Like many of our friends throughout the SB Nation network, we are simulating the 2020 MLB season with MLB The Show 20. While we are unable to stream the games as they would otherwise be happening, we will try to get ahead of the curve and post about the games on the same day they would have taken place. Or, you know, at least get them back on schedule. Now, onto the recap!
Daniel Norris twirled a three-hit shutout, and the simulated Detroit Tigers offense combined for five home runs in a 9-0 thumping of the Cleveland Indians at Comerica Park on Friday evening. The nine-run beating snapped a four-game losing streak for the Tigers, and pushed Cleveland into last place in the AL Central.
It took the Tigers offense a little while to get going in this one. Indians starter Shane Bieber retired the first six hitters he faced, and struck out the heart of the Tigers’ lineup (Miguel Cabrera, C.J. Cron, and Niko Goodrum) the first time through. Christin Stewart put the Tigers into the hit column in the third with a solo home run, his sixth of the season, and Cameron Maybin followed with the first of two homers on the night in the fourth. Two more runners reached base after Maybin’s homer, and Jonathan Schoop plated one with a slow grounder to third, making it 3-0 after four innings.
Meanwhile, Norris was hardly threatened all night. The only real scoring chance Cleveland came across was in the top of the first, when Tribe outfielder Oscar Mercado blasted a triple over Victor Reyes’ head in center. Norris quickly retired Francisco Lindor and Carlos Santana to end the threat, and only gave up two more hits after that — one of which was erased on a Mercado double play later in the game.
The Tigers offense continued to pour it on from there. Jeimer Candelario added a solo homer in the fifth, and Victor Reyes followed with a single to end Bieber’s evening. Niko Goodrum plated another run in the sixth with an RBI triple, and Schoop scored Goodrum with his second RBI groundout of the evening, making it 6-0. The Tigers capped off the scoring in the seventh with back-to-back home runs from Maybin and Cabrera.
The Tigers will be back in action on Saturday. Righthander Spencer Turnbull will take the mound for Detroit against Cleveland’s Mike Clevinger.