Cleveland Indians take care of business against Tigers on Tuesday

The Cleveland Indians continue the domination of the Detroit Tigers with a much-needed victory on a night when scoreboard watching is in effect.

The Cleveland Indians needed a win and got just that. What a nice surprise.

To be fair, the Indians have dominated the Detroit Tigers all season long so a win should have never been in doubt. But a season-ending injury to Jason Kipnis and a Tuesday absence for Franmil Reyes raised some eyebrows for a team that is still out of the playoff picture.

The Tigers proved to still be terrible and the Indians took advantage. Oscar Mercado hit a home run in the first and the lead was never lost.

Adam Plutko went six innings in which he allowed just two earned runs. Yet the best pitching note of the night is that the bullpen went three scoreless innings. The Detroit lineup wasn’t exactly the best. In fact, it is one of the worst. Yet a win is a win in the standings and the entire team came through.

Seven Indians players had hits, while three had at least two. The only real dud of the lineup was Andrew Velazquez, who had four strikeouts in as many at-bats. Maybe this outing will convince Tito that Yu Chang should be out there. There is no reason why he is not. No offense to Velazquez.

The Columbus Clippers finish their season tonight so I expect a few more call-ups Wednesday morning. There just needs to be some better talent in the lineup, even after a nice 7-2 victory. Such wins won’t come so easy against the likes of the Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals when a postseason berth remains on the line.

The Indians are now 16-1 against the Tigers this season which is just insane. It is quite the flip from how things used to be at the start of the decade. I fully expect the Indians to sweep the series. But I’ll hold off on getting too excited for now.

My personal hero of the night is Jordan Luplow. He pinch-hit for Jake Bauers early and finished with two runs batted in on two hits.

My concern is for Carlos Carrasco, who is struggling out of the bullpen. I am obviously rooting for him. I just don’t know if he is a reliable option late in games at this point in time.

But the Indians won! That is the best news of the day.