July 16: Indians WIN 8-2
July 17: Indians WIN 4-3
July 17: Indians WIN 2-1 (11)
July 18: Indians WIN 7-2

Indians 2010 Record: 38-54

Max Scherzer showed a lack of control on the mound - walking five batters in five innings - and the Indians offense made him pay, tagging him for four runs, capped off by a two run home run by Andy Marte, which gave the Indians a 4-2 lead which they wouldn't surrender.  The Tribe offense got the second half of the season started right, continuing to pile four more runs onto the Detroit bullpen in the sixth inning, capped with their second two run homer of the game, this time from Austin Kearns.  All told, six Tribe batters drove in runs.

Fausto Carmona didn't have his best stuff Saturday - walking six batters and spotting Detroit a 3-0 lead in the first inning - but battled.  The Indians defense turned three double plays to help turn the tide.  Justin Verlander faltered as well, walking five and allowing a run to score on one of his two wild pitches.  The Tribe offense did the rest.  Andy Marte, Jason Donald and Michael Brantley opened the third inning with three straight base hits, scoring two runs.  In the bottom of the seventh, with two outs and the score tied at three, Trevor Crowe singled in Matt LaPorta for the go ahead run.  Joe Smith, Rafael Perez and Chris Perez then combined to shut out the Tigers for the last two innings.

Mitch Talbot battled for five innings, yielding only one run and the Indians bullpen strung together six shutout innings as the Tribe and Tigers played into the wee hours of the morning following a two hour rain delay that held up the second game of a doubleheader.  Carlos Santana homered in the fourth and Austin Kearns connected for the game winning single with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning, completing the doubleheader sweep for the Indians and handing them their third straight win to start the second half of the season.

Jhonny Peralta got the final game of the four game series off to an exciting start with a three run inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the first.  Jason Donald, Matt LaPorta and Jayson Nix each drove in a run and Trevor Crowe scored on a throwing error as the Indians tallied another big offensive night.  Jeanmar Gomez made his major league debut for the Tribe and pitched seven innings, allowing only two unearned runs as the Tribe swept the four game series from their division rivals.

Four straight wins in the division against a Detroit team that passed up a golden opportunity to run down the White Sox for the division lead.  The Indians had two big offensive games in the series, got good to great starting pitching and the bullpen was lights out.  Four wins that were all-around efforts for the team as they start off the second half of the season the right way.

I just want to see them keep it up - and make the money I'm spending on mlb.tv worth it.

I'm glad Peralta gave Gomez a lead and that he did something with it. Inside-the-park homers are usually due to some really aggressive defensive play and this was no different.