Player of the Game
Ryan Raburn was pretty much the only who did anything offensively for the Tribe tonight, although his defense did cost the team a run. It was a Raburn solo home run in the second that scored the only Indians run of the night and his single in his next at bat was the only Indians hit from the first batter in the third to the first batter in the seventh. His defensive gaff wasn’t as bad as some in the past have been either as a bad hop allowed a ball to get by him in right, but it was stopped by the wall, keeping the speedy Ian Kinsler to a double. This was just Raburn’s second Player of the Game of the season.

Feathers Up
Whether David Price was letting up after two outs or it was just plain luck, the Indians first four hits and first run came with just one out left in each of the first two innings. It was Michael Brantley who had the first hit of the game with a single in the first, then Ryan Raburn hit the first pitch thrown after the second out was recorded over the wall in left for the first run of the game. Two more Indians reached on a Lonnie Chisenhall single and Mike Aviles double before the final out was made, but neither was able to score.

While things got a little crazy in the seventh, when the Tigers put four runs on the board, credit has to be given to Carlos Carrasco, who did a great job limited an incredibly potent lineup. Carrasco gave up just seven hits through 6.1 innings and struck out five. He legitimately gave up the first three runs of the game, but the fourth scored after C.C. Lee was brought into the game and it looked as if Carrasco could have finished the inning.

Jason Giambi pinch hit and walked in his only at bat in the ninth, but that isn’t the reason he gets a ‘Feathers Up’. He was able to score from first on a double to the gap in right from Lonnie Chisenhall, running harder than he has in two years. Despite being down by six with two outs in the ninth, both Chisenhall and Giambi were still putting out maximum effort.

Feathers Down
More than even perennial MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera and his partner in crime, Victor Martinez, J.D. Martinez continues to destroy Indians pitching. Tonight, it was his two run home run in the fourth that gave the Tigers the 3-1 lead and his two run double in the seventh that pushed it to 6-1. Adding that to his previous numbers, he now has more home runs (six), RBI (18) and runs scored (11) against the Indians than against any other team.

C.C. Lee and Marc Rzepczynski were only able to retire a single batter in relief as they turned a 3-1 Detroit lead into a 7-1 blow out. Lee walked Torii Hunter, then gave up two hits to score the runner left by Carrasco and two of his own. Rzepczynski wasn’t much relief either as Alex Avila hit a ball against the shift, down the third base line that let Martinez score from third. While the offense didn’t help either, with just one run on the night, it was the bullpen that removed any doubt from this game. With the loss, the Indians will have to win the next two games in this series to remain legitimate play-off contenders.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 – Detroit Tigers 7

Magic #: 13

On Deck: Game two of this three game series will also take place at 7:08 PM in Detroit, tomorrow night.