Indians 8, Tigers 2: Welcome to the Second Half of the Season

In typical fashion, the Indians started off the second half with a bang Friday night, smashing the Detroit Tigers 8-2 at Progressive Field. Jake Westbrook looked like he was on pace for a off night after allowing an RBI single to Miguel Cabrera in the first, but the Tribe offense responded quickly to take over the game.

Trevor Crowe started his impressive night with a run-scoring triple in the second before later scoring on a fielder’s choice and even though Detroit tied the game in the fourth, the Indians still had plenty of time for the blowout. A two-run home run and a massive sixth inning later, and the Indians claimed victory over the over the second-place Tigers.

Follow along with the rest of the starts, notable highlights and some minor league action in dash form after the jump:

-Two-run home runs by both Andy Marte and Austin Kearns in this game as well as a double and a triple combination from Crowe. That’s usually going to be some victories for this team and it might make some decisions a little more difficult than previously expected for the rest of the season. Marte might be on the trading block, if possible, while who really knows if Kearns is any sort of a long-term option for the team as well.

– Michael Brantley continues to struggle at the plate, but at least finished 1-for-5 Friday night to snap his 0-for-21 streak entering the sixth inning. It is never a good thing to have a rookie with a .167 on-base percentage batting leadoff for a team that is already below average offensively, but hopefully things can continue to improve for the young center fielder.

– The young star sluggers on the Indians finished 0-for-5 as well but both contributed with their patience at the plate to assist in the offensive explosion. Carlos Santana drew a pair of walks and Matt LaPorta had one as well, scoring once each and Santana also drove in a run on a sacrifice fly as well. It surprised me to see the team collect 10 hits total without major contributions from either of these folks, but solid as well to see the walks are still there anyway.

– A decent but certainly not spectacular start tonight from Jake Westbrook. He allowed two runs in 5.2 innings before running into trouble in the sixth. He struck out five against only one walk, but still allowed five hits including a few dangerous runs to a potent Detroit team. He is now 6-5 with a 4.67 ERA this season, and could be another interesting puzzle for a potential Tribe trade deadline deal.

– One of the best moments of the night came before the offensive explosion, right when Westbrook got pulled in the top of the sixth inning. With two outs and speedy Austin Jackson on third base, Acta decided to bring in Joe Smith to face All-Star and MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera. That didn’t work too well as Cabrera drew the walk, forcing Tony Sipp into the game to now match up against impressive rookie Brennan Boesch. For once, the constant shuffling of the bullpen worked 100% magic as Sipp struck out Boesch to end the rally, preserve the 2-run advantage and prelude the rest of the blowout.

– David Huff suspiciously posted earlier in the day that he would make Cleveland’s spot-start on Sunday in the series finale. Then, the lefty removed his account entirely while Manny Acta declared the starter still had not been decided upon, but Huff was later scratched from his start for the Columbus Clippers. Justin Germano made the spot-start instead of the media notes-listed Huff, adding weight to the idea that the lefty will be back for just one outing on Sunday. Update: Anthony Castrovince reports now that Huff will NOT start tomorrow due to the Twitter controversy. Go figure.

– Update: Kerry Wood was just placed on the disabled list officially as of 10:46 a.m. this morning. The official injury is a blister on his right index finger, and he will be placed on the D.L. retroactive to July 12th. Reliever Jensen Lewis returned to Cleveland to take his spot in the bullpen, signaling this is indeed, just a short-term move.

– Down in Columbus, by the way, both Jared Goedert and Jordan Brown hit home runs in the first inning but the Clippers fell late in a 12-9 loss to the Norfolk Tide. Germano struggled in allowing four runs (one earned) in 3.2 innings pitched while Jeremy Sowers also had a bad night in allowing four runs out of the bullpen and taking the loss. Josh Rodriguez and Nick Weglarz each collected three hits, proving how no matter what, Columbus just continues to hit this season.

– Over in Akron, Eastern League All-Star Paolo Espino delivered six shutout innings to lead the way in an 8-1 blowout over the Erie SeaWolves. Quite ironic how Erie is an affiliate of the Tigers, and it was an impressive day all around for the entire Akron team. Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera started at DH and finished 0-for-2 with a pair of walks and run scored before being removed in the bottom of the seventh inning.

(Mark Duncan/AP)