Epstein.Well just continue to evaluate him medically day by

CLEVELAND -- Cy Young himself wouldnt want to mess with the Indians right now. Justin Masterson struck out a season-high 11 in seven shutout innings and Michael Brantley hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs off Felix Hernandez as Cleveland toppled yet another former Cy Young Award winner on Sunday with a 6-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners. Brantley connected in the second inning off Hernandez (5-3), who failed to go at least six innings for the first time this season. The Indians, who improved to 17-4 since April 28, are 7-1 this season against Cy Young recipients. Theyve knocked off Hernandez, R.A. Dickey, David Price, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Bartolo Colon and Justin Verlander. The Indians are taking pride in knocking off trophy-winning pitchers. "We just take it as a challenge," Indians first baseman Nick Swisher said. "Weve got that scrappy-type and gritty-type of team. It may not always be pretty, man, but somehow were going to find a way to get it done. We just love coming to the ballpark right now. "Things are rocking," Swisher said. Before the game, Brantley said the Indians talked about taking down another trophy-winning pitcher. "Were loose and were not holding nothing back," Brantley said. "Everybody has smiles on their faces. We just want to make sure we enjoy this. Were playing great baseball right now and we just want to keep it up." Staked to an early lead, Masterson (7-2) was dominant for the second straight start. He allowed three singles, easily outdueled Hernandez and ran his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 19. He shut out the New York Yankees 1-0 on four hits in his previous outing. "From the very first pitch of the game he came out firing," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "He was not only firing, but he was pitching. He was using both sides of the plate. He was using a two-seamer, four-seamer, throwing breaking balls to both sides of the plate. He kept going up, down, in, out. He worked ahead." The AL Central-leading Indians are a baseball-best 20-7 since April 20. "Weve got a good thing going in here," Swisher said. "Weve got a lot of confident, excited guys and were going out and proving that." Following walkoff wins in the first two games of the series, Cleveland took the drama out of this one early, building a 5-0 lead after two innings against Hernandez. The 2010 Cy Young winner, who left his previous start after six innings with back stiffness, came in with the leagues lowest ERA (1.53) but it rose to 2.07 after he gave up six runs and eight hits in five innings. Hernandez struck out eight, including the final three batters, but he was wasnt on his game -- and neither were the Mariners. Seattle was only charged with one error, but the Mariners made several mental mistakes that helped the Indians. "Youre going to have games like that when a couple of things happen and you make a couple of mistakes," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. "Thats what happened to us. It was one of those days for Felix and one of those days for us." Its not like Masterson needed much help. The big right-hander overpowered the Mariners, who couldnt catch up to his 97 mph fastball and only had two runners reach second base against him. The Indians were hoping Masterson could develop into their ace, and so far this season hes been the dependable front-of-the-rotation starter they desperately needed. "His stuff is dominant," Francona said. "Hes been consistent, but consistent at a level with his velocity, breaking ball, ability to hold runners. Hes just done everything." Pitching with a six-run lead, he got stronger as the game progressed. He struck out five of the last six batters he faced and fanned seven in the last three innings. Last season was a struggle for Masterson, who went 11-15 with a 4.93 ERA. So whats he doing better? "Everything," he said, laughing. Brantleys three-run homer with two outs in the second gave the Indians a 5-0 lead over Hernandez. The right-hander, who needed 35 pitches to get through the first, retired the first two hitters on groundouts before Michael Bourn singled and went to third on Jason Kipnis base hit to centre. Brantley then drove an 0-1 pitch into the Indians bullpen in centre for just his second homer. It was a stunning development against Hernandez, who came in having allowed just four earned runs in 44 innings over his past six starts. In the eight starts against the Indians, the former Cy Young winners have a collective 8.21 ERA. A fundamental gaffe by Hernandez allowed the Indians to add a run in the fourth. With Mike Aviles at second after a double, Drew Stubbs topped a ball into the dirt that catcher Jesus Montero fielded in front of the plate and threw to first for the out. Aviles never slowed coming around third and scored easily because Montero got caught up the line and Hernandez failed to cover home. "Thats just beautiful right there," Masterson said. "Those are the type of things you want to see, and thats