Tribe blanked in opener, 6-0

By PAUL HOYNES

The Plain Dealer

CHICAGO

For the second time in five years, Jake Westbrook pitched the season opener against Mark Buehrle.

The venue, U.S. Cellular Field, was the same. So were the teams — Cleveland for Westbrook, Chicago for Buehrle.

Performance-wise, Buehrle was the same. So were the Indians hitters facing Buehrle. The only difference was Westbrook and it cost the Indians in a 6-0 loss to the White Sox on a sunny Monday afternoon on the south side of Chicago.

Westbrook, pitching in a big-league game for the first time since facing the White Sox on May 5, 2008, because of surgery on his right elbow, allowed five runs on five hits in four innings. He tied a franchise record with four wild pitches.

Westbrook felt he did a good job handling the nervous energy that comes with making an Opening Day start.

“I think I’m done with the excuses of not pitching in over a year and a half,” said Westbrook. “Now it’s a matter of getting better. I didn’t pitch well and it hurt us.”

Manager Manny Acta, in his first regular-season game with the Indians, described Westbrook as “jumpy.”

“He threw the ball OK,” said Acta. “I don’t think he had his best command. It doesn’t matter what you say and how long a guy has been around. It’s still opening day for a guy who hasn’t been out there for almost two years. He was a little bit antsy.

“The game belonged to Buehrle. He threw a fantastic ball game. He didn’t do anything new. He pitches. He threw strikes, changed speed and we couldn’t do anything against him.”

Buehrle threw seven scoreless innings. He held the Indians to three singles on 95 pitches. J.J. Putz and Matt Thornton completed the four-hitter with a scoreless inning each.

In the fifth, Buehrle made one of the best plays ever by a pitcher or any other position player. With one out, catcher Lou Marson sent a hard bouncer back to the mound. Buehrle stuck a leg out and deflected the ball toward the first baseline.

Buehrle, in hot pursuit, cut in front of Marson on the baseline, grabbed the ball and flipped it between his legs with his glove, sight unseen, toward first base as he fell. First baseman Paul Konerko snatched it out of the air barehanded to get Marson by a half step.

“The best play I’ve ever seen,” said Indians right fielder Shin-Soo Choo.

Westbrook started the game with consecutive ground ball outs against Juan Pierre and Gordon Beckham.

Carlos Quentin bounced a double off the right field fence. Konerko followed with a two-run homer to right for a 2-0 lead.

The White Sox made it 4-0 in the third as Westbrook threw two of his four wild pitches.

The wild pitches all came on change ups that Westbrook was trying to throw in the dirt. The problem was he was bouncing them in front of the plate.

“That’s on me,” said Marson. “I’ve got to do a better job of blocking that ball and keeping it in front of me.”