Cleveland Indians Win 7th Straight, Top Tigers 7-4

The Cleveland Indians continued their winning ways Friday night, beating the Detroit Tigers by a score of 7-4. It was the Tribe’s seventh straight win both overall and versus the Tigers this season. The Indians are now 7-0 against the Tigers this season and move to 42-30 on the season while Detroit falls to 38-36.

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Danny Salazar (9-3) had a bit of an off night on the mound, at least as far as his starts go. He allowed only three runs on just four hits but pitched only 5 2/3 innings. He walked five on the night, however, including the first two of the game, and tied his season-low with just three strikeouts. All three runs Salazar allowed came in the bottom of the 5th inning. After loading the bases with no outs, Ian Kinsler drove in the first Tiger run on an RBI single. Cameron Maybin drove in the second run on a one-out fielder’s choice that probably should have been a double play but instead, Maybin was safe at first. On the play, a throwing error by Francisco Lindor allowed the third Tiger run to score.

After not seeing a bullpen guy since Monday, the Indians used a trio to finish off the game Friday night. Dan Otero worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings, lowering his season ERA to 0.93. Bryan Shaw worked a scoreless 8th inning before handing the ball to Cody Allen to work the 9th in a non-save situation. Allen allowed an unearned run to score thanks to a throwing error by catcher Chris Gimenez that struck Andrew Romine in the back as he ran to first on a strikeout in the dirt. Romine would eventually come around to score on an RBI single by Maybin.

The game got a little intense when Miguel Cabrera, representing the tying run, hit a fly ball to deep center field. However, Rajai Davis made a great running catch, despite bobbling the ball. Due to the bobble, both runners took off tinking the ball was dropped and the Indians were able to double up Cameron Maybin at first base to end the game.

The Indians offense erupted for seven runs off Tiger starter Jordan Zimmerman (9-4), who lasted just 3 2/3 innings on the night. The Indians hit four triples off Zimmerman, including three in the 4th inning, tying a franchise record for most triples in a single inning. Jason Kipnis had two of the four triples with the first coming in the 3rd inning as he drove in a pair to make it 2-0 innings.

The Tribe added five more runs in the top of the 4th inning. Lonnie Chisenhall hit his third triple of the year to drive in a pair making it 4-0 Indians. Gimenez followed that up with an RBI single on a drawn in infield to make it 5-0. Carlos Santana would double two batters later to make it 6-0 before Kipnis hit his second RBI triple making it 7-0 Tribe.  The Indians went 5 for 9 as a team with runners in scoring position as they collected 12 hits on the night.

Next: Trevor Bauer Continues to Impress

The Indians will look to make it eight in a row when they take on the Tigers at 4:10 pm Saturday afternoon. Carlos Carrasco (2-2, 3.26 ERA) will take the hill for the Indians against Anibal Sanchez (4-7, 5.97).  The Tribe will look to extend their lead in the Central Division, which now stands at four games after the Kansas City Royals lost Friday night. The Indians at 42-30 are tied with the Baltimore Orioles for the second-best record in the American League, behind only the Texas Rangers (47-27).