Justin Verlander shines as Detroit Tigers shutout Cleveland Indians 4-0 – MLB Update
Detroit Tigers held their nerves under pressure to secure a much needed 4-0 win against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio on Sunday, September 16 in the opening game of their three match series.
With their win, the Tigers also managed to keep the gap between themselves and the Chicago White Sox to just two games. Manager Jim Leyland will be expecting his men to bring some consistency in their results to give themselves a chance to replace the White
Sox at the top of American League Central Division standings.
Starting pitcher Justin Verlander put up another masterful performance as he helped the Tigers shut-out their AL Central rivals in an emphatic style. Striking-out six batters in seven effective innings, he grabbed his 14th win of the season. Relief
pitchers Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde also pitched with great control and accuracy as the Tigers took 1-0 series lead.
"Game-saving plays," Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland said. "Everybody's going to talk about defense, but those guys made terrific plays on the corners."
"I'm not a little guy," Verlander joked of his encounter with the extra-large Fielder. "But I've seen him take a couple of guys out like it was football."
"That's a huge pickup," Verlander said of the two stops. "When you're out there on the mound and you're battling and one of your teammates makes a play like that, that's teamwork at its best. Obviously, I was pretty pumped up about it."
Delmon Young singled to centre in the first inning to put Tigers on the board. Brennan Boesch also made his presence felt with an RBI single to centre, stretching Tigers’ lead to 2-0.
Austin Jackson kept pressure on Indians’ starting pitcher Corey Kluber as he doubled to deep right in the second inning. Tigers’ third baseman continued to impress the skipper as he singled to centre in the second inning to give his side a decisive 4-0 lead.
It will be interesting to see if the Tigers can come up with a similar performance in Game 2 to wrap up a crucial series win at Progressive Field. The Tigers will definitely be happy with their performance as they managed to dominate the Indians and take
a decent victory in the end.
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