CLEVELAND — Manager AJ Hinch wasn’t playing any "scene of the crime" games Friday night. Yes, Progressive Field is where the Tigers’ playoff run ended last season. But as far as bringing any emotional leftovers into this series?

“No,” he said flatly. “This is a team we know well and it’s a team we’ve played a lot of close games with. But I don’t really want to go back to that time or think too much about it.

“Our hope of playing better baseball has nothing to do with Cleveland. It’s more about resetting after a tough series. We need to play better baseball for ourselves and for the competition.”

Why live in the past when the present is much brighter. The Tigers responded quite favorably. After a rough series in Washington, they responded with a pristine, 2-1 win over the Guardians in the first of three.

It was Cleveland’s eighth straight loss and dropped them 13.5 games behind the Tigers in the Central Division.

Wenceel Perez, almost single-handedly, reversed the course of this game – first with his throwing arm and then with his bat.

The Guardians were up 1-0 after Tiger-nemesis Jose Ramirez welcomed right-hander Reese Olson back with a rocket home run to right field. It was his 35th home run in 160 games against the Tigers.

And the Guardians were about to go up 2-0 in the second. Bo Naylor doubled and then tried to score on a hard-hit single to right field by Angel Martinez.

Perez charged the ball and threw a 97.9-mph seed to the plate. Catcher Dillon Dingler made a deft cross-body pick of the ball and in the same motion swept his tag across the plate.

Naylor was called out by home plate umpire Willie Traynor. The Guardians challenged and the ruling was upheld.

Then, as these things tend to go in baseball, Perez came up in the top of the third and walloped a 402-foot home run just short of the shrubs in center.

Zach McKinstry led off the fourth inning wit a solo home run to right field off a curveball by Guardians starter Slade Cecconi. It was McKinstry’s sixth homer and just the second Cecconi allowed off his floppy curveball.

The homers were the only damage against Cecconi in six strong innings.

Olson, meanwhile, had some rust to shake off in his first big-league start since May 18. He’d been on the injured list with inflammation in his right ring finger, an issue exacerbated by the way he releases his changeup.

The Guardians stacked their lineup with eight left-handed hitters, which meant heavy changeup usage would be vital.

It took a couple of innings for Olson to lock in his command. But after allowing five hits in the first two innings, he found his rhythm and allowed one other hit and a walk pitching into the fifth inning.

He was at 89 pitches after giving up a one-out single in the fifth and Hinch summoned lefty Tyler Holton. Well-timed.

With the bullpen taxed and with him being the only available lefty, Hinch asked him to get the game to the eighth inning where he could turn it over to Tommy Kahnle and Will Vest.

Holton accepted the challenge and was as sharp as he’s been this season. His four-seamer was hitting 94 mph, 3 mph firmer than his norm, and he was painting the edges with all of his secondary pitches.

He got through the fifth and then struck out the side in the sixth, all called third strikes. With his pitch count climbing over 40, he dispatched the last two batters in the Cleveland order and leadoff hitter Steven Kwan in the seventh.

Things got tense in the bottom of the eighth. Kahnle, coming off a brutal five-run outing in Washington, got the first two outs the walked Carlos Santana and gave up a two-strike single to Nolan Jones.

Hinch went to Vest at that point. Vest walked pinch-hitter David Fry to load the bases but ended the inning getting a rollover ground out from Daniel Schneemann.

Vest got the first two outs in the ninth and then things got tense again. Kwan lined a two-strike double down the left field line. With Ramirez on deck, Vest got Kyle Manzardo to bounce one back to him and he earned his 14th save.

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