Miguel Cabrera does it again; hits huge home run to sink Indians

Tigers 4, Indians 0

box score

Indians fall to 28-32

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The script remains the same.  Yes, the Indians again failed to pick up a win over the Tigers.  Yes, the Tribe struggled to get hits in key situations.  And yes, once again, Detroit's Miguel Cabrera absolutely punished Tribe pitching.

Cabrera hit a titanic three-run home run in the sixth inning, the first runs of the game, and added an RBI double in the eighth inning to seal away a 4-0 victory for Detroit.  This is certainly not new for Tribe fans, as Cabrera is now hitting .654 on the year against the Indians, with four home runs and 13 RBI's in just seven games.

Cabrera's blast came on a 93 mph fastball from Tribe starter Danny Salazar that stayed right over the middle of the plate.  "It was probably middle-middle and he [Cabrera] does with it what he does with mistakes," said Terry Francona.

"It was just one bad pitch," Salazar said.  "I was trying to go outside with the fastball."

Salazar showed improved control Friday night, walking just one batter, and flashed his upper 90's fastball often.  He took the loss, moving to 6-2 on the year, giving up three runs on seven hits over seven innings.  Salazar struck out six in defeat.

Tigers starter David Price matched Salazar early and kept on working out of small jams as the night went on.  Price got the Indians to ground into four double plays and worked around seven hits in his complete game shutout.  Price struck out eight Indians batters and walked none, needing only 93 pitches to go the distance.  With the win, he matches Salazar's 6-2 record on the year.

Offensively for the Indians, Michael Brantley and Mike Aviles finished with two hits; while Jason Kipnis, Brandon Moss, and Giovanny Urshela each added a hit.

Tomorrow brings a day game for the two teams, with a very interesting pitching matchup.  The Tribe will turn to right-hander Carlos Carrasco.  Carrasco struggled in his last start, giving up five runs in just four innings.  His 77 strikeouts in just 68.1 innings give him one of the best strikeout rates in the American League.

The Tigers will counter with right-hander Justin Verlander, in what will be his long-awaited season debut.  Verlander, the AL's 2011 Cy Young award winner, has been dealing with a triceps strain and is coming off a disappointing 2014 season in which he finished with a 4.54 ERA and only struck out 6.9 batters per nine innings.  First pitch is scheduled for 4:08 ET.

Win Expectancy Chart

Source: FanGraphs

Roll Call

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