Two of the AL’s hottest teams kicked off a 4-game set on Monday. I didn’t get to see the game — where are you, MLB Network? — but I thought I’d try a running diary from the printed play-by-play, as it happened. With condolences to my Tribe-fan friends, who probably won’t read this anyway:

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1st/Top — Corey Kluber on the hill. He’s faced the Tigers three times this year, with mixed results (two quality starts, one crowning). Just his luck, Miguel Cabrera‘s in the lineup after 4 games out; Miggy’s 7 for 14 with 3 HRs in this matchup. But another tormentor, Jhonny Peralta (5-13, 2 doubles), will miss this game and many more.

Austin Jackson fouls out. Torii Hunter‘s liner finds grass down the LF line, but Michael Brantley hustles over and gets off a perfect one-hop throw to second — assist #10, 2nd among all outfielders. Cabrera follows with a single to RF, and takes 2nd on a Drew Stubbs bobble. But Kluber fans Prince Fielder on three pitches. Prince’s output has been melting away, hitting .208 his last 41 games with 22 RBI and 10 GDPs.

1st/Bottom — Anibal Sanchez going for the Bengals, his 9-7 record and 2.59 ERA (next to Max Scherzer‘s 16-1, 2.85 and Doug Fister‘s 10-5, 3.52) reflecting the vagaries of pitcher wins.

The Tribe goes quickly on three grounders, 11 pitches. Michael Bourn tries a bunt, but catcher Alex Avila‘s on it. Bourn owns 65 bunt hits, but his attempts have declined from a high of 17-for-32 in 2009, to 7-16 last year and now 2-7.

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2nd/Top — Victor Martinez starts off 0-and-2, works full and singles. His recovery is still mainly singles, but you can’t argue with .354 in his last 37 games. Andy Dirks walks on 5 pitches — a gift, as he’s shown none of the spark he had last year when he batted .322. Avila drives one to the left-center gap, but not much falls there when Michael Bourn is on patrol, and Avila’s now 14 for 66 with RISP. Kluber runs a full count on Jose Iglesias and gets a 6-4 forceout, men on the corners for .200-hitting Ramon Santiago, who grounds to 1st. (How can you post a 51 OPS+ two years in a row?)

2nd/Bottom — Sanchez works carefully to Asdrubal Cabrera, the only Indian with a home run against him. On 3-and-1, Cabrera rides it to left, but Dirks gloves it just before the wall. Brantley singles, and he’ll look to run — thieves are 87-12 in Sanchez’s career, 13-1 this year. And there he goes, on a 1-1 pitch, safe at 2nd; Avila has just 11 CS against 53 steals. Now full to Carlos Santana; downside of the steal is it puts the first baseman back in position, and Santana’s hitting .382 with a man on 1st. It’s moot, as he takes strike three. Now the Giamb-father(?), the active #3 in HRs and RBI. It’s 2-and-0, a pitch-around for Lonnie Chisenhall? Nope, Sanchez comes in, and it’s a base hit to center, the Tribe jumps on top! Giambi’s hitting .200, but 11-34 with RISP. Now Chisenhall hits the first pitch, very deep to right-center; Austin Jackson tracking back, might have a play; he leaps at the wall and pulls it down! Not a home-run theft, but he probably saved a run, and suddenly the one they scored doesn’t seem so big. Still, Brantley’s steal was a big deal.

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3rd/Top — First pitch, and “Jackson out on batter’s interference to catcher.” Doesn’t that usually go the other way? Anyhow, Hunter whiffs, and Miggy grounds to Kluber — a quick shutdown inning.

3rd/Bottom — Stubbs takes strike three, the 14th called strike of the game, split evenly. Bourn goes down swinging, and Nick Swisher gets down 0-2, works it even, but lines out to Hunter. He’s slugging .299 in his last 49 games, with 13 RBI.

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4th/Top — Fielder lines to Stubbs in RF. V-Mart goes 0-and-2 again, and singles again. But Dirks hits to Asdrubal, and Jason Kipnis turns it over. Despite their #1 OBP and an average of 16 DPs apiece by Fielder, Miggy and V-Mart, Detroit’s league-average in GDP%, as are the Indians in turning them.

