Indians 2, Tigers 1: Missed opportunities cost Tigers again in Cleveland

The Detroit Tigers were finally able to score, but they were not able to capitalize early on another cold night in Cleveland as the Indians beat the Tigers 2-1. Indians starter Josh Tomlin lacked his usual pinpoint command and allowed seven base runners in five innings, including loading the bases in the third but could not get a key hit to capitalize, and it ended up costing them as the Indians scored just enough to hand the Tigers another tough loss.

Matt Boyd pitched a gem over seven dominant innings, with the only blemish being a home run to Tiger-killer Jose Ramirez. Boyd otherwise kept the Indians completely baffled as he allowed only two more hits and a walk while striking out four.

The Tigers finally broke their scoreless streak in the seventh. Victor Reyes picked up his first major league hit in the game, leading off the inning against Matt Olson. Reyes then stole second and took third as the throw tailed into center field. Ron Gardenhire chose to pinch hit JaCoby Jones for Leonys Martin, which caused Indians manager Terry Francona to counter with Dan Otero. Jones struck out but Jeimer Candelario came up big, punching a groundball down the leftfield line for an RBI double, allowing Reyes to score the first Tigers run since the first inning on Sunday in Chicago.

Sadly, the Indians did not allow the Tigers to feel good for long. A series of brilliant plays by Jason Kipnis and Francisco Lindor ended the Tigers’ threat in the seventh and prevented any kind of rally in the eighth as they snared hard-hit ball after hard-hit ball from the heart of the Tigers’ order.

Cody Allen continued his nearly two year streak of not allowing a run to the Tigers as he pitched a clean ninth. He has not allowed the Tigers to score a run since June 24th of 2016.

Coming up next

The Tigers will turn to their Opening Day starter tomorrow as Jordan Zimmermann will duel with Carlos Carrasco. Game time is at 6:10 p.m.