Tigers 4, Indians 1: Detroit dethrones Trevor Bauer in 12-hit effort

On Wednesday morning, Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Trevor Bauer walked around the Indians clubhouse with a crown on his head. Fair enough, right? After all, hitters were 1-for-42 against Bauer in 2019 entering this game.

Well, unfortunately for Cleveland, Bauer proved to be more of a fool on a mound than a king, as the Detroit Tigers defeated the Indians 4-1 to reclaim the AL Central throne. The Tigers were propelled to victory by a strong effort from ace Matthew Boyd (you heard that right), as well as strong offensive contributions from Niko Goodrum, John Hicks, and Josh Harrison.

All in all, it was a strong day for the Tigers offense, as the team worked long pitch counts against Bauer and chased him out of the game after 5 ²⁄₃ innings. They notched 10 hits, drew one walk, and scored four runs against him.

The damage began in the first inning when Miguel Cabrera singled off of Bauer before Niko Goodrum (some pronounce it “GOAT-rum”) launched a home run to give Detroit a 2-0 lead. Later, the offense supported Matthew Boyd after he allowed his lone run of the day, as John Hicks launched a solo shot in the sixth inning. Josh Harrison later notched his first RBI of the season after a fantastic eight-pitch at-bat to give the team a 4-1 lead.

While this was not quite the same Boyd that struck out 13 against the Yankees and 10 against the Blue Jays, he was solid overall and very clearly out-dueled Bauer. Boyd limited the Indians to four hits, two walks, and one earned run over six innings, while striking out six. That’s a 1.00 WHIP and a strikeout per inning, ladies and gentlemen. The only time Boyd struggled at all in the game was in the sixth inning. He hit Leonys Martin with a pitch to start the inning, but then quickly struck out Jose Ramirez and Jordan Luplow on three pitches each. Boyd issued a walk to Carlos Santana before allowing an RBI double to Hanley Ramirez to make the score 2-1. He then struck out Jake Bauers to end the inning, however.

Even in his worst inning, Boyd struck out the side. That’s how dominant he has been this April.

Things got interesting in the eighth inning. Joe Jimenez retired Jose Ramirez and Tyler Naquin to start the inning. Unfortunately, Jimenez proceeded to issue three consecutive walks to Carlos Santana, Hanley Ramirez, and Jake Bauers. Manager Ron Gardenhire had enough at that point, and replaced Jimenez with Buck Farmer. Thankfully, the Buck stopped there (pun intended), as Farmer managed to induce a Greg Allen groundout to Josh Harrison to end the bases-loaded threat. From there, Shane Greene notched his eighth save in just twelve games with a clean one-two-three ninth inning.

To quote the great Craig Monroe: “Here come the Tigers!”

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