The Cleveland Indians pounded the Detroit Tigers 11-4 Friday at Progressive Field. Cleveland leads the season series 12-1 and the Indians have outscored the Tigers by 50 runs in those games: 90-40.
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1984 – The Detroit Tigers clinched the American League East Division with a 3-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, making the Tigers the fourth team in major league history to lead from start to finish.
Kluber (17-9, 3.12 ERA) was strong aside from facing Upton, finishing with four earned runs on five hits and three walks to go with seven strikeouts in seven innings pitched. Michael Fulmer (10-7) started for Detroit and gave up six runs on seven hits in five innings to take the loss. Justin Upton, in left, couldn’t find the ball in the lights.
NY pitcher Red Ruffing hit two home runs as the Yankees edged the St. Louis Browns 7-6 in 10 innings. The Indians went up 8-4 in the seventh when Napoli single, advanced to second on a balk and scored on Jose Ramirez’s single. Can the Indians continue their mastery of their division rival?
Cleveland Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco, who has dominated the Detroit Tigers in three starts this year, was removed after only two pitches on Saturday.
With runners at second and third, Napoli hit a fly ball with one out to deep left that Upton never tracked off the bat. It bounced well behind him and cleared the 19-foot wall in left field for a two-run ground-rule double.
The Indians took a 2-0 lead in the first on a unusual play.
Napoli’s 34th homer gave the Indians a 6-1 lead.
Already having surpassed his career-high for longballs, Napoli just keeps climbing the Indians’ record books, now finding himself within one of tying Juan Gonzalez’s 2001 mark of 35 homers for the most by a right-handed hitter since the turn of the century, and amassing the most any Tribe player has had since Travis Hafner’s 42-home run season in 2006. But in his final rehab game Wednesday, Gomes was hit by a pitch, a cruel twist to his tough season.RF Lonnie Chisenhall is day-to-day with an abdominal issue. He was placed on the disabled list on July 18 with a separated right shoulder. The under is 6-2-1 in Cleveland’s last 9 Saturday games and the over is 6-2 in their last 8 home games while the Indians are 36-16 in their last 52 home games.
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The Indians have an opportunity to throw a knockout punch this weekend at Progressive Field.
