Indians hitters finally get to Verlander, go on to win 7-2

Indians 7, Tigers 2

box score

Tribe improves to 70-70

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For the first time since April 10th, the Cleveland Indians are at .500. Back then, they were 2-2. Hardly anything to write home about. But right now, for at least the next few hours, they are 70-70, which is much more worthy of praise. And Carlos Santana now has stolen 10 bases on the year, the same as Mike Trout. Coincidence, I think not!

The game looked like it may sway the wrong way early as the Tigers hitters attacked Cody Anderson and Justin Verlander kept the Tribe bats dead silent. The Tigers scored first with a run in the 1st and for a long time it looked like that could end up being enough for them. But in the 5th, Lonnie Chisenhall led off with a walk, only the 2nd baserunner of the game for the Tribe to that point - the other being a Jose Ramirez double in the 3rd that didn't lead to anything. But this was different. Yan Gomes followed the walk with a double over the bag at first and Abraham Almonte walked to load the bases.

The bases were juiced with nobody out and it looked like Chris Johnson couldn't pick up the ball from Verlander. But on a 1-2 count he punched the ball into right, driving in the first Indians run. Jose Ramirez and Jason Kipnis would follow with two pop ups that looked like it might kill the rally, but Francisco Lindor would climb into the batters box next. Verlander again got to a 1-2 count, but Lindor shot the ball right back up the middle, scoring two and giving the Indians a 3-1 lead that they would never relenquish.

The Tigers responded in the 6th and the Indians answered right back on another bloop single from the free swinging Chris Johnson. It may have been more luck than anything, but Johnson timed his luck very well today. They weren't done there, adding on 2 more runs in the 8th and capping the scoring with another run in the 9th.

Tito, wanting to secure the victory used Bryan Shaw in the 8th up 4 runs and still went to Cody Allen in the 9th, despite the 5 run margin. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in Game 2, having used Manship, Shaw and Allen in Game 1.

Currently the Twins are up 7-0, the Rangers are up 6-0 and the Angels are up 2-0 early, so taking Game 2 will be crucial for the Tribe, who can pick up a half game without any interference. And, perhaps just as importantly, crest the .500 mark.

Win Expectancy Chart

Source: FanGraphs

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