an interpreter. “I obviously enjoyed it. I would have loved for the team to get a win, but I understand that’s how things go.”

Braves interim manager Brian Snitker praised the right-hander for his debut despite the loss.

“I liked what I saw,” Snitker said. “He was aggressive and used his sinker. The two-run single was right off Adonis’ [Garcia] glove. That’s inches away from not giving that up. I thought he was really good, probably better than I saw him when I had him in Gwinnett earlier this year.”

Cleveland reliever Cody Allen gave up a leadoff single to Nick Markakis in the ninth and walked Erick Aybar with two outs before ending the game on Emilio Bonifacio’s grounder to second for his 16th save.

Atlanta second baseman Jace Peterson had two doubles to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 10 games.

Before claiming this three-game series sweep, the Indians had dropped seven of the nine games played in Atlanta dating back to the 1995 World Series.

The Indians (47-30, 1st in AL Central) will next begin a four-game road series against the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday night. Right-hander Carlos Carrasco will take the mound, looking to record his fourth straight quality start.

The Braves (26-52, 5th in NL East), meanwhile, will begin a four-game home series against the Miami Marlins Thursday night, with right-hander Mike Foltynewicz returning from the disabled list to make his first start since May 30.

The Braves and Marlins will play three games at Turner Field and then play Sunday night’s series finale at Fort Bragg Ballpark.

PHOTO: ATLANTA, GA – JUNE 29: Danny Salazar #31 of the Cleveland Indians smiles after scoring a fifth inning run against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field on June 29, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)