CLEVELAND (AP) — Corey Kluber struck out 13, pitching two-hit ball for eight innings and leading the Cleveland Indians past the Detroit Tigers 2-0 in snow flurries Monday night.
The temperature at first pitch was 33 degrees, one above Progressive Field’s record low set Sunday. There were flurries before the game and again in the seventh inning, resulted in a crowd of 9,843.
Kluber (1-1) gave up singles to Victor Martinez in the second and Nicholas Castellanos in the fourth. The reigning AL Cy Young winner walked one and threw 103 pitches in recording the 40th double-figure strikeout game of his career.
Andrew Miller worked the ninth for his first save of the season, getting Miguel Cabrera on a game-ending double play.
Bradley Zimmer hit a two-run homer in the fifth off Francisco Liriano (1-1) as Cleveland’s offense struggled again but used the long ball to win for the second straight day.
Kluber struck out the side in the fifth and fanned a batter in every inning except the sixth. Leonys Martin was the only batter who didn’t strike out against Kluber.
The right-hander, who was 18-4 with an AL-leading 2.25 ERA last season, has pitched like an ace in his first three starts. Kluber allowed two runs in eight innings against Seattle, but got the loss thanks to Nelson Cruz’s two-run homer. He gave up a two-run homer to Shohei Ohtani, the only runs he allowed in seven innings against the Los Angeles Angels in his second start.
Kluber put up his dominant numbers last season despite missing a month because of a strained back, an injury that seemed to catch up with him in the AL Division Series. He allowed nine runs, including four homers, in two starts and got the loss in Game 5 as the Indians blew a 2-0 series lead.
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