Reyes homers twice, Plesac strong as Indians beat Tigers

<p>CLEVELAND &mdash; Franmil Reyes homered twice and Zach Plesac pitched seven dominant innings after getting an early lead to give the Cleveland Indians a 4-1 win Friday night over the Detroit Tigers, who scratched starter Julio Teheran just before the first pitch.</p>
<p>Reyes hit a two-run homer in the first off emergency starter Derek Holland (0-1) and added a 446-foot solo shot in the sixth to make it 4-0.</p>
<p>Plesac (1-1) pitched scoreless ball, allowing just three singles while improving to 3-1 in five career starts against the Tigers. He’s given up three earned runs in 30 2/3 innings to Detroit.</p>
<p>The Tigers avoided being shut out when Wilson Ramos homered off Bryan Shaw in the eighth.</p>
<p>Emmauel Clase worked the ninth for his first save with Cleveland and the second of his career. He got one with Texas in 2019.</p>
<p>Detroit was forced to make the pregame pitching change after Teheran complained of tightness in his right triceps while warming up. The right-hander beat the Indians in his debut for the Tigers last week, allowing one run and four hits in five innings.</p>
<p>But when he felt discomfort while warming up in the Progressive Field bullpen, the team wasn’t taking any chances.</p>
<p>It was the first road game for first-year Tigers manager A.J. Hinch after Detroit played its first six at Comerica Park.</p>
<p>Reyes’ 409-foot liner into the left-field bleachers gave the Indians a 3-0 lead in the first, which began with the announcement that Teheran wouldn’t be pitching.</p>
<p>Holland, who made five starts for Pittsburgh last season, gave up a pair of singles and a fielder’s choice RBI to Eddie Rosario before Reyes connected for his second homer, providing Plesac with a welcomed three-run cushion.</p>
<p>In the sixth, Reyes ripped a 2-2 pitch from Fulmer over the wall in center and into some still blooming trees inside Heritage Park.</p>
<p>MIGGY WATCH</p>
<p>Detroit slugger Miguel Cabrera went 0 for 4.</p>
<p>He entered the series one hit shy of tying Jesse Burkett (2,870) for 46th place in MLB history, and four hits behind Babe Ruth (2,873) for 45th.</p>
<p>TIGER TALE</p>
<p>Rookie Akil Baddoo didn’t add another chapter to his story-book start, going 0 for 2 with a walk.</p>
<p>Detroit’s 22-year-old rookie homered on the first pitch in his first major-league at-bat and connected for a grand slam in his second game. On Thursday, he entered as a pinch-runner in the eighth and delivered a walk-off RBI single in the 10th.</p>
<p>According to Elias Sports Bureau, Baddoo is the first player since 1900 to begin his career with multiple homers, including a grand slam, in his first three games.</p>
<p>FLAMETHROWER</p>
<p>Clase threw nine pitches over 100 mph in his appearance Wednesday against Kansas City. In just two games, the right-hander had already thrown more triple-digit pitches (18) than all Cleveland pitchers combined since 2008.</p>
<p>FAST COMPANY</p>
<p>Indians manager Terry Francona believes there’s numerous reasons for pitchers throwing harder than in the past, and one is today’s pitches are recorded when the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand.</p>
<p>“I don’t want to be the old guy that’s like ‘They don’t throw like when I (played)’," he said. “I’d be willing to go out on a limb and say if Nolan Ryan was pitching today, he would be one of the hardest throwers. He’d take your breath away. Literally.”</p>
<p>Francona faced the Hall of Famer 42 times in his career.</p>
<p>“I don’t think that was in his speech,” Francona joked without mentioning he batted .225 (9 of 40) against Ryan.</p>
<p>TRAINER’S ROOM</p>
<p>Tigers: Pitching coach Chris Fetter rejoined the team after testing positive for COVID-19. Hinch said Fetter took some playful ribbing from players on the trip to Cleveland, but added everyone is happy to have him back.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Indians RHP Aaron Civale (1-0) starts against Tarik Skubal (0-0) for the second time in a week. Civale allowed just two hits in seven innings in beating Detroit on April 4. Skubal pitched into the sixth, and left with a lead but Cleveland scored seven runs off Tigers relievers.</p>
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