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Indians near franchise history after extending winning streak to 12

Welcome to The Walk Off, the nightly MLB recap from Big League Stew. Here we’ll look at the top performers of the night, show you a must-see highlight and rundown the scoreboard. First, we start with a game you need to know about.

The Cleveland Indians have been baseball’s hottest team throughout June. That continued on Wednesday, as they topped the Braves 3-0 in Atlanta to extend their winning streak to an MLB best 12 games. The Indians are now one win shy of matching the franchise-best 13-game win streak recorded in both 1942 and 1951.

The Indians were led by potential All-Star Danny Salazar. The 26-year-old right-hander fired seven scoreless innings. allowing just five hits while walking none and striking out eight. Salazar has now won six straight starts and has lowered his ERA to 2.22.

The Indians didn’t get much done offensively, but they came through with a timely hit in the fifth inning. Jason Kipnis extended his hitting streak to 11 games when he delivered a two-out, two-run single that would prove to be all Cleveland needed. Lonnie Chisenhall added a solo homer in the sixth for good measure.

Jason Kipnis celebrates the Indians 12th straight victory. (AP)
Jason Kipnis celebrates the Indians 12th straight victory. (AP)

Much like the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Indians have been an unstoppable force. In fact, they still haven’t lost since the Cavs clinched the NBA Finals on June 20. Ironically, the Indians will wrap up a 10-day, 10-game road trip in Toronto this weekend. That road trip actually mirrored the Cavaliers path to the NBA Finals, as they’ve already completed sweeps in Detroit and Atlanta, where the Cavs also completed series sweeps, before concluding in Toronto.

TOP PERFORMERS

Jose Altuve: After literally falling 90 feet short of a cycle on Saturday, Altuve came up just a home run shy of a cycle in Wednesday’s 10-4 win against the Angels. Altuve finished the game 4-for-5 with four runs scored. He book ended his afternoon with singles in the first and ninth innings. In between, he tripled home a run in the third inning and then doubled in the fifth. That’s a great way to end a remarkable month.

Max Scherzer and Daniel Murphy: The New York Mets were done in by a old nemesis and an old friend in Wednesday’s 4-2 loss to the Nationals. Scherzer didn’t no-hit the Mets like last season, he still dominated them, holding their scuffling offense to two hits across 7 1/3 shutout innings. If that wasn’t damaging enough, former Met Daniel Murphy hit a pair of home runs. His two-run shot in the eighth proved to be the difference as Washington completed the three-game sweep and pushed the Mets to six games back.

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Miguel Cabrera: Detroit’s offensive centerpiece had a big game in their 10-3 win against the Marlins. Cabrera went 3-for-4 with a solo home run and two run-scoring singles to lead their 15-hit attack. Jarrod Saltalamacchia was also heavily involved, finished a triple shy of the cycle, while Ian Kinsler reached three times and scored three runs.

Aaron Sanchez: The Blue Jays racked up their second win in less than 15 hours, beating the Rockies 5-3 on Wednesday afternoon. After Tuesday’s game dragged in Wednesday morning thanks to Mother Nature and lousy pitching, both teams needed big efforts from Wednesday’s starters. Toronto got it from Sanchez, who tossed eight innings while allowing just one run.

MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT

Mark Trumbo’s two-run homer in the Orioles 12-6 win against the Padres was significant for three reasons. First, it helped Baltimore win its seventh straight game. Second, it was his MLB leading 23rd of the season. Finally, it gave the Orioles 55 homers this month, which ties the MLB team record for June.

THE REST OF THE SCOREBOARD

Rays 4, Red Sox 0: Boston’s struggles continued with a series loss to the scuffling Rays. Tampa Bay had lost 11 straight coming into the series. Now Boston’s lost seven of 10.

Cubs 9, Reds 2: After losing six of seven, the Cubs are back on track after sweeping the Reds. Anthony Rizzo, Addison Russell and Albert Almora Jr. all homered on Wednesday, with Rizzo’s coming in unique fashion.

Phillies 9, Diamondbacks 8: Philadelphia wins a slugfest in the desert. Cesar Hernandez finished with four hits, while Cody Asche and Freddy Galvis each added three. Asche drove in three runs.

Yankees 9, Rangers 7: New York rallied with seven unanswered runs in the eighth and ninth on the strength of three home runs.

Brewer 7, Dodgers 0: Ryan Braun and Kirk Nieuwenhuis drove in all seven runs while Junior Guerra and Michael Blazek limited the Dodgers to two hits.

White Sox 9, Twins 6: Finally a win for James Shields, who snapped his seven start winless streak with 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball. The White Sox also got homers from Todd Frazier, Brett Lawrie and Tyler Saladino.

Royals 3, Cardinals 2 (12 innings): St. Louis rallied to tie it in the ninth and tenth, but Kansas City prevailed on Alcides Escobar’s RBI double.

A’s 7, Giants 1: Oakland wins its third straight against San Francisco after roughing up Jake Peavy for seven runs (four earned) in 3 1/3 innings.

Pirates 8, Mariners 1: All eight of Pittsburgh’s runs were earned despite Seattle committing three errors.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!