Cleveland Indians: 3 takeaways from the 2-0 win over the Detroit Tigers

In spite of continued poor hitting, the Cleveland Indians defeated the Detroit Tigers by the score of 2-0 Monday night thanks to a Bradley Zimmer home run.

It may not have been the most exciting game, but the Cleveland Indians found a way to prevail victorious over the Detroit Tigers Monday night.

One swing of the bat from Bradley Zimmer was all the difference as the pitching staff looked dominant again and set the tone for the Indians 2-0 win.

Cleveland continues dominance over Detroit

The Indians have not lost to the Tigers since July 9 of last year and Cleveland has come out on top in their last eight meetings, and 12 of their last 13.

This is a huge considering just a few years ago Detroit was consistently one of the Indians’ toughest matchups on the schedule.

Cleveland has seen huge success over division opponents the past few years. A series win over Kansas City, and now this win over Detroit, seems to be setting the tone for another year of controlling the American League Central.

Kluber gets his first win

In a small sample size, Corey Kluber has been masterful so far this season. He first held the Mariners to two runs on Opening Day and then did the same to the Angels in his next outing.

But, as has been seen in the past, Cleveland’s bats went quiet with Kluber on the mound. The Indians could only muster four runs over his two starts and left him with no decision both times.

While the Indians offense didn’t improve much, Kluber somehow came out even more dominant. He struck out 13 over eight innings of work and held the Tigers to just two hits.

Indians bats still quiet

Entering today’s game, the offense’s performance at the plate wasn’t exactly ideal.

Things didn’t get much better Monday night. A Yan Gomes single before a Bradley Zimmer home run were the only hits the Indians had through five innings.

A Jose Ramirez single in the sixth and a Rajai Davis double in the seventh combined for the four hits Cleveland had in the game.

Five players failed to get a hit, three of whom never even reached base. Francisco Lindor, Jason Kipnis and Edwin Encarnacion all went hitless and combined for five strikeouts.

One would assume the bats have to come around at some point, but this team can’t bank on spectacular pitching every time out to help lead them to victory.

The fact that this team has even managed a 5-5 record thus far with such terrible hitting is certainly impressive.

Next: Previewing the upcoming series vs. the Detroit Tigers

If the hitting can catch up to the pitching, they should certainly be able to string together some wins.