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Here's to a great week! Today's news and notes features another loss in Detroit, Francisco Lindor's debut, a first base flop, and a scorching hot AL team.
Tigers 8, Indians 1
The Tribe fell Sunday to the Tigers as Miguel Cabrera (shocker) and J.D. Martinez hit timely home runs for Detroit. Corey Kluber wasn't bad and settled in after a rough first inning, but only pitched five innings due to a lengthy rain delay. The bullpen struggled (Scott Atchison and Ryan Webb) and that was that. LGT's Andrew Kinsman's recap has all the painful details.
Tribe News
Sunday marked Francisco Lindor's debut with the Indians. While he didn't start, he did enter the game in the 7th inning and even collected his first Major League hit. That hit was rather memorable, for many reason. From Jordan Bastian:
Every player remembers his first Major League hit. In shortstop Francisco Lindor's case, all of his Cleveland teammates will remember his, too.
In the ninth inning of the Indians' 8-1 loss to the Tigers on Sunday, Lindor pulled a pitch from Detroit reliever Joakim Soria deep into right field for what looked like a sure double. Lindor sprinted hard up the first-base line and lost his footing when he stepped on the bag, causing him to flop to the dirt before retreating for a single.
"I didn't feel my legs," Lindor said with a laugh.
Lindor is expected to start at shortstop on Monday against the Chicago Cubs.
Double-A Akron has been playing well lately and kept it up Sunday with a 5-1 victory over Reading. Joey Merona notes that the RubberDucks have won five straight and own a winning record (31-30). Left-hander Ryan Merritt picked up his fourth win of the season.
Around the League
The Toronto Blue Jays are sizzling hot and just finished off a sweep of the Boston Red Sox. With Sunday's win, the Blue Jays now have eleven straight. Expect Toronto to be very active as the trading deadline nears.
Max Scherzer flirted with perfection Sunday, finishing with 16 strikeouts and a complete game shutout win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Patrick Reddington details Scherzer's dominance and the Nationals victory.
Finally, Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune looks at how economics is affecting baseball's talent pool. The article points out some interesting stuff about an organization and market similar to Cleveland in many ways.