what defines this team and makes it so special." NOTES: Clevelands starters are 13-4 in the past 21 games. ... The Indians are 6-0-4 in their last 10 series. ... White Sox RHP Jake Peavy is the only former Cy Young winner to beat the Indians this season. ... Masterson is the fifth starter to record double-digit strikeouts against the Mariners in 2013. ... The Indians will try to complete the four-game sweep on Monday as the teams conclude their wrap-around series with a matinee. ... The Indians are 9-1 against the AL West. ... Cleveland has seven shutouts, its most through 42 games since 2008. Air Max 1 Outlet España . Pierce was ejected in the third quarter of Indianas 103-86 win Monday. George Hill stole a bad pass and was going in for a layup, and Pierce hustled back and appeared to be trying to wrap him up. Air Max 1 Baratas . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. http://www.airmax1baratas.es/ . Roman Josi had a goal and an assist to lead the Predators to a 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Monday night. Comprar Air Max 1 Baratas . As the crowd erupted, Davis knocked the ball off the glass and back into his hands. With 1:14 to go in overtime, Davis sixth block also became his 17th rebound. That, along with his 32 points -- which tied a career high -- proved too much for Denver to overcome, and the Pelicans held on for their third straight victory, 111-107 on Sunday night. Nike Air Max 1 España . He says so-called TRT is only one problem and he wants to go even further than the ban. "Its about time," St-Pierre told reporters at a promotional event in Montreal on Friday. "I think its a good thing. CHICAGO -- One little doctors appointment for Kyle Schwarber has turned into an intriguing possibility for the Chicago Cubs.Schwarber is working out in Arizona after major left knee surgery in April, and the Cubs say the injured slugger with the sweet left-handed swing could play when Chicago returns to the World Series for the first time since 1945.The Cubs had ruled Schwarber out for the year after he tore two knee ligaments during an outfield collision. But Schwarbers checkup with Dr. Daniel Cooper on Monday in Dallas cleared the way for the Cubs to take a closer look at the catcher/outfielder in the Arizona Fall League.We got the best possible report. It exceeded any reasonable expectation that we had, president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said Saturday before the Cubs beat the Dodgers 5-0 in Game 6 of the NL Championship Series.We basically got the news at six months that we had hoped to get at seven months, which was Dr. Cooper upon examining him cleared him to run the bases. Kyle called me right away and asked for a chance to get ready. The doctors greenlighted him to start hitting.Schwarbers return would be a big boost for Chicago, which will play at Cleveland in Game 1 on Tuesday night. He hit .333 with a franchise-record five homers in nine playoff games last year, including a drive that reached the top of a Wrigley Field videoboard.Schwarber was hitless in his first three at-bats with a walk as the designated hitter Saturday night for the Mesa Solar Sox. He watched the Cubs face the Dodgers on a tablet in the dugout between at-bats.Schwarber could help at designated hitter while the World Series is in Cleveland.Nobody wants to see a guy as important as Schwarber is to this organization go down again, right-hander Jake Arrieta said. But if hes capable, iff hes in a position strength-wise to be able to help us in that situation, obviously that would be huge for our team.dddddddddddd.Schwarber was activated from the 60-day disabled list Saturday. Left-hander Giovanni Soto was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.Schwarber tracked 500 balls off a hitting machine on Thursday and Friday before taking at-bats against James Farris, a pitcher in the Arizona Fall League. He also ran the bases on Friday, according to Epstein.Well just continue to evaluate him medically day by day in terms of baseball readiness, Epstein said. We have a lot of business we need to take care of first before theres any relevance to it short term. But long term its a great prognosis for him and were proud of him that hes worked so hard to get to this point.The Cubs selected Schwarber with the fourth overall pick in the 2014 amateur draft out of Indiana University. He rocketed through their system and made his major league debut last June, part of a wave of bright young talent that helped the once-downtrodden franchise blossom into one of baseballs top clubs.The 23-year-old Schwarber hit .246 with 16 homers and 43 RBI in 69 games last year. He stayed around the team even after he got hurt in early April in Arizona, making the most of Wrigleys revamped home clubhouse for his rehab process.He remains a fan favorite, drawing loud cheers every time he is introduced or shown on the videoboard at home.I dont know to what extent we would be able to use him or not, but right now were just trying to explore all the possibilities, manager Joe Maddon said.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap ' ' '