Detroit Tigers Struggle Against Kluber, Lose to Indians 4-0

Detroit Tigers hitters have had trouble figuring out the Cleveland Indians this season as the Tribe won 4-0 Wednesday night. It was the Indians fifth win in a row over Detroit to open the season-long series.

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez performed pretty well with the exception of the fourth inning, where things got a little hectic.

He began the inning by walking the leadoff man Carlos Santana and then hit Francisco Lindor in the foot with a pitch two batters later. Michael Brantley drove home Santana on a single to right field putting the Indians up 1-0.

Next Mike Napoli doubled to bring home Lindor, making it 2-0, while advancing Brantley to third base. Brantley would score on a wild pitch by Sanchez during the next at bat, but would have been driven home anyways when Yan Gomes smashed a double to deep center field that brought home Napoli and making the score 4-0.

Had it not been for the fourth inning, Sanchez had good action on all his pitches throughout the night, especially his changeup. He ended the night with seven strikeouts and four walks, only allowing one hit outside of that costly fourth inning.

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Of course, you’re not going to win any games if you don’t score any runs.

Indians ace, and 2014 Cy Young Award winner, Corey Kluber made it look easy against the Tigers. He went all nine innings for his first complete game of 2016. For the second time this season he absolutely dominated Detroit, retiring ten straight to complete the five-hit shutout.

The only Tiger Kluber seemed to have trouble with? Your American League batting leader Nick Castellanos, who added two more hits to raise his average to .378 and extended his road hitting streak to 13 games.

Next: Pelfrey in Relief?

The Detroit Tigers look to avoid the sweep Thursday evening as rookie pitcher Michael Fulmer (1-0, 3.60 ERA) makes his second professional start in the Majors. He faces off against Trevor Bauer of the Indians (1-0 5.28 ERA), who has just recently made his way back into Cleveland’s starting rotation. The game kicks off at 6:10 PM EST at Progressive Field.