Detroit Tigers left-hander Tyler Alexander has made seven starts this season but only three since his late-July switch from the bullpen to the rotation. In his latest outing, he pitched into the seventh inning for the first time this season.
The Cleveland Guardians, though, scored once in the fifth and sixth innings, and without any support from the Tigers' offense, Alexander couldn't win his matchup with right-hander Shane Bieber in Tuesday's three-game series opener at Comerica Park.
The Tigers lost, 5-2.
Bieber, the 2020 American League Cy Young winner who features as a pair of nasty breaking balls, shut down the Tigers (43-68) across seven scoreless innings.