Long (B)all Night: Indians Mash Their Way to Third Straight Win
Coming off yesterday’s win, the Cleveland Indians came into tonight looking to move above .500 for the first time in the young season.
They did just that, demolishing the Detroit Tigers 11–3 in a game that started out with 79 degree weather with a 6:10 first pitch in front of 7,570 fans that became a rainy affair near the end.
The Tigers got Robbie Grossman on to lead off the game when Willi Castro killed that momentum by hitting into a 5–6–3 double play. Aaron Civale then punched out Jemeir Candelario to face the minimum in the first.
For the Tribe’s first frame, Jordan Luplow, got the start with left Tarik Skubal on the mound. Luplow drove a ball deep and foul before flying out. It was only two pitches later that Cesar Hernandez drove a double past a diving Victor Reyes in the right field gap.
Following Hernandez, Jose Ramirez ended his first at bat with a walk. Eddie Rosario couldn’t budge the needle, becoming Skubal’s first strikeout victim and Franmil Reyes lined a hard hit to center and right to a running Reyes, who came up with the out and got Detroit out of a jam.
In the bottom of the second is when the offense came alive. With one out and Yu Chang on first following a walk, Roberto Perez drove a fastball deep into the left-center bleachers, traveling 430 feet. Skubal forced two flyouts to escape the second without any further incident.
Leading off the third, Cesar Hernandez launched a bead down the line and up into the bleachers as well, taking Skubal 399 feet deep.
Then with one down in the fourth frame, Yu Chang laced a double down into the left field corner, with Skubal walking Perez. After Skubal struck out Gimenez, Luplow delivered the knockout blow, a 432-foot three run homer to the very end of the center field bleachers to give the Indians a 6–0 advantage.
The long ball gave Luplow his 20th MLB homer off a left-handed pitcher out of 25 total home runs.
Grossman tagged Civale with a leadoff homer in the 7th inning, finally putting the Tigers on the scoreboard.
Civale pitched a gem, going 7 2/3 innings giving up three hits, with no walks and one run. He struck out six batters on 90 pitches, with 56 finding the strike zone.
The young Skubal struggled during his outing. He labored through four innings, giving up five hits and six earned runs while punching out three batters with 75 pitches, 46 for strikes and three walks.
Rookie Alex Lange relieved Skubal in the fifth inning in his Major League debut, sending down the side in order. He topped it off with a Franmil Reyes strikeout.
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Outside of a few moments, the Tigers didn’t have many bright spots, with Brian Garcia walking Perez and Gimenez, and a wild pitch sending each to second and third with Jordan Luplow at the plate.
Luplow narrowly missed his second round-tripper on a lined shot to left field, but knocked in two more runs to blow the game open even further and extend the lead to 8–0.
In the seventh, Franmil Reyes twisted the dagger with a 354-foot opposite field shot after just missing the seats on the pitch prior.
Andres Gimenez got in the last shot in the bottom of the eighth, blasting a two-run dinger to right field traveling 391 feet through the air for an 11–1 edge.
Trevor Stephan finished out the ninth for the Tribe despite giving up a 365-foot, two-run blast to Jeimer Candelario on a 2–2 count with two outs.
— — — Tidbits — — —
Civale flirts with the minimum
Aaron Civale faced the minimum through six innings after giving up a leadoff hit to Robbie Grossman in the first and Nomar Mazara in the fifth, with both getting mowed down by the double play ball.
That streak didn’t end until Grossman’s solo shot to start the seventh inning.
Multi-homer wins
The Indians are 4–0 when hitting two or more home runs in a game, and 0–3 in games with fewer than two. They hit five of them for the evening. They’re also 4–0 when scoring four or more runs.
They own 14 home runs on the year so far, coming in with only nine long balls prior to tonight.
The Luplow split
With his home run off Tarik Skubal, Jordan Luplow has hit 20 of his 25 career homers off of left-handed pitching.
The Franimil eats Tigers for breakfast
Franmil Reyes came into tonight’s contest against the Tigers hitting .328 with nine home runs and 20 RBI in 18 career games. He added another home run and RBI in the seventh inning.
