Cleveland Baseball Insider

Tribe Shuts Out Tigers In 4-0 Win; Three Takeaways

CLEVELAND-- It was a sellout crowd at Progressive Field for Andrew Miller jersey night, as the Indians finish a final series against the Detroit Tigers before
Ashley Bastock|
Tribe Shuts Out Tigers In 4-0 Win; Three Takeaways
Tribe Shuts Out Tigers In 4-0 Win; Three Takeaways

CLEVELAND-- It was a sellout crowd at Progressive Field for Andrew Miller jersey night, as the Indians finish a final series against the Detroit Tigers before the All-Star Game.

After the Tribe came out and scored 11 runs against the Tigers on Friday, tonight was more of a pitchers' duel, as the Tribe topped Detroit 4-0. Three of Cleveland's four runs came in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Cleveland has been evenly matched with the Tigers all season, and are now 6-5 against Detroit overall and 3-2 at home.

Mike Clevinger got the win, while Justin Verlander took the loss for the Tigers.

The Indians have now won 16 of their last 24 games, and are now 23-19 against AL Central opponents.

Prior to tomorrow's final game before the All-Star break, here are our three takeaways from Saturday's win.

1. Clevinger's Flow

Clevinger had another solid outing to earn his fifth win of the year. In his second straight start and win against the Tigers, Clevinger went six complete innings, striking out four and giving up just three hits. His ERA now sits at 3.00.

Early on, it looked like it was shaping up to be an early night for Clevinger. Through four innings he had already thrown 69 pitches, but was eventually able to start working ahead of the count. In his final four innings, he only gave up one hit.

Following the win, Clevinger credited his success on Saturday to his ability to use his changeup pitch.

“Late in the count I was throwing a lot, a lot of fastballs, and I was getting hurt," Clevinger said about his previous struggles.

"Finding that second pitch this start to kind of go back to besides the fastball at any given time was huge, and I think we found that in the changeup today.”

While his performance on Saturday was impressive, Clevinger's consistency as of late is even more so. Over his last five starts, Clevinger has pitched 27 innings, limiting opposing teams to just 15 hits and 14 walks. In that same time span, he's also notched 28 strikeouts and has recorded a 1.67 ERA. “The improvement through each start, and I thought today was sure nice to see,” Indians bench coach Brad Mills said about Clevinger's performance. “Especially since going into the break now, that’s really going to give him some confidence.”

2. Brantley's Fifth Inning At-Bat

The moment that shifted the game into Cleveland's favor.

In the fifth inning, Brantley worked Justin Verlander in a nine pitch at-bat that ultimately scored the first run of the game.

Brantley foul-tipped three pitches in the at-bat with a 2-2 count. With a full count after a high fastball, Brantley hit a curveball to right-center that fell perfectly into the gap.

Brantley's double scored Lindor, who singled in the previous at-bat. Brantley ended the night going one-of-three from the plate, and this critical moment sealed the win for the Tribe, even if the eighth inning never happened.

“That’s a byproduct of [Verlander] having good pitches. I’m just battling trying to get a mistake,” Brantley said of going deep into the count against Verlander in the fifth inning.

Dr. Smooth's patience and ability to work Verlander paid off big time, and ultimately paved the way for the eighth inning offense. 3. Eighth Inning Bats While Brantley's lone run in the fifth would have been enough to win the game, the eighth inning provided the Tribe with a little bit of run insurance. The Indians took advantage of Detroit's Bruce Rondon over just two-thirds of an inning. After Lonnie Chisenhall walked in an 11-pitch at bat, Carlos Santana doubled on a line drive to right field that drove Chisenhall home. Bradley Zimmer kept the party going with a triple on the second pitch of his at-bat to center field that scored Santana. Yan Gomes drove in the final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly to center field. When all was said and done, the Indians worked Rondon for three runs off of three hits.

Considering the Indians have lost 15 games this year after holding a lead, this run support no doubt allowed fans to breathe a little easier.

As a result, the Indians have the ability to sweep the Tigers with a win tomorrow, giving themselves plenty of momentum heading into the All-Star Game.

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Ashley Bastock
ASHLEY BASTOCK

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