Hernández, Tellez HR, Jays beat Indians 4-1 in opener

CLEVELAND (AP) — Teoscar Hernández and Rowdy Tellez homered in the fourth inning off Aaron Civale, and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Cleveland Indians 4-1 in the first game of a doubleheader Sunday.

Civale (7-2) is tied for the AL lead in wins, but the two solo homers pushed Toronto's lead to 3-0.

Ross Stripling (1-3) held Cleveland to one run and two hits in five innings. Jordan Romano allowed a single in the seventh and picked up his third save.

Stripling recorded his first win since joining the Blue Jays in August. The right-hander, believing he might have been tipping his pitches in previous outings, changed where he places his hands during his delivery.

“Pitching with confidence and conviction is maybe over half the battle,” he said. “It's such a game changer when you can rear back on a 2-1 count and challenge a hitter with your stuff and feel like you're going to have success.”

Josh Naylor hit a leadoff homer in the Cleveland fifth.

The doubleheader ends an unusual weekend series at Progressive Field. The teams played through rain and wind gusts of 45 mph Friday night before the game was finally called in the bottom of the seventh with Toronto winning 11-2. The Indians postponed Saturday’s game due to high winds.

The postponement led to scheduling quirks. The Blue Jays and Indians are in a stretch of both teams playing five straight seven-inning games, including Friday night.

Toronto played a doubleheader Thursday at the New York Yankees. The Indians are playing back-to-back doubleheaders. Cleveland hosts the Chicago White Sox on Monday, which includes the makeup of an April 21 postponement.

Civale was pulled after the first two hitters in the sixth reached base. The right-hander was charged with four runs and 10 hits.

Hernández led off the fourth by...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Hern-ndez-Tellez-HR-Jays-beat-Indians-4-1-in-16213827.php