Indians news and notes: Where ground balls go to die

The Indians extended their winning streak to 11 games last night. It went to 11, as every single person joked. Proving that "cleanup hitter" is just a superficial label, the Indians are now undefeated (1-0) when non-prototypical-4-hitter Jose Ramirez bats there.

Unlike most of those 11 games, this one had good starting pitching from both ballclubs. The opponent was Matt Wisler, who hails from Ohio. If you listened to the game on the radio last night, you didn't need me to tell you this—you've already been told 63 times.

But he was no match for Corey Kluber, who had a no-hitter after 5 innings. Kluber had also faced the minimum. An infield hit to start the 6th ruined that, but not the game. The Indians now have their best "Elo rating since October 21, 2007."

The Indians also have their longest winning streak in 34 years (AP recap).

Elsewhere in Tribeville

• The Indians aren't only doing well on the baseball field—Tom Gorzelanny, Justin "Joba" Chamberlain, Dan Otero and Michael Martinez helped out when a young fan suffered a health issue during batting practice in Atlanta.

• Over at Fangraphs, Jeff Sullivan takes a look at SLG% on ground balls. The Indians .224 number in this category is outstanding—so much so that it puts them #1 in baseball and #3 in the past ten years. As you are probably assuming, the Tribe's dominance in this area started right when Francisco Lindor arrived. Sullivan goes on to say that this could help Lindor win an MVP award this season.

• The Indians were able to lock up the Biebs. At the time he was drafted, it looked like the club might have to resort to deceptive promo nights to draw people to the park. But that was a Cleveland championship ago—basically ancient history.

Around Baseball

• The Yankees optioned "Let's Go Former Spring Training Tribe" Kirby Yates to AAA, where he can get to know Nick Swisher. Yates hit 3 batters on Monday night.

• Castrovince, on rain delays, like the one Kirby Yates pitched in on Monday.

• Clayton Kershaw has back tightness and Zach Greinke is injured as well :(

• Watched a little Tim Lincecum last night. The offspeed stuff is pretty dang good, but his fastball has HIT ME written all over it.

A few updates:

• Zack Greinke left Tuesday's game with tightness in his oblique.

• Clayton Kershaw returned to LA this morning for tests on his back stiffness.

• I finally got around to reading this Castrovince piece on the 11-game streak. It's well worth your time. He doesn't seem sold on Jay Bruce or Carlos Beltran, either.