Nick Wittgren pitched a perfect eighth. JaCoby Jones made it 3-1 with a pinch-hit double in the ninth before Brad Hand finished for his fifth save.

“We still had our chance there at the end, which was kind of exciting,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said. “We had an opportunity to get to their closer and just missed a couple of balls.”

Spencer Turnbull (2-1) gave up three runs on six hits and four walks in 4 2/3 innings.

“He was misfiring and just getting behind everybody,” Gardenhire said. “He’s got such good stuff that he never blew up, but he had ninety-something pitches in 4 2/3 innings.”

Jose Ramirez hit a two-run double with the bases loaded in the Cleveland third. Franmil Reyes grounded into an inning-ending double play to help Turnbull escape without further damage.

“I was a little worried when we let them off the hook there,” Francona said. “You don’t want that to come back and cost you a ballgame, but Jose is doing a great job of giving us energy at the plate and on the bases.”

Carlos Santana made it 3-0 with an RBI double in the fifth, finishing Turnbull.

Cleveland loaded the bases in the eighth with no one out, but Bryan Garcia got out of it with a popup, a strikeout and a flyball.