Cleveland Indians’ Carlos Santana watches his three-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

By WILL GRAVES

AP Sports Writer

PITTSBURGH — Cleveland Indians catcher Roberto Perez challenged starter Aaron Civale to get through eight innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night to give the team’s hard-working bullpen a break.

Civale did Perez one better, throwing the first complete game of his young career as the Indians rolled to a 6-1 victory. Civale (3-2) allowed just five hits against six strikeouts without issuing a walk, narrowly missing a shutout when Pittsburgh pushed across a run on Josh Bell’s sacrifice fly in the ninth.

“Bebo asked for eight innings before the game, so I gave him one more,” Civale said.

Civale kept the floundering Pirates off balance with a series of changeups and cutters mixed in with a fastball the National League’s worst offense couldn’t seem to figure out. Pittsburgh mustered just three hits — all of them singles — and didn’t even get a runner in scoring position through the first eight innings.

“That was great, man,” said Cleveland first-base coach Sandy Alomar Jr., who is filling in while manager Terry Francona recovers from a medical procedure. “That was what the doctor ordered right there.”

Perez’s return from a stint on the injured list due to a right shoulder issue certainly helped. The Gold Glove winner deftly guided Civale through Pittsburgh’s struggling lineup.

“I’m so happy for him,” Perez said of Civale. “I think he’s got great stuff, and he just put it on display today.”

Carlos Santana broke open a scoreless game with a three-run homer in the sixth inning, one night after slamming a towering three-run blast to lift Cleveland to a 10-inning victory. Domingo Santana added a bases-clearing double in the eighth as the Indians improved to a season-best six games over .500 (15-9).

Santana turned on a full-count cutter from reliever Dovydas Neverauskas (0-3) and sent it over the right-field seats for his third home run of the season.

“I know I started slow, but right now I’m feeling much more comfortable,” Carlos Santana said. “Right now I feel more comfortable than before.”

Pittsburgh’s National League-worst batting average dropped to .211 when it failed to muster much of anything against Civale. The Pirates have dropped 13 of 15.

Cleveland’s offense is no better than Pittsburgh’s, but a little goes a long way for AL Central contenders. The Indians, whose .200 team batting average is dead last in the majors, are now 12-0 this season when scoring three or more runs.

Having a dominant pitching staff helps. Civale’s quick work dropped Cleveland’s team ERA to 2.61, the best in the majors.

VALIANT EFFORT

Pittsburgh starter Steven Brault matched Civale out for out over five scoreless innings. Brault needed 29 pitches to get through a shaky first but quickly settled down. He didn’t allow a hit until consecutive singles by Franmil Reyes and Jordan Luplow leading off the fifth but escaped the jam by turning a double play in which he caught a line drive with a 110 mph exit velocity off the bat of Domingo Santana then threw to first to double off Luplow.

WORK TO DO

The Pirates are in the middle of a reboot under first-year manager Derek Shelton, but the loss dropped Pittsburgh to a major-league worst 4-16.

“There’s been some positive things,” Shelton said. “Obviously the record’s not a positive thing. But we have a lot of teaching we still have to do and a lot of development we still have to do.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Indians: Perez took a pitch the forearm in the eighth. He stayed in the game after getting checked out by trainers and said he “should be good.”

Pirates: RHP Kyle Crick (right shoulder strain) threw a live bullpen on Tuesday and is nearing closer to a return. … RHP Mitch Keller (left oblique strain) is playing catch and could begin throwing off the mound early next week. … IF Phil Evans, whose season ended following a scary collision with outfielder Gregory Polanco on Aug. 8, will have surgery to repair his fractured jaw.

UP NEXT

Indians: RHP Shane Bieber (4-0, 1.30 ERA) will look to stay unbeaten in the series finale on Thursday. Bieber, who leads the American League with 54 strikeouts, is coming off seven shutout innings in a victory over Detroit last Saturday.

Pirates: RHP Trevor Williams (1-3, 3.98) picked up his first win of the season last Friday against Cincinnati. Williams is 6-3 with a 3.47 ERA in 14 career interleague starts.

METS 5, MARLINS 3

MIAMI (AP) — Michael Conforto hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the ninth inning, and the Mets beat Miami for the third night in a row.

Jacob deGrom pitched six shutout innings and left with a lead, but Miami scored against the Mets’ bullpen on a wild pitch and two bases-loaded walks for a 3-all tie going into the ninth.

Brandon Nimmo walked with two out against Miami closer Brandon Kintzler (1-2), and Conforto hit his fourth homer to center field, a shot estimated at 425 feet.

DeGrom struck out seven, walked none, allowed four hits and departed after throwing 91 pitches. Edwin Diaz (1-0) walked in a run in the eighth but pitched a perfect ninth,.

The Marlins have lost five games in a row to fall to 9-9.

RAYS 4, YANKEES 2

NEW YORK (AP) — Pinch-hitter Mike Brosseau singled home the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning and streaking Tampa Bay beat the Yankees, taking advantage of a costly error by reliever Zack Britton.

