Cleveland Indians: 3 takeaways from Sunday’s easy victory in Detroit

The Cleveland Indians picked up an easy 9-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers on a day when the offense backed up Corey Kluber early and often.

The Cleveland Indians offense decided to show up Sunday afternoon after only managing two runs in a frustrating loss Saturday night.

Corey Kluber being on the mound seemed like a good omen, and those feelings were validated with a peaceful 9-2 victory over the Tigers. Kluber continued his dominance and several unlikely players stepped up on offense.

Let’s take a look at what stood out from this win that pushes the lead back to five games over the Tigers in the AL Central.

Kluber is ridiculous

Here is a quick look at how great Kluber has been as of late:

My favorite stat of all those is the fact he hasn’t issued a walk in 168 consecutive at-bats. That’s insane!

He was in danger of allowing more than three runs this afternoon as the Tigers had two runners on in the eighth, but Kluber did what he always does and got out of the jam, finishing the day with two earned runs on five hits. He added eight strikeouts as well. An average day for Kluber.

The backing of the offense helped his cause and never made this game a close one, but we must not take this dominance for granted. This is special.

Big days at the bottom

Lonnie Chisenhall, Melky Cabrera and Erik Gonzalez combined for half of the team’s 14 hits, while the latter two drove in six of the nine runs.

Gonzalez had two doubles on a day when he got the start in place of Jason Kipnis. Kipnis did have a big home run earlier this series, but Gonzalez is clearly playing better on offense.

This game was a nice change of pace for Cabrera, although he is likely the first player to go once Brandon Guyer and/or Tyler Naquin returns. Still, he boosted his stock with a two-hit, three-RBI day.

And how about Lonnie! He has missed much of the season but has come back and picked up at least one hit in four of his five games since returning from the DL. That is a boost the outfield needed with so much turnover so far this year.

A comfortable lead

The Indians now own a five-game lead over the Tigers. The Indians are five games over .500, while the Tigers are five games under.

The next four series are against AL Central opponents, and that includes seven games against the lowly White Sox. There are also three against the Twins and three against the Tigers, so this lead may continue to rise throughout the next two weeks.

Next: Trevor Bauer deserving of long-term extension

What we do know is that even when things seem frustrating, there is always Corey Kluber there to bring stability every five days, no matter the opponent.