Cleveland Indians Continue Dominance of Tigers, Win 5-3

The Cleveland Indians continued their dominance over the Detroit Tigers this season with a 5-3 win Monday night. The win moves the Indians to 10-0 on the season versus the Tigers and 50-32 on the season. The loss dropped the Tigers to 44-39 and 6.5 games behind the Tribe in the American League Central.

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Tribe starter Danny Salazar wasn’t at his best but pitched 5 2/3 innings allowing three runs on eight hits. He walked just one and struck out eight. He took a no-decision after leaving with the game tied at three. The Tigers got to him thanks to the longball beginning with a solo home run off the bat of Steven Moya in the 5th inning, his fifth of the season, making it 2-1 Tribe. One inning later Nick Castellanos tied the game at 3-3 with his 15th home run of the year, a two-run shot scoring former Indian Victor Martinez. After getting the first two batters out in the 6th inning, the Tigers got four straight hits off Salazar, including Castellanos’s home run to knock him out of the game.

Jeff Manship came on to get the final out of the 6th inning and worked a scoreless 7th inning. He retired all four batters he faced and picked up his first win of the season (1-1).  Bryan Shaw worked a scoreless 8th inning though he needed a big double play started by Jason Kipnis to get out of an early jam. Cody Allen then came on to finish the game and get his 18th save of the season on a replay-aided double play to end the game.

The Indians got to starter Daniel Norris in the 2nd inning to take an early 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Carlos Santana. The Indians added a second run in the 3rd inning after Norris had to leave the game walking Rajai Davis to lead off the inning. Two batters later, after a Kipnis double, Francisco Lindor drove Davis in on a sacrifice fly. Lindor later added a third run and gave the Tribe a 3-1 lead on another sacrifice fly, this time in the 5th inning once again scoring Davis from third.

Despite the sacrifice flies, the Indians struggled once again with runners in scoring position, going just 1 for 8 and leaving seven on base. The lack of offense looked like it could prove costly after the Tigers tied the game at three; however, Mike Napoli delivered a huge 430 foot home run in the 7th inning off Tigers’ reliever Bruce Rondon (2-1) scoring Lindor and making it 5-3 Cleveland. It was Napoli’s 17th home run on the season and 12th at Progressive Field.

Next: Indians Designate Chamberlain, Gorzelanny for Assignment

The Indians will look to make it 11 straight against the Tigers this season Tuesday night when Carlos Carrasco (4-2, 2.56 ERA). The Tigers will turn to Anibal Sanchez (5-8, 6.05) in the wake of scheduled starter Jordan Zimmerman landing on the disabled list. In addition to winning 10 in a row against the Tigers, the Indians will look to extend their home winning streak which now stands at 12 games, which is the longest home winning streak in the majors this season.