Standing in the dugout shortly after the Tribe's victory over the slumping Red Sox, Josh Tomlin described his responsibility as a starting pitcher.
"If you can give them (the bullpen) the lead heading into the 8th or 9th (inning), you're feeling pretty good aobut yourself."
And, in his 1st outing of the season, Tomlin did exactly that. The 26-year-old Texan tossed 7 strong innings in which he allowed only 1 run, and he handed the bullpen a 3-1 advantage. Tony Sipp and Chris Perez took care of the rest by recording the final 6 outs.
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| Tomlin's brilliance extended the Tribe's winning streak to 2 |
Boston drew 1st blood in the top of the 2nd when David Ortiz worked a 2-out walk, J.D. Drew doubled, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia bounced a RBI single through the right side of the infield. However, Shin-Soo Choo fired a 1-hop strike to home plate, and Carlos Santana tagged out Drew for the 3rd out.
The Indians fought back in the 4th as Sox starter Josh Beckett began to crumble. Travis Hafner crushed a double off the right field wall and scored on Orlando Cabrera's flair single that barely eluded the glove of shortstop Marco Scutaro. Jack Hannahan then drove in Cabrera with a ground ball base-hit to center.
Cleveland added a tally in the 5th courtesy of good situational hitting. Asdrubal Cabrera lined a 2-bagger up the alley in left-center, and Choo's groundout moved Cabrera to 3rd base. Carlos Santana's sacrifice fly plated Cabrera and completed the night's scoring.
The 5th frame was Beckett's last as the former ace failed to give Boston its 1st win of 2011.
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