Corey Kluber, Indians Clinch AL Central; Detroit's Matthew Boyd Throws 1-Hitter; Travis Shaw Powers Brewers

Players of the Day for Sunday, September 17, 2017

American League

Kluber: 17-4

Even though the Indians had their AL-record-setting win streak stopped at 22 games on Friday night in a 4-3 loss to Kansas City, they were not deterred from their ultimate task: to win the AL Central.

Cleveland came back to win Saturday, 8-4, and clinched the division title behind their ace, Corey Kluber, whipping the Royals 3-2 while taking the series, three games to one.

Possibly cementing his name on the Cy Young award, Kluber tossed seven scoreless innings, backed by a fourth-inning, two-run home run by Edwin Encarnacion and another "small ball" run in the seventh. Kansas City's two runs came off reliever, Bryan Shaw, in the eighth, but the Royals could not come up with another run, giving Kluber his 17th win against a mere four losses.

Kluber allowed three hits, fanned nine and did not issue a walk, throwing 76 of 99 pitches for strikes. With the division in hand and the best record in the league, all the Indians have to do over their remaining 12 games is get in their work, play some prospects in games and stay ahead of Houston, the team with the second-best record. Cleveland is 93-57; Houston's record stands at 91-58. The Astros also clinched their division on Sunday, winning 7-1 over Seattle while the second-place Angels fell to Texas, 4-2.

Boyd throws 1-hitter

Fittingly, the Indians have Monday off, then begin a six-game road trip, starting in LA for three with the Angels followed by a three-game series in Seattle.

Notable Mention: Matthew Boyd came within one out of a no-hitter in Detroit's 12-0 rout of the White Sox Sunday. Tim Anderson doubled with two outs in the ninth inning to break up the bid.

The unlikely hero, Boyd is 6-10 this season with a 5.33 ERA in 23 starts. In just his second year in the majors, Boyd's record is an unassuming 13-21, but on Sunday, he looked as good as Detroit hurlers of old, like Denny McLain or Mickey Lolich. Hats off to him for a fine effort.

National League

With time in the regular season running down, the Milwaukee Brewers continue to play well enough to keep them in the hunt for either a wild card berth or the NL Central crown.

Boyd: 30 HR, 95 RBI

In Sunday's 10-3 victory over the Marlins, Milwaukee put up eight runs in the fourth inning. In the middle of the rally was Travis Shaw, who singled home a run and scored as the Brewers piled on Miami starter, Dillon Peters.

Shaw also knocked in another run in the sixth with a sac fly, and singled home one more in the eighth, going 3-for-4 (all singles) with three RBI, upping his total to 95 on the year. He has 30 homers to his credit off a .275 batting average.

The win left the Brewers four games back of the Cubs in the Central division and 2 1/2 behind Colorado for the second wild card slot. Milwaukee opens a three-game series Monday in Pittsburgh before heading home for a critical four-game series with the division-leading Cubs, Thursday through Sunday.