Indians first baseman Mike Napoli lingered for a moment as he watched the ball soar over the towering wall in left field. His 17th home run of the season broke a seventh-inning deadlock with the Tigers and was the decisive blow in the 5-3 victory.
Monday’s win in front of a sold-out crowd at Progressive Field was Cleveland’s 12th straight victory at home. It also moved the Tribe to a 10-0 mark this season against the Tigers.
Detroit homered twice in the loss. Outfielder Steven Moya took Danny Salazar deep with a leadoff shot in the fifth inning, then third baseman Nick Castellanos went yard on a two-run homer in the sixth to knot the score at 3. But it was Napoli’s blast that proved to be the difference. Per Statcast™, the ball traveled an estimated 430 feet at 109 mph.
“It’s nice, because he’s done that so many times,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “We don’t live by the home run a ton, but when he’s up, I mean, that’s why he’s here. We certainly try not to run into outs, because we like to get to him and let him take three good swings.”
Neither starter factored into the decision. Salazar, the American League Pitcher of the Month for June, has gotten off to a shaky start in July. For the first time all season, he surrendered multiple home runs, and he was chased after 5 2/3 innings after allowing three runs and a season-high eight hits.
Tigers left-hander Daniel Norris exited after just two innings of two-run ball due to a strained right oblique. As a result, Detroit went to its bullpen much earlier than anticipated, allowing Dustin Molleken — a former Indians Minor Leaguer — to make his Major League debut. Molleken also went two innings, giving up one run on three hits. Detroit used five pitchers in the game.
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