Javier Baez’s three-run homer in the second inning was all that six Detroit Tigers pitchers needed to beat the host Cleveland Guardians 3-0 on Thursday and split the four-game set.
Injuries within their starting rotation forced the Tigers into a bullpen game for the second time in three days. Tyler Horton opened that contest and did the same while going two innings on Thursday.
Easton Lucas (1-0), Alex Faedo, Jason Foley, Andrew Chafin and Shelby Miller (two saves) followed, and held the AL Central-leading Guardians to four hits and a walk, while recording 10 total strikeouts and not allowing more than one runner on base in any inning.
Baez, meanwhile, clubbed just his second homer in his disappointing season for the Tigers, who rebounded after suffering back-to-back one-run losses following an 8-2 victory in Monday’s opener. Detroit is 12-5 since July 5, and 6-5 against the Guardians this season.
Baez’s homer proved to be the only major mistake made by Cleveland starter Gavin Williams (0-3), who delivered a serviceable performance while also yielding six hits and two walks and fanning nine over 105 pitches in six innings. The Guardians are 10-14 since June 26, and they been shut out five times in the last 14 contests.
The Tigers stranded two runners in the first inning against Williams but didn’t squander the same opportunity in the second.
Bligh Madris opened that frame with his first hit as a Tiger and went to second on Jake Rogers’ one-out single to left field. Then the underachieving Baez, whose only other 2024 homer came against Minnesota on April 14, drove a hanging cutter 409 feet into the left-field seats for a 3-0 Detroit lead.
Madris went 3-for-4 for the Tigers, who have won seven of their last 10 road games.
Three of Cleveland’s four hits went for doubles, but it was 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. The Guardians are among the majors’ best teams at home with a 33-15 mark, but they went 3-4 on this post-All-Star break stretch in Cleveland.