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Cabrera senses Tribe’s pride surging
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Cleveland Indians' Orlando Cabrera rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Saturday, April 16, 2011, in Cleveland.
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Associated Press
CLEVELAND
Orlando Cabrera senses something special happening to the Cleveland Indians. In 13 major league seasons, he’s seen this before.
With each quality start, clutch hit and win, the Indians’ confidence grows. Cabrera sees a young team blossoming into a quality one.
“I think we have what it takes,” he said.
To do what?
“To win,” he said. “I don’t like to compete. I like to win.”
That’s exactly what the Indians are doing.
Josh Tomlin delivered yet another quality start for Cleveland, Cabrera drove in four runs and the first-place Indians won their sixth straight at home, 8-3 on Saturday over the Baltimore Orioles, who have lost six in a row and are having trouble scoring.
Tomlin (3-0) gave up two runs — solo homers to Jake Fox and Luke Scott — and six hits in six innings. His outing continued a dominant run by Cleveland’s starters, who are making it look easy. In the last 12 games, they’re 8-1 with a 1.91 ERA, not bad for a five-man rotation of virtual unknowns.
After dropping their first two games, the Indians have won 10 of 12. Cabrera, signed as a free agent to fill the Indians’ hole at second base and bring leadership to their clubhouse, has been impresses by the strong start but wants to see more.
“We haven’t had to fight back yet,” he said. “I want to see us fight back late in the game.”
The Indians haven’t had to. They’ve been jumping out to early leads, scoring 42 of their 75 runs in the first four innings. The nice starts have allowed their pitchers to relax and not have to worry about being perfect. So far, it’s been a nearly foolproof formula as Cleveland is 8-1 when scoring first.
“It means the world,” manager Manny Acta said of the early runs. “Everybody wants to pitch with a lead. It really gives guys more confidence to throw the ball over the plate and challenge guys. It’s been huge.”
Shin-Soo Choo homered off Jeremy Guthrie (1-2) and Matt LaPorta had two RBIs for the Indians, who are 10-4 and off to their best start in nine years. Travis Hafner and Travis Buck had three hits each for Cleveland.
Since opening 4-0, the Orioles have lost seven of nine and their six-game slide is the club’s longest since Buck Showalter took over as manager on Aug. 3. Baltimore has scored just 15 runs in the skid.