Indians pile on for sweep, now 6-0 vs. Tigers

CLEVELAND — The Tigers have been an annual thorn in Cleveland’s side during Indians manager Terry Francona’s time at the helm. With a 9-4 victory over Detroit on Thursday night, the Tribe continued to flip the script in a rivalry that had been fairly one-sided in recent years.

The Indians used a four-run outburst in the first inning against Tigers top prospect Michael Fulmer, and a four-hit game from Michael Brantley, to cruise to a sweep of a three-game series at Progressive Field. The win improved Cleveland’s showing to 6-0 this year against the Tigers, who were 37-19 against the Indians in the previous three seasons combined.

• Cast your Esurance All-Star ballot for Brantley, Castellanos, Napoli and other #ASGWorthy players

After the rough opening frame, in which Mike Napoli belted a three-run home run for his fifth long ball of the season, Fulmer (1-1) managed to last five innings. The Tigers attempted to rally — Nick Castellanos drilled a three-run homer off Tribe starter Trevor Bauer in the fourth — but could not overcome the early deficit. Fulmer struck out six and walked two in the loss.

Bauer (2-0) earned the win after being charged with three runs on three hits in his 5 2/3 innings, in which he struck out four and issued a pair of walks. Beyond the early work by Cleveland’s offense, Bauer also received some support from recently acquired catcher Chris Gimenez, who contributed a solo home run in the fourth inning.

Cleveland added four runs in the eighth inning to pull away for the win.

MOMENTS …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com