Game #22 Observations: Indians Domination Over Tigers Continues, Sweep Detroit w/ 8-5 Win

The Indians domination over the Detroit Tigers continued Sunday at Comerica Park, as the team took out Detroit to wrap up a three-game sweep with an 8-5 win.

The win was the 20th straight for the Indians over Detroit, who lost their first meeting last season, only to now have run off 20 in a row.

"We just go out there every day and play the game as hard as we can and try to come up with a "W," for some reason against the Tigers we seem to bring it up a little bit more," Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor said. 

The win puts the team at 13-9, and they will enjoy an off day on Monday before heading to play a Pirates team in Pittsburgh that has won just four games this whole season. 

Here's today's observations from the Indians win over the Tigers to get to four games over .500

Lindor and Reyes Leads the "O"

It was a big day for the three and five hitters for the Tribe Sunday, as Francisco Lindor and Franmil Reyes led the way for the Tribe.

Lindor put forth his 7th career game with three or more extra base hits, including a two-run homer. 

Reyes hit two bombs, as he's got five on the season, and with two runs batted in is now hitting an impressive .316. 

The slugger now has eight career multi-homer games, and had five hits in the three-game set, three of which were homers. 

"The guys seemed like they were in the game the whole entire game, today we kept at it and kept putting up runs every inning," Lindor said. 

Overall everyone minus Domingo Santana, who also had a forgettable inning in the outfield, put up at least a hit in the starting lineup.

"The guys really stepped up with good quality at-bats," Lindor said.

13 hits, three walks, and five strikeouts. That's a quality day against what was an inspired Tigers team who didn't want to get swept at home. 

"Guys playing the game right, we needed to do some things today or we lose that game," Francona said. 

It was a day when the offense really had to step up after Adam Plutko went just 2.2 innings and it looked like the Tigers were going to have a hit parade against Tribe pitching, but the offense did an excellent job pulling away. 

The Pen Does the Job

Adam Plutko only lasted 2.2 innings, meaning the bullpen was going to have to save the day for the Indians, and they did.

Terry Francona had to turn to six relievers, and all of them minus Dominic Leone and Nick Wittgren were able to get out of their innings of work without allowing a run.

Oliver Perez, Cam Hill and James Karinchak all threw scoreless frames, helping the team to allow their offense time to build a lead.

"Maton comes out and pitches well, Cam Hill pitched well, Karinchak did a really good job, we gave up a few rus, but when we're shaking hands and your starter goes 2.2 innings, that's a pretty good day," Francona said.

It's good to see that when it's an important situation that the bullpen just doesn't come in and fold, and all of the relievers saved the pen for the future.

Maton, Hill and Karinchak all went over one inning of work, which again saved Francona from having to really spread the pen thin.  

"You can't complain when they are going 7-8 innings, a rested bullpen is a happy bullpen," Maton said.

Plutko had a chance with a 3-0 lead, but the Tigers bats were ready for him, tying the game in the third with three runs.  

"They were aggressive early," Plutko said. 

Making a Statement

If you're an Indians fan, you likely were not feeling all that great about the team last week after all the distractions and the way the team played against the Chicago Cubs.

Francona said Friday that the team really needed to come out and play well, and the team delivered in a big way.

From the offense scoring 10 Friday and eight on Sunday, to the pitching staff stepping in Sunday with a number of relief innings and Shane Bieber having another good game Saturday, it was a great weekend for the Tribe.

Now with 20 straight over the Tigers, they will host Detroit again next weekend, another series in the AL Central that the team needs to win.

The wins put pressure on the Twins, who led the Tribe by a game entering action on Sunday.

If the Indians can keep getting 3-5 runs a game, it's going to give them a chance to win.

Now they get a day off before they go to PNC Park on Tuesday for a Pirates team that has gone 4-14, worst in the Majors. 

"Good defense, good bullpen, good offense, we're a pretty tough team when we do stuff like that," Plutko said.