Make it 20 wins in a row for the Cleveland Indians - MLB

Death. Taxes. The Cleveland Indians winning baseball games. They did it again tonight, beating the Detroit Tigers 2-0 for their 20th straight win. That ties the 2002 Oakland A’s for the American League record for consecutive wins.

This one was close on the scoreboard but easy in practice. That’s because the Tribe sent ace Corey Kluber out against the lowly Tigers this evening and he dominated, tossing a complete game shutout, allowing five hits and striking out eight without walking a batter. The win upped his record to 16-4 and reduced his ERA to 2.44 on the year. Francisco Lindor‘s first inning homer was all the scoring Cleveland would need, but they got a second run in the sixth inning on a Drew VerHagen wild pitch which scored Carlos Santana.

The Indians won their 89th game on the season and, given that the Twins are cruising right now, will allow them to maintain their 14-game lead in the AL Central. I think they got this one wrapped up, folks.

Cleveland will go for sole possession of the AL consecutive wins record in tomorrow afternoon’s game against the Tigers. The all-time record without any ties belongs to the 1935 Chicago Cubs, who won 21 straight, which the Indians can tie tomorrow as well.

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SAN DIEGO — The scuffling San Diego Padres claimed catcher Gary Sánchez off waivers from the New York Mets.

The two-time All-Star was designated for assignment after playing in three games for the Mets. He went 1 for 6 with three strikeouts and an RBI, looking shaky at times behind the plate.

With the disappointing Padres (24-29) getting meager offensive production at catcher, they hope Sánchez can provide a boost. Austin Nola is batting .131 with three extra-base hits and a paltry .434 OPS in 39 games. His part-time platoon partner, second-stringer Brett Sullivan, is hitting .170 with four extra-base hits and a .482 OPS in 21 games since getting called up from the minors April 16.

Luis Campusano has been on the injured list since April 17 and is expected to be sidelined until around the All-Star break following left thumb surgery.

San Diego is responsible for just over $1 million in salary for Sánchez after assuming his $1.5 million, one-year contract.

The star-studded Padres have lost seven of 11 and are 3-3 on a nine-game East Coast trip. They open a three-game series at Miami.

San Diego becomes the third National League team to take a close look at the 30-year-old Sánchez this season. He spent time in the minors with San Francisco before getting released May 2 and signing a minor league contract a week later with the Mets, who were minus a couple of injured catchers at the time.

After hitting well in a short stint at Triple-A Syracuse, he was promoted to the big leagues May 19. When the Mets reinstated catcher Tomás Nido from the injured list last week, Sánchez was cut.

Sánchez’s best seasons came early in his career with the New York Yankees, where he was runner-up in 2016 AL Rookie of the Year voting and made the AL All-Star team in 2017 and 2019.

He was traded to Minnesota before the 2022 season and batted .205 with 16 homers and 61 RBIs in 128 games last year.

With the Padres, Sánchez could also be a candidate for at-bats at designated hitter, where 42-year-old Nelson Cruz is batting .245 with three homers, 16 RBIs and a .670 OPS, and 37-year-old Matt Carpenter is hitting .174 with four homers, 21 RBIs and a .652 OPS.