Drese perseveres to win his second start in row for Tribe

The former Scrapper was inconsistent, but got help from Cleveland's offense.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CLEVELAND -- Call it an adventure. Record it as a win.
Ryan Drese didn't exactly overwhelm the Minnesota Twins or the Indians faithful.
But the right-hander did just enough to win his second consecutive start of the season Monday while benefiting from a potent Cleveland offense.
"I'm happy we won, but I need to do a better job," said Drese. "I need to stay aggressive and put pressure on the hitters, instead of making bad pitches and giving them easy pitches to swing at."
Travis Fryman's grand slam in the third inning gave Drese a 7-4 lead and enough of a cushion on a cool, soggy day.
"The offense did an awesome job," Drese said. "It really put some life in me out there on the mound. They picked me up big-time."
Start not good: Drese, who allowed four earned runs and eight hits in five innings, didn't look as if he would be around long. His pitch count was up, and Twins batters were teeing off on the former Mahoning Valley Scrapper.
"He was a little nervous, a little jittery," Indians manager Charlie Manuel said of Drese. "His command was not as good as it can be; that's the inexperienced part showing.
"He gutted it out for five innings," Manuel added. "He did good for where he's at. As the season goes on, we should see improvement from the starting pitching."
Drese's trouble started in the first inning when Minnesota took a 2-0 lead with the aid of three hits, including a double, two walks and a wild pitch.
"I made some bad pitches," said Drese, who walked five and struck out five. "I left the ball up, and they got hits."
Prevented run: Indians center-fielder Milton Bradley prevented another run in the inning when he threw out David Ortiz at home.
"That was huge. That takes a big load off of me," Drese said of the defensive play. "That lets me know these guys have my back."
Each time Drese struggled, he was bailed out by the Indians offense, which produced three runs in the first inning, two of which came on Ellis Burks' home run.
"These guys can hit," said Drese, who went 1-2 with a 3.44 earned-run average in nine appearances and four starts with the Indians last season. "I've been saying that all along."
Got out of jam: Drese loaded the bases again in the second but came away unscathed.
The Twins regained the lead, 4-3, in the third inning when Drese allowed two more runs on two doubles and a walk. He saved himself by snagging a hard liner off the bat of Cristian Guzman to end the inning.
"I need to get off to a better start," Drese said. "You don't want to give up any runs, especially early. You don't want to fall in a hole before we even hit."
Drese surrendered four runs on eight hits in his first three innings while throwing 81 pitches.
"I was battling myself because I wasn't making the pitches I wanted to make," he said.
Recovered: After Fryman's grand slam, Drese settled. A walk to Torii Hunter was his only blemish in the fourth before he retired the Twins in order in the fifth.
"I was really in a groove in that fifth inning," Drese said. "I was throwing the ball downhill and I was hitting my spots."
Ricardo Rincon, Mark Wohlers and David Riske followed Drese to the mound to finish the game -- and the adventure.
richesson@vindy.com