Usually when I wri
te a recap of an Indians, I’ll take notes during the game and oftentimes will start writing well before the game is over. There are days when you can accurately predict the outcome of a ballgame by the 3rd inning–a pitcher doesn’t have his stuff or a team is so dialed in that they seem to be hitting batting practice. And then there are games like Friday night’s Indians-Tigers game where I’m so entranced by what’s going on that I don’t even think about taking notes.
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the 1st, with back-to-back doubles from lead-off man Leonys Martin and Nicholas Castellanos (why is he now “Nicholas” when he was always “Nick” before?). The Indians managed to tie things up in the 4th when Edwin Encarnacion scored from 1st on a Yonder Alonso double. Mostly this game was a pitchers’ duel between Detroit’s Michael Fulmer, who pitched well, and Cleveland’s Trevor Bauer, who pitched better. Bauer went a full 8.0 innings, giving up 1 earned run, 1 walk, and striking out 12, four of which were three-pitch strikeouts. Yeah, he was locked in, and he’s been particularly locked in against the Tigers this season. Bauer has now recorded 29 strikeouts in three starts against the Tigers this season. Detroit had 7 hits–but Bauer shut them down when it counted.
While he wasn’t as dominant as Bauer, Fulmer still held the Indians to just the one run. Detroit reliever Joe Jimenez shut the Indians down 1-2-3 in the 8th. The score was still tied 1-1 with two outs in the 9th and I was starting to think they’d go to extra innings. With Yonder Alonso on 2nd and Jose Ramirez on 3rd, Jason Kipnis came to the plate. Kipnis came into tonight’s game hitting .205 and looking nothing like a two-time All Star. Yes, I doubted. And Kipnis sent one over the fence in right centerfield to make the score 4-1. And that was it. Cody Allen came in for the 9th and did that thing where you think he’s going to screw up (he walked Niko Goodrum to start the inning), then it was strikeout, line out, strikeout to end the game.
At least there was one winning Cleveland sports team tonight.