The Tribe went a perfect 4-for-4 in steals as they consistently put the pressure on Detroit’s pitching staff, despite no extra-base hits in the game. As a result, the Indians scratched across three runs to edge the Tigers, 3-2, at Comerica Park on Labor Day and give pitcher Corey Kluber his first Major League victory.
“[The steals were] very important because if you look at the box score, all we got was singles,” manager Manny Acta said. “We were able to be aggressive on the bases and have some success. Stolen bases were huge for us.”
Facing Tigers’ right-hander Anibal Sanchez, the Tribe put together eight singles and one walk. In total, they had 11 singles and earned three free passes. Although there wasn’t one hit that went for extra bases, the Indians had eight different runners reach second and put a runner in scoring position in five separate innings.
The stolen bases created two of the three runs — and the only run not coming after a steal was the direct result of a well-executed hit-and-run play in the first inning. The Indians were so aggressive on the basepaths that they elected to send the catcher — representing the go-ahead run in the seventh inning — against a lefty.
Reliever Darin Downs allowed Lou Marson to single and the backstop took off for second on Downs’ first pitch to Shin-Soo Choo, sliding in safely. Downs loaded the bases before being hooked. Tigers manager Jim Leyland went to Brayan Villarreal, the team’s strikeout specialist, looking to escape the jam.
But Asdrubal Cabrera, making his first start after missing two games with a sore right wrist, hit a 97-mph fastball in a 1-2 count deep to straightaway center for what proved to be the game-winning sacrifice fly.
“You’re hoping for a strikeout or a pop-up, so you bring in the harder thrower to try to get one of those accomplished,” Leyland said. “He almost got him, but he saw a couple more pitches after he fouled one off for the second strike. … He’s a good hitter.”
Acta said that Cabrera was seeing the ball well at the plate for the entire game. It was perhaps most apparent in his second at-bat, when he drove in Choo after a 12-pitch battle against Sanchez.
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