Tribe keeps Sox winless

Photo by: Tony Dejak

AP

Photo

Cleveland Indians catcher Carlos Santana, left, tags out Boston Red Sox's J.D. Drew in the second inning in a baseball game Tuesday, April 5, 2011, in Cleveland. Drew tried to score on a single by Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Four games into the season, the team that was supposed to win it all hasn’t won at all.

This isn’t what the Red Sox expected.

Josh Tomlin outpitched Boston’s Josh Beckett, Cleveland came up with just enough timely hits and the Indians kept the Red Sox winless so far this season with a 3-1 victory Tuesday night over the team many predicted would make it to the World Series this season.

“It’s not a lot of fun,” manager Terry Francona said. “But I don’t think anyone is going to feel sorry for us. We’ve got to play the game right and things will work out.”

Tomlin (1-0) allowed one run and three hits in seven innings, taming a Boston lineup that has yet to find its groove. Francona tried juggling his batting order, moving Carl Crawford into the No. 2 hole, but it had little impact and Boston’s team average dropped to .186.

“We need some kind of spark right now,” said Crawford, signed as a free agent in December. “It’s a little surprising, frustrating. We’ve got high hopes for this season.”

Tony Sipp worked a perfect eighth before Indians closer Chris Perez made things interesting in the ninth. He gave up a one-out single to Dustin Pedroia and a two-out walk to Kevin Youkilis before retiring David Ortiz on a liner to left for his first save.

Beckett (0-1) couldn’t stop the Red Sox from falling to 0-4, their worst start since opening 0-6 in 1996.

Still, the right-hander isn’t panicking.

“There’s too much history here,” he said. “Everyone here knows how to win. We’ll figure it out. We know what we’ve got to do.”

Orlando Cabrera, Jack Hannahan and Carlos Santana drove in runs for Cleveland.

Indians manager Manny Acta said before the game that he didn’t expect Tomlin, who went 6-4 in 12 starts after being recalled from the minors last July, to be intimidated by Boston’s loaded lineup.