Jason Kipnis hit a pair of solo homers, Francisco Lindor hit a go-ahead shot and the Cleveland Indians continued their dominance of the Detroit Tigers with a 4-2 road victory on Wednesday.
Lindor broke a 2-2 tie in the eighth inning off reliever Buck Farmer (5-5) with his 24th homer. Lindor had three hits and scored two runs.
Carlos Santana added two hits and an RBI for Cleveland, which has defeated the Tigers in 14 of 15 games this season.
Rookie right-hander Aaron Civale (2-3) limited the Tigers to two runs on six hits in seven innings, with no walks and five strikeouts. Both of his career victories have come against Detroit. Brad Hand notched his 32nd save by pitching a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
Dawel Lugo hit a solo homer for the Tigers. Detroit starter Jordan Zimmermann allowed two runs on five hits in six innings. He struck out five and did not walk a batter.
Kipnis notched his sixth extra-base hit in 14 career at-bats against Zimmerman when he drilled a slider over the right field wall in the second inning.
The Tigers hit into three double plays during the first four innings. They broke through in the fifth on Lugo's homer over the left-center field wall.
Civale didn't allow a home run in his first five career starts. It was also the first run scored by the Tigers against him. He held them scoreless for six innings in his major league debut on June 22.
The Indians moved back in front in the sixth when Lindor doubled, advanced on a sacrifice and scored on Santana's RBI single.
Detroit evened the score in the bottom of the inning. John Hicks led off with a single and moved to third on Victor Reyes' double. One out later, Willi Castro recorded his first major league RBI with a sacrifice fly.
Nick Goody pitched a scoreless eighth inning for Cleveland after Lindor's home run. The Indians tacked on another run in the ninth on Kipnis' second homer of the night and 16th of the season. He blasted a 3-1 fastball from Joe Jimenez for a home run to right-center.
--Field Level Media
Cleveland | Detroit | |
Aaron Civale | Player | Jordan Zimmermann |
Win | W/L | No Decision |
7.0 | IP | 6.0 |
5 | Strikeouts | 5 |
6 | Hits | 5 |
2.57 | ERA | 3.00 |
Cleveland | Detroit | |
Francisco Lindor | Player | Victor Reyes |
3 | Hits | 2 |
1 | RBI | 0 |
1 | HR | 0 |
7 | TB | 3 |
.600 | Avg | .500 |