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CLEVELAND (AP) — Mike Clevinger's night couldn't have gone much better.
Cleveland's rookie right-hander took a no-hitter into the sixth inning to get his first major league win and beat the team that drafted and signed him.
Clevinger wore a big smile after the Indians one-hit the Los Angeles Angels in a 5-1 victory on Saturday night.
"It's storybook-esque," he said. "It was everything and more that I could have imagined. It's hard to describe right now."
Andrelton Simmons got Los Angeles' only hit on a grounder with two outs in the sixth. Shortstop Francisco Lindor got his glove on the ball while ranging to his right, but it bounced into left field for a single.
Clevinger (1-1) was removed after that to a standing ovation. The right-hander allowed one run, struck out three, walked four and threw 91 pitches.
Clevinger, who was dealing with a callous on his middle finger, allowed a run in the second, thanks to a pair of walks and an RBI groundout.
"About the fourth I was looking to see who was coming up on the scoreboard and I was like, 'Wait, there's no hits up there,' he said. "It kind of took me aback for a second. There's a run on the board. I'm not even thinking about hits at that point."
"That was fun," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "His stuff was pretty electric. He had some walks. There was some traffic, but he really competed."
Clevinger was drafted by the Angels in 2011 and traded to the Indians three years later for reliever Vinnie Pestano.
Matt Shoemaker (6-13) allowed five runs in six innings for the Angels, who have dropped nine straight, their longest losing streak since 1999.
Cleveland scored three times in the first on an RBI double by Jose Ramirez and Lonnie Chisenhall's two-run single. Chris Gimenez added an RBI single in the sixth.
Johnny Giovatella's second-inning groundout scored the Angels' only run.
Clevinger has spent most of the season at Triple-A Columbus and was making his fifth major league start. He walked Mike Trout with two outs in the sixth before allowing the hit.
Four Cleveland relievers held Los Angeles hitless over the final 3 1/3 innings.
"I thought our approach at the plate was pretty good for the most part," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "We took our walks and hit some balls hard, but Clevinger had good stuff."
Ramirez made two outstanding plays at third base and extended his hitting streak to 17 games. Lindor was 3 for 4 for the AL Central leaders.
The Indians have won the first three games of the series by a combined score of 32-8.
The start of the game was delayed by rain for 2 hours, 11 minutes.
THE STREAK LIVES
Cleveland minor leaguer Francisco Mejia had his hitting streak stretched to 50 games when the official scorer changed a ruling on an error from the third inning more than an hour after Class A Lynchburg's 7-5 10-inning loss to Winston-Salem. Mejia chopped a grounder down the line, and third baseman Gerson Montilla missed trying to backhand it for a two-base error. The scorer changed the play to a double hours later after reviewing video and conferring with the teams.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Angels: OF Shane Robinson (strained right hip) was placed on the 15-day disabled list. OF Nick Buss had his contact selected from Triple-A Salt Lake.
Indians: DH Carlos Santana (head contusion) has been cleared to play and will likely be in the lineup Sunday. He was hit in the head by a foul ball while standing in the dugout Thursday.
UP NEXT
Angels: RHP Jered Weaver is 7-2 with a 2.99 ERA in 12 games at Progressive Field.
Indians: RHP Trevor Bauer tossed 6 1/3 scoreless innings in his last start, a 3-1 win at Washington on Aug. 9.
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