4th/Bottom — Kipnis and Cabrera go down on strikes (7 pitches, 5 swing-and miss), but Brantley singles on 1-2. Here we go again? No need; Santana booms a double to right-center — it just missed going out — and Cleveland leads 2-0, bunching their hits. Sanchez hasn’t allowed more than 2 runs in 5 prior starts against the Tribe, all since 2012. Giambi fouls off three 0-2 offers, but succumbs at last. Six Ks for Sanchez, but it’s cost him 63 pitches through 4 innings. He’s averaging 16.3 pitches per inning this year, and just over 6 IP per game.

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5th/Top —  Bottom of the Bengals’ order. First two go full: Avila swings through, Iglesias taps to Kluber. Folks have called Jose a solid replacement for the suspended Peralta, by way of better glove work, but he’s another zero in the order — .622 OPS in the minors, with .057 isolated power (in the minors?), and the lucky hits have stopped falling in (13 for his last 74, no walks). Santiago singles on the first pitch, and now the slumping Jackson, hitting .201 last 33 games. One, two, three strikes, and down he goes. Four Ks, 71 pitches for Kluber; the game is moving fast.

In Chicago, the White Sox look to break their 10-game skid and start off with 5 quick singles worth 3 runs off Andy Pettitte, who rallies with a pair of Ks. But a 29-pitch 1st inning doesn’t bode well for Andy.

5th/Bottom — Chisenhall whiffs looking, Stubbs flies the first one out to left, and Bourn misses strike three. Eight Ks from 20 batters, but Sanchez still trails, 2-0. Meat of the order due up.

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6th/Top — Hunter down on strikes for the second time; 76 Ks and 18 walks this season, career-low walk rate — won’t be a shock if he collapses next year. Miggy grounds to 3B Chisenhall on 2-1; Lonnie hasn’t hit much, but his glove’s been solid. Fielder runs it full and fouls off four, pushing Corey near 90 pitches, but Prince finally misses. He’s already passed last year’s (career-low) 84 strikeouts.

6th/Bottom — Swisher battles, but he goes down swinging. Kipnis grounds to 2B Santiago on 3-1; first groundout since those three in the opening stanza. Cabrera draws the first walk, as Sanchez crosses 90 pitches, and here’s the pesky Brantley. But he flies to Dirks in left. Sanchez’s 0.4 HR/9 is lowest in the AL.

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7th/Top — Kluber’s already past his most troublesome innings — BA about .360, OPS .930 for the 5th and 6th combined. Two quick strikes on Martinez (again), but he hits one hard towards Stubbs; the RF gets turned around, but he reaches up in time. Now the non-hitting portion of the lineup: Dirks (a LF with a 79 OPS+?) bounces the first pitch up the middle, but Kipnis shows his range the other way and throws him out. Avila floats to left, and it’s a 7-pitch inning for Kluber. He’s gone 8+ innings three times in his last 10 starts.

7th/Bottom — Probably the final frame for Sanchez; he hasn’t topped 102 pitches in his last 8 starts. Santana grounds to Prince, and Giambi to a shifted Cabrera (slo-mo all around). Chisenhall whiffs on three, and that’s 10 strikeouts and a 9-pitch inning, 103 for the game. Maybe one more batter? The righty Stubbs will start the 8th, and he’s weak on RHPs.

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8th/Top — Kluber gets Iglesias on an 0-2 groundout, Kipnis diving into short RF to make the stop (and is Iglesias limping?). But Santiago singles to left, and that’s all for Corey, and a job well done; the righty-slayer Joe Smith comes on, with 3 straight RHBs due. Jackson gets down 0-2, but he beats out a roller towards 3rd, and Detroit has two on for the first time since the 2nd. Hunter fouls the first two, and drops a hit into RF — but Jackson’s thrown out at 2nd by Stubbs! (He must have rounded too far?) That’s a big fat boo-boo with Miggy coming up, 8-22 with 2 HRs off Smith. But he grounds out to Kipnis. Sorry, Anibal. His run support number is good, but it’s erratic; this would be his 6th loss when backed by 2 runs or less.

