CLEVELAND — Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus is still trying to concentrate on the big picture, but the little picture looks pretty good as well. On Sunday, the streaking Tigers completed a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians with an 8-5 victory.
The American League’s hottest team continues to bludgeon the opposition with a ferocious lineup of hitters who had another big day on Sunday. The ringleader was first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who belted a double, two home runs and had his second consecutive four-hit game.
Cabrera is hitting everything — literally. In the last two games of the Cleveland series, he was 8-for-9. For the series overall, he was 11-for-14 (.786) with a double, two homers and six RBIs. Cabrera’s batting average at the start of the series with the Indians was .182. His batting average at the end of the series was .520.
The Indians are expected to be contenders in the American League’s Central Division, but in their first series with the team that has won the division the last four years in a row, it didn’t look like the Indians had done much to close the gap.
The Tigers hit .364 in the three games and hung a 7.67 ERA on Cleveland pitchers in the series. The Tigers also continued their domination of the Indians in Cleveland’s home ballpark. Detroit has won seven games in a row from Cleveland. The Tigers have also won nine of their last 10 games at Progressive Field, where since 2013 their record is 18-5.
With the three-game sweep of the Indians, the Tigers are now 6-0 for the fourth time in franchise history, the first time since 1985. But Ausmus stressed he’s still looking at the big picture.
“I’ll put it in perspective,” he said. “It’s the first week of the season. I’m not ready to throw any parties yet.”