Indians Shutout the Tigers 5-0

It was a more than nice opening to the series against the Detroit Tigers.  The 5-0 victory was one of the better games of the season for the Indians.

Paul Byrd was sharp until the last out in the eighth, surrendering only four hits.  The only real challenging inning he had up to that point was when Curtis Granderson tagged him for a lead-off double in the sixth.  Granderson was still standing on second when the last out was recorded in the inning.

The Indians offense did their part in the victory.  Grady Sizemore opened the game with a lead-off double after falling behind 1-2 in the count.  The double missed being a home run by about a foot when it careened off the wall.  Franklin Gutierrez grounded out, but moved Sizemore over to third. 

After Ben Francisco was plunked by a pitch that Detroit pitcher Kenny Rodgers complained Francisco made no effort to move out of the way of, Jhonny Peralta hit into a fielder’s choice, but hustled down the line, avoiding the double play and scoring Sizemore.  Shoppach grounded out, but the Indians were on the board.

In the bottom of the third, they’d extend the lead by one.  Gutierrez singled with one out, and Peralta doubled him home, making it 2-0 Tribe.

The bottom of the sixth broke the tightly contested game open. 

Kelly Shoppach started off the inning with a homerun on a 3-1 count.  Andy Marte flied out for the first out of the inning, then Ryan Garko doubled to left.  After a Gonzalez strikeout, Asdrubal Cabrera put the icing on the cake, hitting a homerun on a 2-0 count and giving the Indians a 5-0 lead.

The Tigers finally put Byrd in a bit of trouble in the seventh.  Granderson singled with one out.  Polanco fouled out, then Byrd walked Guillen.  Byrd, already over 100 pitches was relieved by Edward Mujica.  He got Maglio Ordonez to ground into an inning-ending fielder's choice, preserving the five run lead.

Mujica would close out the ninth with a fly-out sandwiched in between a pair of strikeouts.  He is really establishing himself as the setup man and possibly the inside track guy for the closer position. 

The Indians logged 10 hits total.  Sizemore, Shoppach, and Garko had two hits apiece, while Gutierrez, Peralta, Gonzalez, and Cabrera each had one. 

Paul Byrd gets to 5-10 on the season with the win.  Kenny Rogers is 8-7 and takes the loss.  Game two of the four game set is a 7:05 start time featuring 8-4 Righty Armando Gallaraga (3.27 ERA) against 1-1 righty Matt Ginter (2.45 ERA).