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Boosted by homers, Tomlin outduels Verlander
- Updated: April 23, 2016
DETROIT — Marlon Byrd’s go-ahead home run leading off the seventh inning continued Cleveland’s success against longtime nemesis Justin Verlander, who was outdueled by Josh Tomlin for a 2-1 Indians win Friday night at Comerica Park.
“The way Josh pitched, he pitched so well,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “That was fun to watch. … These are games we’ve lost in the past, so it’s a good start for us.”
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While Tomlin (2-0) followed up his four-hitter over the Tigers from last September with 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball, the Indians used a pair of homers to stretch Verlander’s winless streak against them to eight starts. Carlos Santana’s seventh career homer off Verlander led off the game before Byrd took Verlander’s first pitch of the seventh inning deep to right.
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“Santana, I threw where I wanted, he put a good swing on it,” Verlander said. “And Byrd, I was trying to go down and away with strike one and it was up just enough, got the barrel.”
Verlander (1-2) struck out 10 Indians for his 30th career double-digit strikeout performance, and his first against Cleveland since 2011. But the veteran right-hander hasn’t beaten the Tribe since April 17, 2014, a game Alex Gonzalez started at shortstop.
“Verlander was outstanding. He really was,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. “One of the better games he’s thrown in the last year and a half. He did his part. Unfortunately, Tomlin did a little bit better.”
Indians relievers Zach McAllister, Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen combined to retire the final seven Detroit hitters in order to seal the win. Allen went through the meat of the Tigers’ lineup to notch his fifth save — one day after allowing a game-deciding, three-run homer in an extra-inning loss to Seattle.
“It’s good to get back out there and experience some success,” Allen said. “It can snowball in either direction. You try to bounce back as well as you can and get something going, get some momentum and the ball …
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