The Indians played another solid game on Thursday in blustery Detroit, as they got a solid pitching performance from Shane Bieber and the offense did enough in a 4-0 win.
The victory puts the team at 8-4 on the season, putting them back in first in the AL Central, dropping Detroit to 8-5.
The Tribe has also won now six of their last seven games, and their road trip will continue on Friday with a trip to Kansas City to take on the Royals.
Bieber was very good, going seven innings not allowing a run on three hits.
As for the offense, hot-hitting Carlos Santana again was getting on base all day, going 3-for-3 with two walks and two RBI.
Here’s some quick takeaways from the win over the Tigers.
1. Bieber Keeps it Up
The Indians starting pitching has done a great job thus far, as while the team has had a few hiccups here and there, overall it’s been very good.
Shane Bieber has been great to start the year, throwing well in all of his starts, sporting a 1.80 ERA and in 15 innings has allowed three runs on seven hits.
He got ahead in the count again against the Tigers, didn’t allow them to be as aggressive as they were against Trevor Bauer, and never got into any real trouble.
The one jam he worked out of was in the second when Detroit had a runner on third with two outs, but he was able to get a grounder to end the frame.
2. More Than Enough ‘O’
The offense got a run with some hustle in the first, as Jake Bauers singled with two outs, stole second, and scored on a single by Carlos Santana.
Leonys Martin hit his second homer of the series to make it 2-0, and then in the fourth got another RBI hit with a single to score a run.
The final run came in the seventh on yet another Santana single to make it a 4-0 game.
When this offense scores four or more runs, they are going to win. The starters are just too good, and the pen has been just fine.
It’s only 12 games, but the offense has scored 23 runs the last five games, more than enough for this team to be good.
3. Inside the Offense
Carlos Santana looks reborn back with the Indians, hitting .425 after 12 games, and also seems like he’s motivated to get on base every time he’s up to bat via hit or walk.
Tyler Naquin has rebounded from a tough start to hit .300, and has done a nice job forgetting about those early wiffs in the first couple games.
After that, the offense hasn’t been great in terms of averages, and there’s still plenty of holes to fill, but the one thing is that the team seems to be finding ways to score, and that’s been a good sign.
The bottom of the order has to hit more, as the likes of Eric Stamets (.065) and Max Moroff (.091) are not getting it done.
It will be interesting to see when Jason Kipnis is back, as it sounds like it could be as early as Friday in Kansas City.
If he can help this lineup, it will be a big deal and more so will help guys like Santana and Hanley Ramirez go give them some protection.
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