Cleveland Indians Slug Way to Sweep of Tigers with 9-3 Win

The Cleveland Indians completed their third sweep of the Detroit Tigers this season after a 9-3 win Sunday afternoon. The Indians slugged their way to victory with four home runs in the 5th inning in route to their 9th straight win. They also moved to 9-0 on the season against the Tigers. The Indians remain (at least) five games in first place in the division moving to 44-30 on the season. The Tigers dropped to 38-38 on the season and are now seven games behind the Indians.

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Tribe starter Josh Tomlin continued his strong season, moving to 9-1 on the season with the victory. He went eight innings allowing just three runs on six hits. He walked just one and struck out three. All three Tigers runs came on home runs but Tomlin was able to keep them off the bases for the most part and all three were solo shots. Former Indian Mike Aviles got the Tigers on the board in the 3rd inning with his first home run of the season, making it 1-0 Detroit. Another former Indian, Victor Martinez, added a pair of solo home runs in the 4th inning and the 6th inning, giving him 14 on the season. Zach McAllister came on and pitched a perfect 9th inning to secure the win.

The Indians offense erupted for eight runs off Tigers’ starter Justin Verlander in just 4 1/3 innings. The Indians tied the game in the top of the 4th inning on a wild pitch that scored Michael Martinez, who got the start in left field and batting second in place of Jason Kipnis. Lonnie Chisenhall gave the Indians the lead at 2-1 with an RBI single to score Francisco Lindor. After the Tigers tied it at two, the Indians erupted for six runs in the top of the 5th inning thanks to four home runs. Juan Uribe and Tyler Naquin each hit solo home runs, their seventh and sixth of the year respectively. Mike Napoli followed with a two-run home run to making it 6-2 before Chisenhall hit a two-run home run of his own, scoring Jose Ramirez and making it 8-2 Indians.  The Indians added a ninth run in the top of the 8th on an RBI single scoring Chisenhall and making it 9-3. The Tribe collected a total of 13 hits on the afternoon.

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The Indians will now travel to Atlanta to take on the Braves in a three-game interleague series. This will be the Tribe’s final trip to Turner Field ever as the Braves are set to open their new ballpark in 2017. Trevor Bauer (5-2, 3.20 ERA) will take the mound in the opener Monday night while right-hander John Gant (1-2, 4.45) will go for the Braves.