CLEVELAND _ Mike Clevinger and the Indians went toe-to-toe with Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers Saturday night. The pitcher with less name recognition, but much more hair, won the duel, as the Indians topped the Tigers, 4-0, before a sellout crowd at Progressive Field.
Clevinger (5-3) delivered one of the best outings of his young career, allowing only three hits and walking two in six shutout innings. He also struck out four. Only one runner reached second base with him on the mound, that being J.D. Martinez, who opened the second inning with a double but advanced no further as Clevinger quickly recorded the first two outs and then struck out Mikie Mahtook to end the threat.
Clevinger's performance continued a strong last month, in which he's allowed no more than two earned runs in any start. On June 6, his season ERA stood at 4.09. As he walked off the field on Saturday night, it had dipped to an even 3.00.
The last out _ which might have been his biggest of the game _ came with a price. With two outs in the sixth, Miguel Cabrera came up to the plate with Alex Avila as the tying run on first base. With Andrew Miller warming in the bullpen, the Indians chose to stick with Clevinger, who was facing Cabrera for the third time. Cabrera made solid contact, hitting a ball back up the middle that struck Clevinger and dribbled away. Clevinger corralled it, threw Cabrera out at first base and walked to the dugout to a large ovation from the home crowd.
The Indians (47-39) brought home their first run of the game with a two-out rally in the fifth. Francisco Lindor extended the inning with a single to left field. He then took off for second base on a pitch to Michael Brantley, which Brantley drilled into the gap in right-center field to easily allow Lindor to score from first.
In the eighth, facing Tigers reliever Bruce Rondon, the Indians added some insurance runs. Carlos Santana doubled to right-center, scoring Lonnie Chisenhall, who drew a walk in an 11-pitch at-bat. Bradley Zimmer followed with an RBI triple to the gap in right-center a few pitches later. Yan Gomes then scored Zimmer on a sacrifice fly to center field, putting the Indians on top 4-0.
The Indians' bullpen put forth another shutdown performance. Miller started the seventh and pitched two scoreless innings and Cody Allen worked the ninth, which became a non-save situation thanks to the three-run eighth.
The Indians might have received some bad news, though, in the third inning. Jason Kipnis tapped a ball back to Verlander (5-6) on the mound. While running out the play, Kipnis came up hobbling just before he reached first base and then walked off the field slowly.
Kipnis exited the game with a right hamstring injury and was replaced by Erik Gonzalez. There were no further updates during the game.
With Saturday night's sellout in their 44th home game of the season, the Indians topped one million fans this year at Progressive Field. Last year, it took 52 home games to draw a million fans.
