Tribe takes care of business against toothless Tigers

I know I should be relishing the Cleveland Indians’ bludgeoning of the Detroit Tigers this season, but it feels like the Tribe has now reached the point of beating the proverbial dead horse, recording their 15th consecutive victory over the hapless Tigers by a score of 7-2.

Adam Plutko, in his fourth start this season against Detroit, didn’t have much trouble with the Tigers, save for a run-scoring single in the third inning and a Dawel Lugo solo shot in the fifth. He allowed two earned runs over six innings, exiting with six strikeouts on the night.

The Indians’ lineup, without Jason Kipnis and Franmil Reyes, gave Plutko plenty of cushion. Oscar Mercado started things off with a solo home run in the first inning, before the red hot Roberto Perez added on another run in the second with an RBI double.

But it was Jordan Luplow who broke the game open for the Indians. Inserted in the third inning as a pinch-hitter when the Tigers opted to bring in a left-hander from the bullpen, Luplow proceeded to triple off the wall in left field, scoring two runs to five the Tribe a 4-1 lead. Luplow would come around to score a few batters later thanks to an RBI single from Perez.

Greg Allen drew a bases loaded walk in the fourth inning and Yasiel Puig singled with two outs in the eighth to score Carlos Santana from second for the Indians’ final two runs.

New addition Andrew Velazquez, called up to replace Kipnis, was 0-4 with four strikeouts.

Adam Cimber, Tyler Clippard, and Carlos Carrasco combined to take care of the last three innings of work, holding the Tigers hitless and scoreless over that stretch. Carrasco did walk Miguel Cabrera and then hit Christin Stewart to put two on with no outs in the ninth. But pitching coach Carl Willis came out to the mound, presumably told him to start pitching better, and Cookie promptly induced a double play and a groundout to close it out.

As this recap is being published, no final scores from the Twins, Rays, or A’s, so we’ll have to wait and see if the Tribe can use this win to gain any ground in their postseason push.