Indians Offense Wakes Up, Pounds Tigers 9-3 to Wrap Up Sweep; Three Takeaways

CLEVELAND - The weather was warmer, and the Indians bats were alive on Thursday night, as they pounded the Detroit Tigers into the ground with a dominating 9-3

CLEVELAND - The weather was warmer, and the Indians bats were alive on Thursday night, as they pounded the Detroit Tigers into the ground with a dominating 9-3 win.

The win puts the Tribe at 8-5 on the season, and it's their 11th straight win over Detroit, something we'll chat more about later in the takeaways.

The offense did its job putting up six runs in the first two innings against Michael Fulmer, and they had their best night of the season with 14 hits.

Here's a happy night of three takeaways for the latest win for the Wahoo's, as the team will start to look forward to a weekend series with the Blue Jays.

1. Hits Aplenty

It started with a Francisco Lindor solo homer in the first, and the offense was off and running for the Indians, as they had a huge night putting up season high nine runs, and a season high 14 hits.

Everyone in the starting nine had a hit minus Edwin Encarnacion, and the team scored all nine runs in the first four innings.

Lindor and Jose Ramirez each homered, and Jason Kipnis and Michael Brantley each doubled to pace the offense. If the offense can string some nights like this together, they quickly will put the early season woes and averages behind them.

2. Bauer Breezes to the Win

Trevor Bauer had the hard luck loss on Saturday when he pitched well in frigid temps, allowing one run on a solo homer to Lucas Duda in a frustrating 1-0 loss to the Royals.

Thursday was quite the different story, as he was handed a 6-0 lead after two innings and while he allowed some Tigers to reach base, he never got into too much trouble and left with a 9-2 lead after 7 innings.

On the night Bauer gave up two earned runs on seven hits, two walks and seven strikeouts. He threw 105 pitches, 74 of which were strikes in the win.

Bauer has thrown 20 innings thus far in 2018, allowing 5 runs on 15 hits, with 7 walks and 21 strikeouts and now sits at 1-1.

3. Taming the Tigers

The Indians have simply dominated the Tigers over the last 11 games, winning all 11 and since the start of 2016 the Tribe is now 31-10 against Detroit.

The Tigers might very well be the worst team in the AL Central, but what the Indians have done against them dating back to last year has been almost unheard of.

In the 11-game win streak they have outscored Detroit 65-13, with four shutouts in that time frame. Thursday was a win not only to get to 11 in a row over Detroit, but they beat a pitcher who two seasons ago was the AL Rookie of the Year, beating out Indians OF Tyler Naquin and Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez.

There's still plenty of games against the Tigers this season, and plenty more chances to continue their streak against the Motown kitties.