Cleveland Indians Trounce Tigers 12-1, Home Streak at 13

The Cleveland Indians trounced the Detroit Tigers 12-1 Tuesday night to win their 13th straight home game and 11th straight against the Tigers this season. It’s the best start for the Tribe against the Tigers since they went 12-0 against Detroit back in 1996. The win moved the Indians to 51-32 on the season while the loss dropped the Tigers to 44-40.

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Carlos Carrasco continued his strong play since returning from injury, going six innings allowing just one run on three hits. He walked three and struck out five in route to picking up his fifth win of the season (5-2) and lowering his season ERA to 2.47. He kept the Tigers off balance all day at the plate and didn’t allow a run until the 6th inning when the Tribe was already up 7-0. The Tigers finally broke through on an RBI single by former Indians Victor Martinez to score Ian Kinsler, making it 7-1 Indians.

With the big league, the Indians decided to go to the bullpen for the 7th despite Carrasco only being at 82 pitches. Dan Otero came on to work the 7th inning, working a 1-2-3 inning while striking out a pair. Rookie Mike Clevinger recently called up to work out of the bullpen, came on to work the 8th and 9th inning and despite allowing a hit and a pair of walks kept the Tigers off the board to close out the win. It was Clevinger’s first big league relief appearance after making three starts earlier in the season.

The Tribe offense scored early and often off Tigers’ starter Anibal Sanchez (L, 5-9). They got on the board in the 2nd inning on an RBI double by Rajai Davis and added a second run on a Tyler Naquin groundout making it 2-0 after two. Lonnie Chisenhall kept the offense churning in the 4th inning with an RBI double, one of four hits on the night. Davis then made it 4-0 with a sacrifice fly.  The Indians broke it open in the 5th and knocked out Sanchez with a three spot, making it 7-0 on RBI doubles by Francisco Lindor and Chisenhall.

The Indians then put the game away late with some home runs by Tyler Naquin, his seventh of the year, and Carlos Santana, his 19th of the season. Santana’s 19 home runs matches his 2015 total…tonight was game number 83 for the Indians. Lonnie Chisenhall added another RBI late, giving him three RBIs on the night to lead the club. Only Yan Gomes and Jason Kipnis failed to drive in a run and only Gomes failed to record a hit for the Indians.

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The Indians will look to complete their fourth sweep of the season against the Tigers tomorrow afternoon in the series finale. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10 pm as Josh Tomlin (9-1, 3.21 ERA) will take the hill for the Indians looking for his 10th win of the season. He’ll be opposed by Tigers star rookie Michael Fulmer (8-2, 2.17).  The Indians will look to extend their lead beyond the current 7.5 games before welcoming in the New York Yankees for a four-game series to close out the first half of the season.