A pair of homers gives Indians 2-1 win over Tigers; three takeaways

CLEVELAND-- In this early part of the season for the Cleveland Indians, one swing is deciding a majority of their games.

That was again the case on Tuesday night, as the Tribe topped the Detroit Tigers, 2-1.

Andrew Miller got his first win of the season for Cleveland, and still has a 0.00 ERA. Cody Allen recorded his third save of the year as well, giving him the third most saves in franchise history with 125. Alex Wilson took the loss for Detroit.

With the win, Cleveland increases its winning streak to three games, and has now won nine straight against the Tigers. The Indians also are above the .500 mark for the first time this year.

Here are three takeaways from the win.

1. Pair of bombs

In the eighth inning with the game tied at one run apiece, Roberto Perez hit a lead-off home run to center field on a 2-0, 91.8 mph two seamer. It was Perez's first homer of the year, and ultimately was the difference in getting the Indians into the win column.

Perez is batting .316 (12-of-38) with three home runs and 11 RBIs against the Tigers since 2016.

The Tribe also scored their first run of the game on a homer, as Jose Ramirez got things going with a first inning solo shot into the left field bleachers. The homer came on a 1-1, 90.3 mph fastball in the heart of the zone:

Since the start of 2017, Ramirez is batting .485 (33-for-68) against the Tigers with 10 home runs and 26 RBIs. He has also gotten on base in the last 16 games against Detroit.

It looked like Ramirez's homer was going to be the only run of the night until the seventh inning when the Tigers tied up the game on an RBI double from Jeimer Candelario that scored Victor Reyes.

Ramirez's was the only run the Tribe put up on Detroit's Matt Boyd, who in seven innings gave up three hits and struck out four. Last year, Boyd put up a 1-2 record against Cleveland in four games, but had an impressive 2.28 ERA.

2. Saddle up

Josh Tomlin came into Tuesday's game with a 24.00 ERA, so really, there was nowhere to go but up.

Tomlin did not factor into the decision but pitched five innings, giving up four hits, no runs, two walks and striking out three. Of 98 pitches, 59 were strikes. While he gave up zero runs, his outing was hardly perfect.

In the first inning, he gave up a double to Jeimer Candelario and walked Nicholas Castellanos with two outs, but got out of the inning after Victor Martinez grounded out. In the third inning, bases were loaded but he again got out of the inning as Niko Goodrum grounded out.

“First couple of innings it was really tough," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "Fortunately, he made some really good pitches and I actually thought he got into a pretty good rhythm. There were so many pitches the first three innings to get through it, but I thought he found some rhythm as he went.”

Tomlin, who was experiencing low back soreness after his last start, said after the game that he was not experiencing the same issues.

“I felt a lot better," Tomlin said. "The command’s probably still not where it needs to be or where I want it to be, but it was close enough and we were able to get a good win. We played good defense all night long, had some good at bats, strung some good at-bats together and had the big hit at the end, so today was a good day.”

Tomlin's ERA now drops to 9.00.

Josh Tomlin on escaping all the early traffic and settling down during the #Indians 2-1 Win pic.twitter.com/fjELCQghgF
— Matt Loede (@MattLoede) April 11, 2018

3. Bullpen heroics The Indians bullpen put in some solid work down the stretch, giving up one run in four innings. Francona went to Zach McCallister first, who had a bounce back game pitching one inning in the sixth and giving up no hits. Tyler Olson was credited with the lone Tigers' run, as he gave up a single to Reyes in the seventh inning. Dan Otero finished out the seventh, but gave up the double to Candelario that plated Reyes. Miller and Allen each retired three straight batters in the the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, each only throwing 13 pitches. “Our pitching staff has kind of saved the day," Francona said. "It’s not just pitching good, but every game’s been one run, so there’s not a lot of margin for error, that’s probably the understatement of the year. They’ve done a really good job.”

Terry Francona On the pitching staff doing the job for the now 6-5 #Indians after Tuesday’s 2-1 win pic.twitter.com/VMDtStGEe6
— Matt Loede (@MattLoede) April 11, 2018

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