Bauer's dozen! Righty posts season-high 12 K's

CLEVELAND -- For the first time in nearly two months, Trevor Bauer said he finally feels like himself again.

Bauer has battled through his share of struggles on the mound this season, posting a 5.47 ERA and allowing 10 homers in eight starts from April 30-June 6. But even through some strong starts in his last few outings, it took until Wednesday’s one-run, 12-strikeout performance in the Indians’ 5-3 victory over the Royals at Progressive Field for him to once again feel like Trevor Bauer.

“Finally felt like myself, which is nice after two months of feeling like someone else,” Bauer said. “Really mad about putting two free base runners on there in the seventh. Overall, I thought [catcher Roberto Perez] called a really good game. Thought the defense played really well. Big win for us as a team today, closing out the series. Closing out the homestand, as well.”

• Box score

Bauer carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning, having allowed one runner to reach on a hit by pitch through his first 15 batters. The right-hander was one strike away from finishing the seventh, but a 3-2 fastball was high and outside to Cam Gallagher, prompting an end to Bauer's strong outing.

“His arm speed is really good,” Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield said. “He’s got like five or six pitches, and it’s hard to pick them up. And he throws 96 [mph]. He can be tough. We’ll see him again in [six] days. See if we can do better.”

Kansas City manager Ned Yost agreed, saying, “You got to take off your hat to Bauer. He threw 127 pitches, knowing they were strapped in the 'pen. Pretty good performance. He commands the ball really well. It just seems like he doesn’t make a whole lot of mistakes, especially with that slider.”

Bauer recorded his 23rd career double-digit strikeout game, fanning a season-high 12 batters. The biggest difference for the hurler may have been that he’s finally starting to feel better after battling some “physical limitations” over the last few weeks.

“Everyone’s banged up throughout the year,” Bauer said. “But I’m working through it, like I said. Feel good about where I’m at right now.”

“I think he just was having trouble staying over the rubber as long as he wanted to,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “He’s feeling better about that. That’s about as much as I think I’m allowed to say, so I don’t get arrested [because of HIPAA laws].”

When the Indians need their starters to eat up some innings to help out their bullpen, there’s been no better person to turn to than Bauer. The Indians went through six relievers on Tuesday, a day after the team needed its bullpen to work six frames following a two-and-a-half-hour rain delay. But Bauer gave his relief corps a decent rest, matching a career high with 127 pitches over 6 2/3 innings.

“I wouldn’t consider it much of a grind. I felt pretty good the entire game,” Bauer said. “... [The] 127th pitch was 97 [mph], I believe. So, it’s not like I lost anything throughout the game.”

Bauer has averaged 112.2 pitches per outing through 18 starts this season, by far the most in the Majors. Entering Wednesday, the next closest pitcher was Max Scherzer, who is averaging 106.4 pitches in his 17 starts. While Bauer has certainly been a workhorse for his team, it can create a challenge for his manager when debating how long to leave him in each game.

“The fight I have is that I feel a responsibility also for his career,” Francona said. “You know, you’ve got one arm, and I fight that, because he fights me to stay out there, which I love. I mean, I love that. ... I don’t want pitchers that want to come out of the game. I admire that about him. But I want him to pitch for 15 years, so I worry.”

As Bauer walked off the mound with two outs and runners on first and second in the seventh, he received a standing ovation from the 22,246 in attendance. Just before he took his first step into the dugout, Bauer tipped his cap to the fans, then watched reliever Nick Goody force Billy Hamilton to pop out to shortstop to escape the jam.

“I thought from the first pitch of the game, he looked so much more like Trevor,” Francona said. “Crisp, all his pitches crisp [and the] velocity. I thought there were periods in the game where he almost maybe felt too good. You know, he started heaving a couple up there, but I’ll tell you what, man, when you’ve got a guy who can pitch over 120 [pitches], and that’s the hardest pitch of the day, that’s saying something.”