Bobby Bradley belted an RBI double in his first major league at-bat to ignite a five-run second inning as the host Cleveland Indians completed their second straight sweep of the Detroit Tigers with an 8-3 victory on Sunday.
Carlos Santana launched his team-leading 17th homer and rookie Zach Plesac (3-2) tossed seven strong innings for the Indians, who have won eight of nine against Detroit this season.
Jason Kipnis ripped a two-run single and Francisco Lindor, Kevin Plawecki and rookie Oscar Mercado each drove in a run as Cleveland cruised to its eighth victory in 10 games.
Plesac allowed a lead-off homer by JaCoby Jones and just four other hits en route to recording his second consecutive win. The 24-year-old right-hander, who is the nephew of former major league reliever Dan Plesac, has surrendered two runs or fewer in five of his six starts.
Niko Goodrum ripped a two-run single in the eighth before Kipnis answered with one of his own in the bottom of the inning to send the Tigers tumbling to their eighth loss in nine games.
With family in attendance, Bradley deposited an 0-1 fastball from Daniel Norris (2-6) just inside the left-field line before it caromed into the seats to tie the game at 1 in the second inning.
Bradley was promoted from Triple-A Columbus prior to the game after batting .292 with 24 homers and 55 RBIs this season.
Cleveland plated a pair of runs in the next at-bat, as Plawecki's grounder resulted in an off-balance throw from Goodrum that landed in the dugout.
Lindor's run-scoring double off the wall in center field and Mercado's RBI single to left capped a five-run, six-hit second inning.
Norris rebounded after the big inning to retire the next eight batters he faced before Santana sent a first-pitch fastball over the wall in right field to stake the Indians to a 6-1 lead in the fifth. The homer was Santana's third in four games.
Jones opened the scoring by depositing a 2-1 fastball from Plesac over the wall in left-center field. The homer was Jones' ninth of the season and first since belting two on June 8.
--Field Level Media
Detroit | Cleveland | |
Daniel Norris | Player | Zach Plesac |
Loss | W/L | Win |
7.0 | IP | 7.0 |
8 | Strikeouts | 2 |
8 | Hits | 5 |
7.71 | ERA | 1.29 |
Detroit | Cleveland | |
JaCoby Jones | Player | Jason Kipnis |
2 | Hits | 2 |
1 | RBI | 2 |
1 | HR | 0 |
5 | TB | 2 |
.500 | Avg | .500 |