Detroit Tigers vs. Cleveland Indians at Comerica Park – MLB Series Review
Detroit Tigers swept the Cleveland Indians 3-0 at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan in a three match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
Jim Leyland and company used their home conditions to great advantage in series opener on August 3 to secure a comfortable 10-2 win. Alex Avila doubled to left and first baseman Prince Fielder double to deep right-centre in the third to put the Tigers 2-1
ahead.
Rookie Quintin Berry also made the most of scoring opportunities and third baseman Miguel Cabrera earned an RBI single to left-centre in the fourth to extend Tigers’ lead to 5-1.
All Star player Fielder continued to put pressure on the Indians pitching rotation with a two run home-run to right in the fourth. Omar Infante also made a useful contribution with the bat to put Detroit in a commanding 10-1 position.
Starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez pitched with great control and accuracy to play a key role in deciding the outcome of the encounter. After giving up five runs in six innings in his debut for the Tigers a week earlier, Sanchez looked a lot more comfortable
at Tigers’ home ballpark, striking-out five with two walks to set up an easy win for his team.
"That guy is incredible. I saw this guy when he was in Milwaukee," Sanchez said. "I know what he's got, so it's really good being on the same team."
"I think we're just getting good pitches and not missing them -- that seems to be what happens," Fielder said. "See it, hit it, pretty much. That's what is easiest for me."
With momentum on their side, Detroit adopted extremely aggressive approach in Game 2 on August 4. Brennan Boesch provided the Tigers with another strong start as he tripled to deep-right in the second inning to open the scoring. Delmon Young and Jhonny Peralta
displayed some top quality hitting skills to stretch the lead to 4-0 in the fourth inning.
Infante continued Tigers’ excellent offensive work with two RBI’s to dent Indians’ confidence levels. Doug Fister put up a solid show to improve his record to 6-7. Tigers’ starting pitcher struck-out six batters and did now allow a run until the ninth inning.
"I had some emotion running," Fister said. "It was, take a second to kind of regroup and kind of calm down, and go back to work. It was a good feeling."
Cleveland put up a brave fight in the finale on August 5 but Leyland and company held their nerves to prevail 10-8 to complete a deserving series sweep.
Relief pitcher Darwin Drowns grabbed his first win of the season and Miguel Cabrera homered to left-centre in the extra inning to give the Tigers, perhaps, one of the most stunning come back from behind victory of the season.
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