Jalen Beeks pitched out of a ninth-inning jam and Tampa Bay got home runs from slumping hitters Ji-Man Choi and Mike Zunino off Gerrit Cole, who struck out 10 in a no-decision.

Tampa Bay has won four straight and 10 of 11 to move within a half-game of the AL East-leading Yankees. The Rays (16-9) have taken five of six in the season series.

Pete Fairbanks (3-1) claimed the win. Britton (0-2) took the loss.

BLUE JAYS 5, ORIOLES 2

BALTIMORE (AP) — Randal Grichuk hit two home runs, and Toronto completed a three-game sweep of fading Baltimore.

Grichuk hit a solo shot in the second inning and put Toronto ahead for good with a two-run drive in the sixth. He has homered in four straight starts, and all six of his long balls this season have come over the last six games.

Baltimore has lost four in a row and five of six following a six-game winning streak. Tommy Milone (1-3) pitched well over six innings — except for the two homers he yielded to Grichuk.

Tanner Roark (2-1) gave up one earned run in five innings and Rafael Dolis worked the ninth for his first save.

RED SOX 6, PHILLIES 3

BOSTON (AP) — Boston ended its nine-game losing streak, with Rafael Devers homering and driving in three runs in a win over Philadelphia.

Devers finished with three hits. Jackie Bradley Jr. drove in two runs to help Boston avoid its first 10-game losing streak since 2014.

Red Sox starter Kyle Hart allowed two runs with four walks and five strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings in an opener role. Austin Brice (1-0) struck out two over 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

Phil Gosselin, Didi Gregorius and Rhys Hoskins each had an RBI for Philadelphia. Phillies starter Jake Arrieta (1-3) surrendered four runs on five hits while walking four and striking out three over 4 1/3 innings. Philadelphia had won four straight.

CARDINALS 9, CUBS 3, Game 1

CUBS 4, CARDINALS 2, Game 2

CHICAGO (AP) — David Bote hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the seventh and final inning, Adbert Alzolay pitched five solid innings in his season debut as Chicago earned a split with St. Louis.

St. Louis’ Brad Miller hit a tying RBI single in the bottom of the sixth against Jeremy Jeffress (2-1). But the Cubs quickly answered.

Andrew Miller (0-1) took the loss as Cubs picked up their third win in four games.

In the opener, Matt Carpenter belted a grand slam and St. Louis held Chicago to two hits.

Jack Flaherty gave up a leadoff homer to Ian Happ and recorded just five outs in his first start since a season-opening win over Pittsburgh. Tyler Webb (1-1) got four outs and the Cardinals got back to winning after dropping two straight to the NL Central leaders.

Carpenter drove a rope to center in the first against Alec Mills (2-2) for his second career grand slam. Tommy Edman had three hits and Kolten Wong scored four runs.

Tyler Webb (1-1) got four outs and the Cardinals got back to winning after dropping two straight to the NL Central leaders.

ROYALS 4, REDS 0, Game 1

REDS 5, ROYALS 0, Game 2

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Trevor Bauer pitched seven innings of one-hit ball, and Cincinnati earned a doubleheader split with Kansas City.

Bauer allowed only a single by Adalberto Mondesi in the fifth inning. He walked three and struck out nine, lowering his ERA to 0.68.

In his first major league start in more than a year, Matt Harvey (0-1) threw 54 pitches in three innings and allowed two homers, both in the third. He gave up three runs on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

In the opener, Brad Keller pitched hitless ball into the sixth inning and extended his shutout streak, leading Kansas City past Cincinnati.

Keller (3-0) held the Reds without a hit until Tucker Barnhart looped a single into center field to begin the sixth. He gave up three hits, struck out five and walked Jesse Winker three times — his only walks in 6 2/3 innings.

Luis Castillo (0-3) allowed three earned runs in 3 1/3 innings, striking out five.

WHITE SOX 5, TIGERS 3

CHICAGO (AP) — Jose Abreu hit a tie-breaking homer in the eighth inning, Edwin Encarnacion followed with his second solo shot of the game to lift the Chicago over Detroit as the White Sox won their fourth straight.

Abreu lofted the first pitch he faced from Gregory Soto (0-1) just over the wall in right to give Chicago a 4-3 lead with one out. Encarnacion then sent a drive to left-center for his 37th career multi-homer game, sealing the Tigers’ eighth loss in row.

Evan Marshall (1-1) pitched a perfect eighth for the win. Alex Colome followed with a 1-2-3 ninth for his sixth save.

Jeimer Candelario had a three-run homer in the fifth for Detroit.

BREWERS 9, TWINS 3

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Christian Yelich hit one of Milwaukee’s four homers, Brett Anderson pitched six strong innings and the Brewers beat Minnesota.

Avisail Garcia, Ryan Braun and Keston Hiura also homered as Milwaukee tied a season high in runs and home runs. The Brewers also earned seven walks.

Anderson (1-2) posted his longest outing of the season, giving up five hits and a run with five strikeouts.

Minnesota left-hander Rich Hill (1-1) allowed four runs, four hits, and three walks in 2 2/3 innings after being reinstated from the injured list.