The Tigers have been an annual thorn in Cleveland’s side during Indians manager Terry Francona’s time at the helm. With a 9-4 victory over Detroit on Thursday night, the Tribe continued to flip the script in a rivalry that had been fairly one-sided in recent years.
The Indians used a four-run outburst in the first inning against Tigers top prospect Michael Fulmer, and a four-hit game from Michael Brantley, to cruise to a sweep of a three-game series at Progressive Field. The win improved Cleveland’s showing to 6-0 this year against the Tigers, who were 37-19 against the Indians in the previous three seasons combined.
“It’s huge,” Indians winning pitcher Trevor Bauer said of the early success against Detroit. “I think if you look at the last couple years, our record in the first half of the season against them especially, it feels like every time we play them we get just bludgeoned. Not just beat, but beat bad.
“So, obviously, any time you get a sweep against anybody, and then a division opponent, and one that has beat us badly the last couple years, that’s a big boost. I thought we played very well all week.”
“They outplayed us. Simple as that,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. “They outpitched us. They outhit us. They outdefended us. Period. They were the better baseball team out there. They’ve been the better baseball team all six games that they’ve played against us.”
After the rough opening frame, in which Mike Napoli belted a three-run home run for his fifth long ball of the season, Fulmer (1-1) managed to last five innings. The Tigers attempted to rally — Nick Castellanos drilled a three-run homer off Tribe starter Trevor Bauer in the fourth — but could not overcome the early deficit. Fulmer struck out six and walked two in the loss.
Bauer (2-0) earned the win after being charged with three runs on three hits in his 5 2/3 innings, in which he struck out four and issued a pair of walks. Beyond the early work by Cleveland’s offense, Bauer also received some support from recently acquired catcher Chris Gimenez, who contributed a solo home run in the fourth inning.
Cleveland added four runs in the eighth inning to pull away for the win.
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