It got them two wins tonight in Cleveland.
In a twi-night doubleheader, the Tigers beat the Indians twice, 1-0 and 6-2. They didn't need a relief pitcher in either game.
In Game 1, Vern Ruhle made a single run in the first inning hold up for the entire game, firing a six-hitter. Three Indians runners made it to second base but no further.
In Game 2, Lerrin LaGrow took the mound and, like Ruhle, never left it until the game's final out was recorded. The Tigers built a 6-0 lead and cruised. LaGrow limited the Tribe to eight scattered hits.
"Pitching, pitching, pitching," manager Ralph Houk said in opening his post-game statement after Game 2. "Tonight we got a ton of it."
Doubtless Houk was surprised to get through a twinbill without having to call on a reliever.
In the opener, Houk didn't dare, as Ruhle was in total control. In the nightcap, Houk resisted because, as he said, the Tigers' lead was comfortable enough to allow for some error.
Willie Horton (three-run shot, 13th) and Leon Roberts (two-run blast, 6th) hit homers in Game 2, supporting LaGrow.
In the opener, the Tigers used Ron LeFlore's speed to etch out a run.
The speedster led off the game with a base hit, stole second, and went to third on Gary Sutherland's fly ball. From there, LeFlore was plated by Dan Meyer's sacrifice fly.
Ruhle wiggled out of trouble all game long in spinning a shutout in Game 1
"You can't hit home runs all the time," Houk said. "We got a run there directly because of Ronnie's speed. And it held up."
Ruhle made sure of that. He put some runners on the base paths, but they were scattered and the Indians couldn't get the hit to break through. Ruhle walked five batters.
In the fourth, George Hendrick led off with a double but didn't get any further.
In the seventh, Oscar Gamble led off with a double. Rico Carty walked and the runners advanced to second and third after a ground out. Frank Duffy tried a squeeze bunt but it was hit too hard to Ruhle, who threw Gamble out at the plate. Ruhle got Buddy Bell to ground out to third to end the frame.
In fact, Ruhle's shutout was unusual in that in six of the nine innings, the Indians put the lead off man on yet couldn't score.
In the nightcap, the Tigers built a 6-0 lead by the fifth inning. Horton's moon shot into deep left center knocked Cleveland starter Dave Raich out of the game.
Notes: John Knox got a rare start at 2B in the night cap and had three singles...John Ellis caught both games for the Indians...In the second game, the Indians wore red jerseys with red pants...Cleveland relievers retired the last 14 Tigers hitters in a row in the second game, but the damage had been done...With the DH sweep, the Tigers escaped the AL East basement; they are now 1/2 game ahead of Cleveland.
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Tigers record: 30-42 (actual 27-45)
Home: 13-23
Away: 17-19
Last 10: 4-6
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