The Indians came into tonight’s game hoping to put a dent in Detroit’s postseason positioning, but Doug Fister and the Tigers would have none of it, jumping ahead early, adding a big 8-run eighth inning, and riding Fister’s eight scoreless innings en route to a 14-0 win that dropped Cleveland back to .500 at 80-80.
Ubaldo Jimenez did not have much tonight, giving up six runs on nine hits in only five innings. The bullpen did not fare much better, as Corey Kluber gave up four runs in two frames and Josh Judy was charged with four in one inning of work
Only Matt LaPorta had more than one hit off of Fister (11-13), whose ERA dropped to 2.83. Jimenez, on the other hand, fell to 4-4 with the Indians as his ERA climbed to 5.10.
Delmon Young had the only homer of the game, a three-run blast in the eighth off of Judy, but Detroit added five doubles and a triple on their way to 18 hits, as the Tigers climbed to within a half-game of Texas for the second-best record in the American League. Conversely, the Indians were held to four hits.
The Tribe will try again on Tuesday night when Jeanmar Gomez goes for his sixth win in a row vs. Detroit’s Max Scherzer.