Indians beat Tigers 5-2 to complete three-game sweep

It was a sweep Sunday at Progressive Field for the Indians. It was pretty sweet, too. Getting enough in every department, Cleveland beat Detroit for the third straight time, notching its fourth straight win overall via a 5-2 victory over the Tigers. The Indians avenged a season-opening series loss to the Tigers, who took two of three games at Comerica Park. "It's big, man, especially when we started the year against them and they won the first two games," Franmil Reyes said. "We knew we had to win this series and we get it. We sweep them. Now we go to Chicago (for a four-game series against the White Sox) with the same mentality." Cleveland again got an effective outing from its starting pitcher, this time left-hander Logan Allen, who allowed a run on two hits while striking out five over five innings. No Indians starter has allowed more than three runs in an outing this season. Since 2020, Cleveland leads the majors with 47 games in which the pitching staff as a whole has allowed three runs or fewer. Allen got his first win but was prevented from going deeper by control problems — two walks and an earned run — in the opening inning that increased his pitch count. "It was very similar to his first start," manager Terry Francona said. "We looked up after two or three innings and I think there were 135 pitches (from) both sides and not many hits and not a lot of runs. "It was kind of a peculiar game. You look at the scoreboard and look at how many pitches were thrown, leadoff walks. But our guys hung tough and because of that we got a win." "It was just unnecessary to be honest," Allen said of his first-inning woes. "I've been doing that a few times lately, just trying to do way too much. I've just gotta settle myself down a little early. I wouldn't say it's emotions or anything. I was locked in, maybe a little too locked in is the best way I can describe it. "Being able to get through five after throwing 35 (pitches) in the first was definitely a positive point for me." The Indians had opportunities to break open the game the entire afternoon, getting leadoff doubles in three of the first six innings, but managed only three runs and a one-run advantage. They finally secured a comfortable three-run cushion with two in the eighth inning thanks to a couple of errors by right fielder Nomar Mazara and a Reyes single. The Indians designated hitter had a big series, going 6-for-11 with three home runs and five RBIs. He has hits in seven of Cleveland's eight games. "When he gets in a rhythm like this, he's doing his thing, he's being himself, there's not a lot of better hitters on the planet to be honest," said Allen, who arrived from San Diego in the same trade as Reyes. The right-handed hitting Reyes has been trying to go to the opposite field. It's an approach that has served him well thus far. "Me as a big hitter, I'm trying to always focus on the outside part (of the plate)," he said. "If you come in, I'm going to react to it, but my approach is always to go the other way." "That is a great approach," Francona said. "And if he does that, if he stays with that, he becomes so much more dangerous." Nick Wittgren allowed a solo home run to permit the Tigers to creep within a run in the seventh inning, but bullpen mates James Karinchak and Emmanuel Clase shut Detroit down in the eighth and ninth. Karinchak walked the leadoff batter before striking out the side. Francona turned to Clase for the second straight time with a save opportunity in the ninth. Like Karinchak, the right-hander walked the leadoff batter and then allowed a one-out single before getting a game-ending double play. Veteran Bryan Shaw worked a 1-2-3 sixth inning. "The bullpen's unbelievable," Allen said. "That's something that definitely gets overlooked. Uncle Bryan came in there and the rest of the boys and took care of business, man. It fired me up just as much as it did me getting through five. "You have Clase throwing 100 (mph) when we're in a three-run ballgame. Our pen has it. We have the dudes. We have the ability. It's gonna be exciting to see how this turns out over the next five, six months." Reyes said there's a different buzz when the hard-throwing Clase takes the mound. "It's something that kind of fires me up, like 'Here comes the big guy. There's no chance they're getting anything on this guy,'" he said. Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on Twitter.