Cleveland Indians Beat the Tigers 7-3 Behind Lindor, Tomlin

Francisco Lindor drove in three runs and Josh Tomlin went six strong inning to help the Cleveland Indians win the opening game of their three game series against the Detroit Tigers.

Tomlin (4-0, 3.13 ERA) scattered nine hits over six innings to set the tone right out of the gate. Tomlin -who was once considered an afterthought to make the Indians rotation- has arguably been the Indians most consistent starter so far this year. The bullpen pitched well, minus Zach McAllister‘s hiccup, it was a good showing for the ‘pen, as they were able to work around adversary. 

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The Indians offense jumped all over Tigers Starter Justin Verlander (2-3, 6.49 ERA), who gave up 7 earned runs in six innings of work. Lindor went 3-4 with one home run and three RBI, Mike Napoli drove in two runs on a first inning double, and Yan Gomes and Michael Brantley each drove in a run to pace the Indians offense.

Big plays

Napoli sets the tone

• The Indians finished off their most recent road trip by being swept by the Phillies in a three game series, and all three of those losses were one run losses, and in two of the three games they started off playing from behind, so the Indians know as well as anyone how important it is to start out in front. That happened tonight. Mike Napoli stepped into the box with two outs in the first, and then proceeded to drive a Justin Verlander fastball to dead center that landed in front of the warning track. After the dust had settled, Napoli was safe at second, and Jason Kipnis and  scored to give the Indians an early 2-0 lead. Yan Gomes then drove in Napoli LINK three pitches later and the Indians were out to an early 3-0 lead.

Freaky Frankie

• Francisco Lindor is a superstar. Not only did he get it done in the batters box (more on that later), but he also made his presence felt in the field. Justin Upton smashed a ball between second and thirdthat looked like a hit off the bat, but Francisco Lindor had something to say about that, as he made a beautiful diving stop towards the third base bag and then threw a one hop laser to Mike Napoli to get Upton.

Twice is just as nice

• Lindor wasn’t the only Indian that got it done with the leather, as Jason Kipnis made a spectacular play on defense. Victor Martinez hit a soft popup that started falling fast in the outfield behind second base. It looked like it was going to drop in, but then Jason Kipnis sprinted over, slid, and picked it out of the air. What made the play even tougher for him was that because of the shift, Francisco Lindor was basically playing next to Kipnis, and Kip showed off his moves to avoid a collision.

Next: Indians-Tigers Series Preview

Freaky Frankie pt. 2

• It seemed like there would be no way that Francisco Lindor would be able to top his amazing play in the field. He did. Lindor lined a 3-1 hanger deep into the right field bleachers to blow the game open for the Tribe, he also finished a triple away from the cycle.