Civale's second 9-K day spoiled by quiet O

Aaron Civale made such a loud statement in his first outing of the season on Tuesday, setting a career-high with nine strikeouts and tossing 100 pitches, that the right-hander decided to match that performance against the Twins. The 25-year-old gave the Indians as solid of a start as the team

Aaron Civale made such a loud statement in his first outing of the season on Tuesday, setting a career-high with nine strikeouts and tossing 100 pitches, that the right-hander decided to match that performance against the Twins.

The 25-year-old gave the Indians as solid of a start as the team could’ve asked for on Sunday, holding Minnesota to three runs over six innings with nine strikeouts and no walks on 106 pitches. But the bats couldn’t back up his efforts and Cleveland dropped the series finale, 3-1, at Target Field.

• Box score

No matter what decision Civale received, there’s no ignoring the impact he has had on the Indians during his short time in the Majors. Civale, like Zach Plesac, was not invited to Major League Spring Training in 2019, but he came bursting onto the big league stage on June 22 in a spot start, tossing six scoreless frames. He then became a permanent fixture in the Tribe’s rotation last August and has permitted more than three runs just once over 12 career starts.

Despite getting a quality start for the second consecutive game, the Indians’ bats were unable to provide much run support. The team scored its first run in 15 innings on an RBI single by Francisco Lindor in the fourth inning. Over the Tribe’s last 45 innings dating back to Wednesday against the White Sox, they’ve plated just four runs.