Bauer fans nine batters, improves to 4-0

With a runner on second base and two outs in the sixth inning, Cleveland's top pitching prospect Trevor Bauer fell behind Rochester designated hitter Wilkin Ramirez, 2-0. Then the cat-and-mouse game began.

Bauer (4-0) threw two strikes to even the count, but Ramirez worked the count full and then fouled off six consecutive offerings. On the 13th pitch of the eight-minute at-bat, Bauer struck out Ramirez with a slider down and away out of the zone.

Those are the kind of battles that can help define a game and give a pitcher a confidence boost that lasts a season.

Bauer allowed one run on three hits and two walks while striking out nine batters over 7 2/3 innings in the Triple-A Columbus Clippers' 5-1 win over the visiting Rochester Red Wings on Thursday.

MLB.com's No. 67 prospect threw 72 of a season-high 108 pitches for strikes and lowered his International League ERA to 1.12

The 23-year-old set down the first eight batters he faced and he did not allow a hit until the fifth inning.

The UCLA product could have been out of that fifth frame, but he misplayed Eric Fryer's two-out chopper back to the mound. That allowed Dan Rohlfing, who had earned a free pass two batters earlier, to advance to second base. It was originally ruled as an error on the pitcher before being changed to an infield hit after the game.

Eric Farris followed with an RBI single to right field, chasing home Rohlfing for the Red Wings' only run.

Only one other batter reached base against Bauer. Deibinson Romero smacked a two-out double to center field in the sixth, but Bauer won the extended battle with Ramirez to escape unharmed.

The 6-foot-1 right-hander has been solid this year, his fourth season of pro ball. He has not allowed more than six hits or two runs in any of his six Triple-A starts while pitching at least six innings in each outing. In five of those six games, the third overall pick in the 2011 Draft has surrendered either one or no runs.

In nine career Major League games over three years, Bauer, acquired by the Indians in the six-player deal that sent shortstop Didi Gregorius to Arizona last December, is 2-5 with a 5.03 ERA and 36 strikeouts and 31 walks.

Rochester starter Scott Diamond (2-4) went the distance in the loss. He allowed five runs on nine hits and three walks while striking out four batters over eight frames.