8th/Bottom — Anecdotally, this is when I expect a starter to give up another run or two — the letdown after a missed scoring chance, plus extending him a little bit. But Sanchez fans Stubbs on four pitches, and Bourn hits the first delivery on the ground to short. Now 3-and-1 to Swisher, danger moment … Swing-and-a-miss, but then he takes ball four, and that should end Anibal’s night; can’t let him face the lefty Kipnis with a man aboard. Sanchez does leave, with 11 strikeouts, his third-best output of the season, but right now he’s just a guy with an “L” hanging over his name … and oh, boy, it’s Phil Coke. Hope you enjoyed the game, folks; drive safely! Well, Coke hasn’t been lit up in his last few outings, and he still has solid stats against the lefties. Kipnis had a huge platoon hole last year, but this year he’s balanced, and he singles on a 1-0 pitch. Asdrubal’s a switch hitter, which means that Coke must go. But yikes again! — it’s Al-Al; if he throws a strike, it’s a miracle. But he does, and Cabrera grounds out to end the threat. Still 2-zip, Tribe.

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9th/Top — Closer Chris Perez comes in with a string of 11 straight saves converted since his DL stint, 2 runs in 19 innings in that time. But he goes 2-0 to Prince, who doubles to left. Detroit’s gotten to Perez just twice in 18 save chances. He’s up on V-Mart, 0-and-2, but there’s a line drive to left that puts the Tigers on the board! After three months’ futility, Victor’s spraying liners everywhere. A pinch-runner for Martinez, and a 3-1 count to Dirks. Santana’s highly vulnerable to steals (44 SB/6 CS), but Detroit is last in that department. No bother; Perez walks Dirks. It’s nervous time in Forest City. Ball one to Avila … And there it goes! A no-doubt 3-run blast, high over the sign in left-center saying, “Celebrate the Walk-Off.” Cody Allen replaces Perez, still no outs. Iglesias beats out a grounder to 3B (does he ever get one past the infield? Over one-third of his hits stay on the dirt), and Santiago bunts him up. Um … okay. Jackson misses strike three, but it gets past Santana, and Austin’s safe at first, Iglesias taking 3rd. One more hit would blow it open. Hunter’s been superb at getting that runner in, but not here — he fans for the 3rd time. Ball one to Miggy goes wild enough for Jackson to move up, so they pass Cabrera, and Prince rolls out to Kipnis. Joaquin Benoit will have to make do with a 2-run lead.

9th/Bottom — Brantley takes a strike, a ball, a strike, a ball, and flies to Jackson. Benoit hasn’t let a lead slip all year. Santana fouls off 1-and-2 to stay alive, but hits back to the mound. Now Giambi must get on; he’s 4th among actives in times on base. Jason takes a ball, then flies to Dirks. Game over.

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The comeback pads Detroit’s win streak to 9 games, pushing them 20 games over .500 (65-45) for the first time since the end of 2011, and makes them 10-3 against the Tribe this year, 6-1 in Cleveland. No matter what should happen in the next three games, they’ll leave town in first place. The Indians fall to 62-50 and a tie with Texas for a wild-card spot, pending Rangers-Angels later on. Tuesday’s scheduled starters are a matchup that once favored Detroit, but no longer: Justin Verlander (11-8, 3.88 ERA) vs. Justin Masterson (13-7, 3.33).

Avila’s hitting .199 with just 9 home runs this year (and that’s after a surge), but three of the HRs were huge — a tiebreaking slam off Stephen Strasburg last week, and a 9th-inning lead-flipper off Jose Veras (his new teammate) back in May.

Perez has blown three saves against the Tigers, each an epic meltdown. In April 2010, his first year closing, Perez had a 2-run lead, gave up 2 hits and 2 walks to shave the lead and load the bags, walked Johnny Damon on 4 pitches to tie it, then threw a wild pitch for the walk-off loss. Last August, the Tribe scored 3 in the top of the 10th (2 HRs off Benoit), and Perez retired the first two in the bottom half. Then he walked Avila and Dirks(!), Jackson doubled, Infante’s singled tied it, and Miggy cranked one.