Cleveland Indians: 3 takeaways from Thursday night’s win against Detroit

The Cleveland Indians completed the four-game sweep over the rival Detroit Tigers in a 9-3 win on Thursday.

The Cleveland Indians offense lit up the scoreboard for the second straight night against the Detroit Tigers. On this particular night they managed to cash in on one of the AL’s best young pitchers, Michael Fulmer.

After going 11 straight games without getting over 10 hits, the Tribe managed to spark their offense with 24 hits in the last two games. Needless to say, the worries about this offense have been silenced for the time being. The Indians stars are starting to shake off the rust, and the pitching staff is one of the best in baseball.

The series win gives the Indians a record 14 straight series wins against division opponents. With that said, here are three takeaways from the dominant win.

Indians get to Fulmer early

Michael Fulmer got off to a great start this season in his first two appearances. When he faced the Indians tonight, he only made it through three innings. The Indians netted eight hits and six earned runs off of the Tigers ace. Fulmer paid for his lack of command early when Francisco Lindor hit a lead-off home run on a nine-pitch at-bat.

Jose Ramirez also went yard against Fulmer to give the Tribe a 4-0 lead in the second. On top of the two long balls, Fulmer also allowed doubles to Kipnis and Lindor. The weather in Cleveland may have aided some of the hits for the Indians tonight, but it’s always nice to be able to score early on a great pitcher.

Another great outing from Bauer

Stop me if you’ve heard this before; an Indians pitcher dominated another game. Trevor Bauer pitched seven innings while striking out seven and didn’t have much to worry about after the second inning. His command was shaky at times and he did allow seven hits, but he pitched a great game for the Tribe.

Bauer’s ERA now sits at 2.45 in 20 innings on the year. His dominant start continues a strong cycle from the Indians rotation on this homestand. In fact, the Indians are now 6-1 at home and a lot of that has to do with their monstrous rotation.

Encarnacion can’t find his groove just yet

Edwin Encarnacion was the only Tribe starter without a hit in the game which continues his long skid of horrendous at-bats. Edwin is 2-for-29 in his last eight games with 11 strikeouts in that span. He has been notorious for his slow starts to a season.

It seemed like he would skip that in 2018 as he hit three homers in the first week of the year. But after a hitless series against the Tigers, it seems his slow start is in full swing.

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The Indians will finish off this 10-game homestand against the Toronto Blue Jays this weekend. Friday’s game looks to see some of the best weather we’ve seen in this young season, followed by two potentially very wet days.