Detroit Tigers topple Cleveland Indians 5-3 to level series – MLB Update
Detroit Tigers continued to impress the critics as they edged the Cleveland Indians 5-3 at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio on Wednesday, July 25 in second game of their three match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
Indians, who prevailed 3-2 in series opener to snap Tigers’ impressive winning streak, did not have much to celebrate on Wednesday evening. Credit should be given to the Tigers for sticking to their task to keep the series alive.
With their win, the Tigers also maintained their first place on the American League Central Division standings and it will be interesting to see if they can continue the excellent work until the end of the season to make it to the playoffs for the second
straight year.
Starting pitcher Max Scherzer grabbed his tenth win of the season, thanks to an impressive seven-innings outing. Scherzer struck-out eight, giving up just three hits and two runs. Relief pitcher Jose Valverde held off the Indians for his 19th
save of the season.
"Max's ceiling is very high," manager Jim Leyland said. "He has a chance to get better and better."
"You can really judge your outing on your last 15 pitches," Scherzer said in a post game interview. "I finished the game really well. I had a good fifth inning, a good sixth inning and I got through the seventh. That helped keep the momentum on our side
and I was able to get the game to the bullpen."
"We couldn't do much against Scherzer," manager Manny Acta said. "He beat us all night with his fastball."
Miguel Cabrera, who is one of the few hitters to have hit 300 home-runs, singled to right in the first and Austin Jackson scored to put the Tigers 1-0 ahead. Jackson grounded into fielder’s choice to shortstop in the second inning to double Tigers’ advantage
to 2-0.
First baseman Prince Fielder also made a useful contribution with the bat with a sacrifice fly hit to centre that made the score 4-2 in Detroit’s favour. Rookie Quintin Berry singled to left in the sixth to complete a deserving victory for the Tigers.
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