Pirates Crush Indians

September 27, 2020 7:20 am

CLEVELAND — The Indians will have one eye on the field and one eye on the scoreboard on the final day of the regular season. Cleveland suffered a setback in its bid to host a first-round playoff series and had its six-game winning streak snapped with an 8-0 loss to Joe Musgrove and the major league-worst Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday night. The Indians fell one game behind the Chicago White Sox for second place in the AL Central and were eliminated from the division title race when Minnesota beat Cincinnati. In order to earn home-field advantage for the best-of-three wild-card round, Cleveland must beat the Pirates and have the White Sox lose to the Cubs on Sunday. The Indians hold the tiebreaker over the White Sox. Any other outcome sends Cleveland on the road. Pittsburgh rocked right-hander Aaron Civale (4-6) for a career-high eight runs in four innings. Rookie Ke’Bryan Hayes had five hits and Colin Moran had a three-run homer and four RBI. Bryan Reynolds and Jose Osuna also homered as the Pirates won for the third time in 19 interleague games. Hayes scored three runs, doubled three times and had two singles, and is batting .370 (30 for 81) since making his major league debut on Sept. 1.