It was a 5-2 win for the Cleveland Baseball Club as they completed the three game sweep of the visiting Detroit Tigers at Progressive Field.
Cleveland came into Sunday with the chance to complete their first sweep of the season and seized that opportunity with a 5-2 win. A fairly consistent offensive approach produced 7 hits in 8 innings and combined with their 7 walks and a few Tigers errors paved the way to victory. Unlike their win the previous night, no long balls were needed this time around.
Things were dicey early with Logan Allen on the mound as Detroit took an early 1-0 lead. The Tigers lead combined with the high pitch count early did not look like the recipe for success. Luckily Allen would calm down as he did not allow another run in his 5 innings of work. Allen calming down and settling in after a bumpy start allowed the offense to naturally get into the groove of the game and back him up.
The Cleveland offense was able to score three unanswered runs to take a 3-1 lead through the middle innings. Some hustle from Eddie Rosario highlighted their first run scoring in the 2nd while Cesar Hernandez was still swinging a hot bat for the second game in a row to drive in their second run.
With Nick Wittgren on the mound Detroit struck back on a Wilson Ramos to cut the Cleveland lead to one. The home run from Ramos was the only hit allowed by Wittgren in his single inning of work.
Never too late for drama
James Karinchak came on in the 8th with Cleveland clinging to a one-run lead and did some work. After walking the leadoff batter Karinchak struck out the next three in order to end the inning. This ability to rattle off three strikeouts in a row is why Karinchak has the trust of Terry Francona.
The bottom of the 8th provided some insurance innings for the Cleveland bullpen. Franmil Reyes came through with a single allowing Jose Ramirez and Eddie Rosario to score. With Cleveland’s lead now at three, Emmanuel Clase came on to close things out.
After walking Jemier Candelario to start the inning, Clase bounced back with a strikeout of Wilson Ramos. Jonathan Schoop provided some hope for Detroit with an infield single, but it was all for naught. Clase would get the much needed double play ball off the bat of Nomar Mazara to end the game.
