The seeds of this victory were planted on Tuesday, against Corey Kluber, when the Detroit Tigers threatened in the first inning, chipped away later but could not break through.
On Wednesday afternoon, another top starting pitcher — right-hander Trevor Bauer, who finished sixth in AL Cy Young voting last season (Kluber finished third) — was on the mound for Cleveland.
“Nobody wants to show up to the field and see that they’re facing a Cy Young winner every day,” John Hicks said.
But this time around, facing another Cy Young-level pitcher with a similar repertoire, the Tigers made something of their hits.