09 September, 2017
Indians blank O's for 16th straight win CLEVELAND - Edwin Encarnacion and the Cleveland Indians won their 16th straight game, extending the best streak in franchise history by beating the Baltimore Orioles 5-0 Friday night.
Reds rookie Luis Castillo allowed a run on four hits over eight innings, striking out 10 and walking nobody to earn his third win of the season.
Darvish was making his sixth start for the Dodgers since being acquired from Texas at the July 31 trade deadline. Nelson enters with a 1.25 WHIP and 192 strikeouts in 170 1/3 innings. Chicago has won nine of his last 10 starts. Lackey has a 1.30 WHIP with 131 strikeouts over 148 innings.
And while having to once again cater to the Cubs' whims rankled a good part of the Milwaukee fan base, Brewers manager Craig Counsell mostly shrugged off the latest controversy.
So they played, and Ryan Braun soon did his thing, cranking a two-run homer off John Lackey in the first after being booed, as tradition dictates at Wrigley.
Coming off a 103-win season and their first World Series title since 1908, the Cubs were expected to cruise to another division title.
"I think we just ran into a team that hit the ball pretty well, a team that we haven't pitched particularly well against for most of the season, and we did not hit the bats well", said Stearns. The Brewers don't have a game at all on Thursday, prompting the council to step in to make sure the Cubs get plenty of sleep before the game. Braun's home run also drove in leadoff hitter Eric Thames, who began the game with a double. Anthony Rizzo was 2-for-2 with two walks, two runs and two RBIs. Albert Almora contributed a two-run homer.
If the Brewers are going to entertain any ideas of winning the NL Central, they basically must sweep this three-game series.
The Rockies meanwhile have a two game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals in the race for the second spot, and they lead the Milwaukee Brewers by two and a half games with 23 games remaining in their season. Lackey is having a great stretch, but has gotten lucky a couple times to not lose as the Cubs have piled up some big offensive numbers to support him. We'll go with the more-rested Brewers as a small underdog.
