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"The whole story of this game was Corey Kluber. There wasn't
much else going on," said Ausmus, after Kluber tossed a five-hit
shutout, lifting the Cleveland Indians to a 4-0 victory over the
Tigers Wednesday night at Progressive Field.
In pitching his second career complete-game shutout Kluber (2-3)
threw 111 pitches, 77 for strikes. He struck out seven, walked
two, and retired the last 10 men he faced in a row.
"He threw a ton of strikes, pitched in, and used his breaking
ball," said Cleveland manager Terry Francona.
The Indians managed just five hits, too, but three of them
knocked in runs.
Kluber got off to a bumpy start to the 2016 season. After his
first three starts, he was 0-3 with a 6.16 ERA, although the
Indians scored a total of only three runs in those games.
Kluber's last three starts have been much better. He beat
Detroit in two of those outings, over which Kluber is 2-0 with a
1.13 ERA.
"I didn't feel like I was pitching that bad in those early
starts," he said. "I just seemed to give up one big inning in
the game."
The Tigers had no big innings against Kluber on Wednesday.
"It's exciting to see him get going like this, because of what
it means to us going forward," said Francona of the Indians'
2014 American League Cy Young Award winner.
"Kluber has a good cutter and slider and a mid-90s fastball. He
can be really tough on right-handers," Ausmus said.
Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez (3-3) held the Indians scoreless
in six of the seven innings he pitched, but in the other inning,
the fourth, Cleveland scored four runs. Sanchez gave up four
hits and three walks while striking out seven.
"Other than the fourth inning he gave us six innings of good
work," Ausmus said.
Nick Castellanos had two of the Tigers' five hits. No Cleveland
hitter had more than one hit.
Carlos Santana led off the decisive fourth inning by drawing a
walk. Jason Kipnis struck out, and then Sanchez hit Francisco
Lindor with a pitch. Michael Brantley bounced a single through
the right side, scoring Santana with the first run of the game.
Mike Napoli followed with a double into the right field corner.
Lindor scored and Brantley advanced to third. Brantley scored on
a wild pitch to make it 3-0.
"Napoli's ball just found some ground to land on," said Ausmus.
"If it comes down ten feet to the left it's an out."
Yan Gomes then belted a double off the wall in center field,
driving in Napoli and extending the Cleveland lead to 4-0.
Detroit had chances to score in the early innings, but Kluber
pitched out of trouble both times. In the second inning, a
single and two walks loaded the bases with one out. The walks
were the result of Kluber throwing eight consecutive balls.
"I just totally lost it there. None of the pitches were even
close," he said. "I just took a deep breath and tried to keep
them from having a big inning."
That strategy worked. Kluber got Jose Iglesias to ground into a
force out at home plate and then struck out Ian Kinsler to end
the inning.
"That set the tone for the rest of the game," said catcher
Gomes. "Cory was able to put the brakes on that threat."
In the fourth, the Tigers had runners at first and third with no
outs but again Kluber escaped unscathed. He induced James McCann
to ground into a double play, with the runner at third, Justin
Upton, holding third, then struck out Anthony Gose to end that
inning.
NOTES: The Indians acquired C Chris Gimenez from Texas in
exchange for cash considerations. Gimenez will be the backup
catcher, replacing C Roberto Perez, who is on the disabled list
with a right thumb injury. ... To make room on the roster for
Gimenez, C Adam Moore was designated for assignment. ... Indians
LHP Ross Detwiler has accepted an outright assignment to
Triple-A Columbus. He was designated for assignment on April 29.
... INF Andrew Romine, who played center field for the Tigers in
the eighth inning on Tuesday, has now appeared in major league
games at every position except catcher and right field. ...
Tigers 2B Ian Kinsler has 12 multi-hit games, tying him with
Baltimore's Manny Machado for the most in the American League.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
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