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Pitching key to Tribe surge
AP
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Seattle Mariners second baseman Adam Kennedy, right, becomes tangled with Cleveland Indians' Asdrubal Cabrera after Kennedy tagged out Cabrera at second base in the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, April 10, 2011, in Seattle. Cabrera singled in a run on the play, but was caught at second base.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo
Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Josh Tomlin throws against the Seattle Mariners in the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, April 10, 2011, in Seattle.
By Paul Hoynes
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Few things are better than a big-league team on a hot streak. The hitters all look like Babe Ruth, the pitchers like Cy Young.
They can do no wrong. Even the umpires seem to be on their side.
The Indians have won seven straight. It’s their best start to a season since they went 11-1 in 2002. But everyone knows how 2002 ended.
It was the last gasp of the great Indians run that started in 1995. Manager Charlie Manuel was fired at the All-Star break. Former General Manager Mark Shapiro started his first serious rebuild of an aging roster.
When the season ended, the Indians were 74-88 and 20 games out of first place in the AL Central.
So just what are the concrete things the Indians can take out of a strong start? It can’t be all a mirage, right?
“The pitching,” said Indians manager Manny Acta. “Other than the Opening Day, our starters have all been able to go deep into the game. It gives us a chance to keep the guys rested in the bullpen so we can match up with them.
“That combined with our defense.”
The starting rotation, not counting the first two games of the season, is 5-0 with a 1.83 ERA. Justin Masterson and Josh Tomlin are each 2-0 in that streak.
Tomlin went six innings in Sunday’s 6-4 victory to give the Indians a three-game sweep of the Mariners.
“Yeah, things lined up right,” Acta said. “We’re playing well. We’re getting timely hits. We came to Seattle, and one of the things you look for is whether you’re facing Felix Hernandez or not. That also worked out for us.
“That being said, we’re playing good baseball. It starts with the pitching and the starters going deep into the game.”
To say nothing of momentum.
“Right now, I don’t feel we can be beat,” Tomlin said.
“I think everyone feels that way right now. If we play the kind of baseball we’re capable of playing, it’s going to be tough for anybody to beat us.”
Masterson is a pitcher of extremes.
In his first start of the season, Masterson beat the White Sox.
He allowed one run on seven hits, but didn’t strike out a batter in seven innings.
Saturday night, he made his second start. Masterson allowed one run on four hits in six innings to beat Seattle. This time he struck out nine batters, including seven in the first four innings.
Why the difference?
“Sometimes I’m a strikeout pitcher,” said Masterson, 2-0, 1.35 ERA, “but it’s going to come and go. With the stuff I have, I have the ability to go both ways at times. If I need that strikeout, sometimes I can get it. If I don’t, I can let the sinker run and get some ground balls.”
The game plans of the White Sox and Mariners against Masterson may have influenced his number of strikeouts as well.
The White Sox were aggressive, swinging early in the count.
Masterson threw only 98 pitches in seven innings and recorded 15 ground ball outs.
Masterson said the Mariners were more patient. They took more first pitches and worked deeper into the count. Masterson was not surprised.
“It led to some deeper counts, that gave me a chance to put some guys away,” he said.
Closer Chris Perez, who saved Masterson’s 2-1 victory Saturday, was impressed for a different reason.
“I think Seattle was a tougher lineup for him than the White Sox because they have those left-handers,” Perez said.
The White Sox had four lefties in the lineup against Masterson. The Mariners, including switch-hitters, had seven. Masterson’s three-quarter motion is tough on right-handers, but lefties hit .290 (113-for-389) against him last year.
Seattle’s lefties went a combined 4-for-19 (.211) against him Saturday.