CLEVELAND — Francisco Lindor broke two bats, borrowed one from a teammate and hit a home run.
It has been like that for the Indians of late.
Cleveland stretched its franchise-record winning streak to 18 games, beating the Orioles 3-2 Sunday night behind homers from Lindor and Roberto Perez in the sixth inning.
Cleveland's streak is the longest in the majors since Oakland won 20 straight in 2002. The best run in baseball history belongs to the New York Giants, who had a 26-game streak in 1916, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Giants' streak included a tie, which doesn't count as a game in baseball.
Lindor's home run followed Perez's leadoff shot that snapped a tie at 1. Cleveland's All-Star shortstop broke two bats while running the count to 3-and-2 against former Ray Jeremy Hellickson then walked to the dugout looking for help. Teammate Abraham Almonte obliged.
"I had no more bats," Lindor said. "I ran out of bats. I prefer to use one that has my handle, so I just saw him and I was like, 'Hey, let me use yours.' "
There was one problem, however, with the replacement. Lindor thought his chances to get a hit were slim because he uses a lighter and smaller model, but he hit the next pitch into seats in rightfield for his 29th homer.
Lindor turned to the dugout before leaving the batters' box and smiled at his teammate.
"I looked at the barrel and I was like 'No, there's no chance.' As soon as I hit it, I just looked at him like, 'This is a good bat,' " he said.
This latest win came with a drawback: Indians rookie centerfielder Bradley Zimmer broke a bone in his left hand. Zimmer slid into first base trying to beat out a ground ball and got his hand stepped on. Manager Terry Francona said Zimmer will see a hand specialist this week.
The crowd of 21,259 roared in the ninth inning as Cody Allen recorded his 26th save. He struck out the first two hitters and retired Trey Mancini on a line drive to rightfield to end the game.
Cleveland hasn't lost since Aug. 23 and has outscored its opponents 121-32 in the streak. Cleveland has trailed in only four of 162 innings during the stretch.
The Indians are a game ahead of the Astros for the league's best record and reduced their magic number to clinch the AL Central to seven. Cleveland trailed Houston by 14 games on July 22.
The Yankees won 19 in a row in 1947, which the Indians can match tonight against Detroit, but Francona doesn't want his players to change their approach.
"Maybe this thing gets more carried away with other people as opposed to us," he said. "We just play the game."
Trevor Bauer allowed two runs in 61/3 innings for Cleveland. Jose Ramirez, back in the lineup after missing three games with a sore wrist, had an RBI groundout in the first. Baltimore tied it in the sixth on Jonathan Schoop's single.
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Explore all your optionsChris Davis hit a solo homer in the seventh for Baltimore, which has lost four straight and is three games out of the wild-card race. Hellickson allowed three runs in six innings.
"At this point, we need to win every game," Davis said. "There's a lot stacked against us, we know that, but we're still in the fight."