Gomez tames Tigers for a Tribe sweep

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Jeanmar Gomez and Jhonny Peralta were both a bit breathless in the Cleveland Indians’ clubhouse — one because of delight, the other from sheer exhaustion.

Peralta’s flyball sent Detroit’s Ryan Rayburn crashing through a bullpen door for an inside-the-park homer, and Gomez won his major league debut as Cleveland beat the Tigers 7-2 Sunday for a four-game sweep.

Gomez (1-0), called up from Triple-A Columbus, allowed two unearned runs over seven innings.

“You couldn’t have scripted it any better,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “The kid was basically lights out.”

The 22-year-old right-hander was staked to a 3-0 lead in the first inning when Peralta legged out his seventh homer.

With runners on first and second and two outs, Peralta drove a 1-1 pitch from Andy Oliver (0-4) toward the Cleveland bullpen in center.

Raburn tried for a leaping catch, but tumbled through the bullpen door.

The ball caromed off the wall and by the time left fielder Brennan Boesch could retrieve it, Peralta was chugging around the bases.

“It seemed like that’s the way things went this whole road trip,” Raburn said.

Peralta, one of the Indians’ slowest players, slid in ahead of the relay throw by shortstop Danny Worth.

“It was very hard, especially since I’ve been sick,” said Peralta, back after missing three games with a fever. “I was surprised.”

Cleveland earned its first four-game home sweep over the Tigers since 1991. Detroit was outscored in the series 21-8, has lost five in a row overall and fell to 16-29 on the road and 16-21 in the AL Central.

“Shame on us,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “This club appeared like it wasn’t ready to play this weekend and that’s the manager’s responsibility. That’s not the players. I’m shocked, really.

“This is not rocket scientist stuff,” Leyland added. “We didn’t play very well and they played outstanding.”

Gomez pitched a perfect game at Double-A Akron in May 2009, but was only 6-8 with a 5.70 ERA in 18 Triple-A starts this year. He replaced Justin Masterson, who tweaked an ankle while missing a step at home during the All-Star break and was moved back a day in the rotation.

“He just threw strikes and gave us a tremendous pick me up,” Acta said. “Too bad, but’s he’s going back.”

Acta explained that Gomez knew before taking the mound that he was headed back to the minors.

“He had his plane ticket in his hand when I went to talk to him and he said, ‘I know, it’s OK,’” Acta said.