Indians Win 4th Straight, Top Tigers 5-2 to Move to 5-3 on Young Season
Things seemed a little hairy for Indians starter Logan Allen in the early going of Sunday's finale against the Detroit Tigers.
The Tribe's fourth starter allowed a run, but more so had command issues in having to throw more than 30 pitches in the first inning.
The key was he got out of it allowing just the one run, and eventually the Indians offense got going in a 5-2 win that clinched a three-game sweep of the Motor City Kitties.
The victory is the 4th straight for the Indians, and they move to 5-3 on the season, winners now of four of five at home.
Allen settled in to pitch five solid, and four Indians relievers combined to allow just one run on four hits over the last four frames.
Here's a few takeaways from the latest win as the Indians now head to the road to take on the White Sox in what should be an interesting early test in Chi-Town.
Much Needed Relief
After Allen left the game after five innings it was going to be a pen game for the Tribe to try and close out the Tigers - and the pen did just that.
Starting with Bryan Shaw who had a clean sixth, it was Nick Wittgren allowing a run on a homer to Detroit catcher Wilson Ramos in the 7th to close the Indians lead to 3-1.
In the 8th James Karinchak came in and walked the first batter he faced, but then settled down and was able to strikeout the side to give the Indians some breathing room after it started at first not to look so good.
The offense got help from a pair of Detroit miscues from outfielder Nomar Mazara, allowing them to build it to a 5-2 lead entering the 9th.
Then the team turned to Emmanuel Clase, who wasn't as electric as the other night, but again got the job done, earning a save after a double play ended the game.
Clase looks more and more like the closer at this point, going 18 pitches to retire the Tigers side to earn the save.
Overall the weekend was a big success for the pen, and the four pitchers on Sunday are the ones that likely will be counted on most often to get the job done, and they did just that in the win.
The Opposite of Saturday
While Saturday the ball was jumping off the Indians bats at Progressive Field to the tune of five homers, Sunday the team grinded out five runs with smart baseball and taking advantage of Tigers mistakes.
The first run came off Tigers starter Jose Urena when Eddie Rosario put together a great piece of hitting, going the other way for a double down the left field line.
Rosario stole third when there was no one covering second, and scored awhile later to tie the game at one.
The team took the lead for good in the third when Cesar Hernandez singled in a run to make it 2-1, and Amed Rosario hit into a double play in the 6th, but it was enough to get in a run making it 3-1.
Jose Ramirez started the 8th with a walk, and a pair of hits combined with Mazara's errors by Detroit allowed a pair of Tribe runs to cross to make it from a 3-2 game to a 5-2 game.
It wasn't pretty, and there were no 400-foot shots to set off fireworks, but some days this is just how you're going to score runs, and that's how the Tribe did it on Sunday in the win.
How About Allen
When the Indians acquired Logan Allen there was no question that he had potential, and so far he's still feeling the waters to being a quality starter in the Majors.
Sunday it was a rather brutal first inning in which he allowed the bases to be loaded already with a Tigers run crossing the plate.
A hit with two outs really could have changed the entire complexion of the game, but give Allen credit for settling in and going with an 81-MPH slider against Jonathan Schoop to get out of the frame down just a run.
You could see him gain confidence just with that one pitch, and he retired the last 11 of 13 batters he faced getting through five innings.
The team likes what they see, and they are willing to go through the growing pains with Allen at times, but Sunday despite three walks he still struck out five in throwing 94 pitches to get the win to even his mark at 1-1 on the season.
