Rookie Aaron Civale scattered two hits and struck out six over six innings in his major league debut as the host Cleveland Indians recorded a 2-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.

Jose Ramirez ripped an RBI triple in the second inning and rookie Oscar Mercado had an RBI single in the third for the Indians, who have won seven of their last nine overall.

Cleveland, which moved a season-high six games over .500, has outscored Detroit by a 34-12 margin over the past nine days to win each of the five encounters.

JaCoby Jones and Niko Goodrum each collected two of the six hits for the Tigers, who have surrendered for 53 runs while losing seven of their last eight games.

With his family and girlfriend in attendance, Civale (1-0) showed little in the way of nerves hours after being recalled from Triple-A Columbus. The 24-year-old struck out the side in the first inning and fanned Nicholas Castellanos in the fourth, leading to the sixth ejection of the season by Detroit manager Ron Gardenhire after he had words with plate umpire Roberto Ortiz.

Nick Wittgren struck out two in the seventh inning and Adam Cimber retired both batters he faced to finish off the eighth after Jones led off the frame with a double to left field.

Brad Hand overcame back-to-back one-out singles in the ninth inning to strike out the next two batters for his 22nd save in as many opportunities.

Cleveland gave Civale all the offense he would need in the second inning.

Jason Kipnis singled to lead off the frame before coming around to score after Ramirez deposited a 1-1 curveball from rookie Spencer Turnbull (3-7) into right field for an RBI triple.

Mercado avenged a base-running blunder that ended the first inning with a run-scoring single to center field in the third to give the Indians a 2-0 lead.

Prior to the game, Cleveland designated struggling outfielder Leonys Martin for assignment. The 31-year-old Martin batted .199 with nine homers and 19 RBIs in 65 games this season.

Turnbull allowed two runs and six hits over five innings.

--Field Level Media