AKRON, Ohio - If anyone had doubts about Cleveland Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger being comfortable on the mound Tuesday in a rehab stint for the Akron RubberDucks, they were erased quickly when “99” registered on the scoreboard in the first inning.

Clevinger mixed up his speeds, reaching 99 with his fastball and dipping to 79 with off-speed pitches at Canal Park against the Hartford Yard Goats in Akron’s 2-0 victory.

Clevinger -- working back from a right upper back/Teres major muscle strain -- was under a 75-pitch / five-inning limit. He faced 19 batters over five and a third innings, striking out five, walking none and allowing three hits and no runs. He threw 67 pitches, 51 for strikes.

“Felt good, felt more normal than I have in my recent outings,” said Clevinger, who wore No. 41 instead of his usual 52. “Every time you get back on the bump it gets you back in sync. Your body gets moving the way it’s used to.”

He got moving in the second inning when he took a grounder and raced down Hartford right-fielder Willie Abreu, who was caught between third and home, for the unassisted out.

"Oh God, yeah, that was a good test of my physicality there," he said. "It was good. Everything was good."

While a majority of his pitches were fastballs, Clevinger kept the Yard Goats guessing. First baseman Colton Welker struck out looking in the first, then in the fourth went down swinging very late on a 79-mph pitch.

After getting centerfielder Manny Melendez to ground out in the sixth, Jake Paulson replaced Clevinger, who said he will be checked out Wednesday, with the next step "hopefully" being back with the Indians.

Thursday, Clevinger threw 58 pitches for Class AAA Columbus and hit 98 mph.

The Indians placed Clevinger on the disabled list April 9. The Teres major muscle is on the underside of the upper arm, between the shoulder and elbow. The injury often is seen among athletes like gymnasts, rock climbers and rowers in addition to baseball players, according to sports therapist Jan Lingen's Painotopia site.

Going into the season, the Indians were viewed as having one of the best starting rotations in baseball. But injuries infiltrated a trio of right-handers: Clevinger went down. Then Corey Kluber broke his throwing arm against Miami, taking a comebacker. This month, Carlos Carrasco was diagnosed with a non-baseball blood condition.

Before his trip to the disabled list, Clevinger was 1-0 with 22 strikeouts in 12 innings, allowing only two hits and four walks.

It wasn't his first time at Canal Park. In 2015 he went 9-8 with a 2.73 ERA for the RubberDucks.

Clevinger is 29-17 in his career with the Indians.

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