CLEVELAND — As Indians pitching coach Carl Willis and catcher Yan Gomes huddled around Corey Kluber, a reigning Cy Young award winner, a "Let's Go Bucs!" chant drowned out the boos at Progressive Field.
The Pirates, owners of the longest winning streak in Major League Baseball, had just scored their sixth and seventh runs on a Gregory Polanco triple off the top of the 19-foot wall in left field in the fourth inning Monday night. It proved to be the decisive blow to one of the game's best pitchers and a first-place opponent only two years removed from taking the Cubs to Game 7 in the World Series.
Backed by Polanco's big swing and a three-run homer by Josh Harrison, the Pirates waited through three rain delays and beat the Indians, 7-0, in a rain-shortened six-inning game to earn their first 10-game winning streak since 2004. Now 52-49, they're within seven games of the first-place Cubs and are 4 1/2 back in the Wild Card with six to play until the non-waiver trade deadline.
One win in the next two days will give them a fourth consecutive series win and a win on Tuesday would be the franchise's first 11-game streak in 21 years.
"It's just special," Jordy Mercer said. "There's really not a lot of words to describe it. The average fan can say, 'Oh, you've won 10 in a row, that's pretty easy to do.' No, it's not. It's hard to win a series, let alone 10 games in a row. This game is really hard."
[caption id="attachment_663349" align="aligncenter" width="440"]
TAP ABOVE FOR BOXSCORE, STANDINGS, VIDEO[/caption]
To continue reading, log into your account:
