The Cleveland Indians got a much needed three game sweep of their division rival Detroit Tigers on the road this past weekend.
The Cleveland Indians are still trailing in the division by 10 games, but sweeping the Detroit Tigers will only help their cause over the course of the season. Although it seems like scoreboard watching season came really this year the only thing that matters right now is winning games and that is just what the Indians did this past weekend.
Cleveland outscored Detroit 25-6 during the series. Perhaps one of the more interesting stats is that after trailing 3-2 in the third inning of Game Cleveland outscored Detroit 23-3. That is quite the offensive performance, even if the opponent is not really all that good.
Jake Bauers was the hero of Game 1 for the Tribe offense. Bauers went 4-5 and drove in four runs en route to hitting for the cycle. While the cycle may not move the needle for some, it is still an impressive accomplishment. Roberto Perez also went 3-5 and drove in two runs of his own in the 13-4 Cleveland victory.
Game 2 was not the offensive explosion that the first and third games of the series were but Leonys Martin’s steal of home was the highlight.
Martin’s steal in the eighth gave closer Brad Hand a bit more breathing room as he shut things down in the ninth for a 4-2 win.
The third game of the series had highlights for Trevor Bauer, Oscar Mercado and Jason Kipnis as the Indians won 8-0. Bauer finished with a complete game shutout, the first of his career. Oscar Mercado could not be stopped as he went 3-4 on the day and drove in four runs. Kipnis had himself a day as he went 3-5 with a double, a home run and three runs driven in.
