.Los Angeles' offense struggled for the third consecutive game as the Angels missed a chance to gain ground on Minnesota in their bid for the final American League playoff berth.The loss was the fourth in five games for the Angels, who remained 1 1/2 games behind the Twins for the second AL wild card. In each of the team's previous two games, Los Angeles scored two runs on four hits.Clevinger, drafted by the Angels in 2011, allowed one run and three hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out six. The right-hander did not give up his first hit until the fifth.Tyler Skaggs (2-6) took the loss, allowing two runs on eight hits and a walk. Skaggs has gone 1-5 since coming off the disabled list Aug. 5.After having their AL-record 22-game winning streak snapped, the Indians have come back to win their next three.Cleveland's pitching staff has allowed four or fewer runs in 25 consecutive games.After the Angels pulled within one in the eighth on Brandon Phillips' RBI single, the Indians put the game away with three runs in the ninth, two on Edwin Encarnacion's single.Justin Upton hit a solo home run in the ninth for the Angels, giving him a career-high 32 homers.The Indians upped their AL-best record to 94-57.TRAINER'S ROOMIndians: Three injured players did not make the trip as Cleveland opened its three-game series in Anaheim: OFs Lonnie Chisenhall (calf), Brandon Guyer (wrist) and Michael Brantley (ankle). . RHP Danny Salazar, who came out of the bullpen in his last two appearances after returning from a sore elbow, is scheduled to start Thursday.Angels: 3B Yunel Escobar (oblique) took infield and hit in the cage. Manager Mike Scioscia said the next step would be for Escobar to take batting practice with the team. . RHP Huston Street (groin strain) remains at the team's facility in Arizona, but Scioscia said Street is running out of time to rejoin the club this season.UP NEXTIndians: RHP Josh Tomlin (9-9, 5.04 ERA) is scheduled to make his first start against the Angels in two years. He is 2-2 with a 4.09 ERA in five previous starts.Angels: RHP Ricky Nolasco (6-14, 5.11) continues his search for consistency. He will be looking for his first career victory against the Indians after going 0-3 with a 5.32 ERA in eight games (seven starts).---More baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball)
Red-hot Clevinger, Indians take on Angels 1h ago• 2 min read ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The last time Cleveland Indians right-hander Mike Clevinger faced the Los Angeles Angels, he had his worst start of the season.Clevinger, who will take the mound on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium, gave up six runs (five earned) in 4 1/3 innings in Cleveland's 11-7 win on July 25. It also happened to be the game that Clevinger was told he had to change his glove.Major league rules state that a pitcher cannot use a glove that is gray or white, so Clevinger's gray glove was a violation. Umpire crew chief Bill Miller told Indians manager Terry Francona and Clevinger that the pitcher had to switch out the glove after the first inning.Following a scoreless inning and a change of gloves, Clevinger gave up four runs in the third and another two runs in the fifth before being removed from the game. Cleveland's 7-0 lead was cut to 7-6, and the game eventually went to extra innings. The Indians won on an 11th-inning, walk-off grand slam by Edwin Encarnacion."I don't want to make excuses," Clevinger told cleveland.com, "but on a night when I didn't have my best stuff, (changing gloves) didn't help." Francona said it wasn't the Angels that alerted Miller about the glove."That came from (Miller)," Francona told cleveland.com. "I think what happened is that the last time we were in Baltimore, somebody chewed on (Miller's) ear because he didn't say something. That was what he told me. He said, 'I'm not trying to stir anything up. I just don't want to get yelled at.'"Neither Clevinger nor the Indians are the same as they were on July 25. Back then, Cleveland was in first place, but only 1 1/2 up and just eight games over .500. Now, the Indians have won 24 of 25 and have clinched the American League Central, and Clevinger (10-5, 3.21 ERA) has won five of his past seven decisions.He also has won four starts in a row, during which he allowed only one earned run (three runs total) in 23 2/3 innings.In his career against the Angels, Clevinger is 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA in two starts.Tyler Skaggs (2-5, 4.37 ERA) will start for Los Angeles, coming off his best start of the season. He shut out the Houston Astros on three hits and one walk over seven innings of a 9-1 win on Wednesday. It was his first victory since he missed 3 1/2 months with a strained oblique muscle.Skaggs said big differences in his success against the Astros were his two-seam fastball and his overall command of all his pitches."(The two-seamer is) completely different from my four-seamer," he told the Orange County Register. "It's a little slower, moves a little better. I also threw some good changeups. I threw the curveball for a strike. When I can throw it for a strike, it opens up everything." While the Indians have already wrapped up the division crown, the series will be huge for the Angels: Los Angeles is 1 1/2 games behind the Minnesota Twins for the second AL wild card.Cleveland does have something to play for, as the Indians hold a 1 1/2-game lead on Houston for the best record in the AL.
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