*Photo from Reuters*
It was a road game, but a day off for the fielder's with this pitcher on the mound. Eduardo Rodriguez shined, 4 different players drove in runs, and the Detroit Tigers shut out the Cleveland Guardians 5-0 on Wednesday in Cleveland.
The Tigers improved to 7-3 in their last 10 games and 17-19 on the season, sitting in second place in the AL Central, one ahead of the Guardians. On the mound, Rodriguez upped his scoreless innings streak to 19 1/3 and has a 0.43 ERA since April 12.
Starting the scoring right away were the Tigers in the first inning. Riley Greene got the job done, grounding out to second base with Zach McKinstry crossing the plate to make it a 1-0 lead. Andy Ibanez then pushed the lead up to 2-0 later in the inning, doubling to right center field that scored Javier Baez from second base.
Two innings later, the Tigers extended the lead. Spencer Torkelson did the honors, hitting an RBI single that brought in Baez to make it a 3-0 game. Next, Akil Baddoo drove in a few more runs. He doubled to right field and advanced to 3rd base on an error, bringing in Ibanez and Torkelson to make it a 5-0 score.
Rodriguez toed the rubber in the series finale for the Tigers, pitching 7 shutout innings while allowing 4 hits and two walks, striking out 8 hitters to get the win. Jason Foley pitched a scoreless 8th inning before Chasen Shreve worked the 9th inning.
Asked about his mentality on the mound, Rodriguez said it was "Just keep going out there and post zeroes. I don’t think about how many games I’ve been pitching good. Just go out there and keep doing it."
Peyton Battenfield got the start for the Guardians, getting charged with 5 runs on 7 hits in 6 innings to get the loss. Enyel De Los Santos, Nick Sandlin, and Eli Morgan each pitched scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
Cleveland hitting coach Chris Valaika said of the hitting struggles that "We can’t keep making excuses like we had the same record last year and things like that. I think there’s different expectations, not just internally but externally, that we have to live up to. And we’re going to keep competing. It’s a long season, and weather the storm right now."
Up next, both teams resume their schedules with Friday night home games. The Tigers welcome the Seattle Mariners to town, with Matthew Boyd starting the series opener. Logan Allen starts for the Guardians against the Los Angeles Angels.
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