Josh Tomlin impresses in his Debut against Yankees, Tribe wins 4-1

Josh Tomlin made his Major League debut last night for the Indians, and he did not disappoint.  Derek Jeter picked up right where he left off and flied out to center, and Tomlin had officially retired his first major league hitter.  Maybe it was just me, but it looked like Tomlin couldn't help but smile as he worked through the 1st inning.  Swisher followed suit, and Teixeira popped up as well.  Tomlin looked impressive and cruised through the inning only throwing 9 pitches.  Pretty good start for a pitcher facing the Yankees in his first appearance. 

Shin-Soo got the Tribe's 1st hit, muscling a ball over the head of Rodriguez.  He wasted no time stealing 2nd, and then Kearns followed with a hit of his own which should have scored Choo.  Unfortunately, Gardner threw a beautiful one-hop to the catch Cervelli who did a great job blocking off the plate.  Choo was called out, but at least the Indians were showing early signs of life. 

Alex Rodriguez led off the 2nd for the Yankees, and after two whiffs he grounded out to Cabrera.  His 600th home run has eluded him in his last 21 bats and counting, and it would not come against Tomlin.  The new Tribe pitcher relies on location and his change-up, as opposed to over-powering hitters.  He did however challenge A-Rod with some fastballs throughout the game, and Alex whiffed on almost every one.  Josh Tomlin retired Cano and Granderson after that, and the rookie had a no-hitter through two innings. 

Gardner struck out to end the Yankees 3rd inning, and the mighty Pinstripes still didn't have a hit against Tomlin.  Yet again, Sabathia put the Indians batters down in order, and after 3 we still had a scoreless game. 

Jeter broke up the no-hitter getting the lead-off hitter in the 4th, but Swisher and Teixeira again would pop-up.  Trying to make something happen in the middle of A-Rod's second at-bat, Jeter was caught stealing 2nd on a great throw by Giminez and the inning ended. 

Cabrera singled to left to start the 4th and the Tribe had their first lead-off batter aboard.  Shin-Soo hit a tough pitch from Sabathia down the left field line, and all the sudden we had men on 2nd and 3rd with no outs.  On a Kearns grounder to 3rd, Rodriguez decided to come home and the throw easily beat Cabrera. 

However, Asdrubal made a heads-up play, kicking the ball out of Cervelli's glove after the tag was applied.  Cabrera was called safe, and the Tribe took an early 1-0 lead.  Shelley Duncan popped up to the 1st baseman, and the Yankees got their first out of the inning.  Jhonny Peralta hit what should have been a routine double play for the over-paid Yankees infield, but Robinson Cano pulled his foot off the bag and everyone was safe.  I'm not quite sure why manager Joe Girardi came out to argue, Cano clearly made a short-bus play by stepping off the bag before he turned the DP.  That gave LaPorta a chance with the bases loaded, and he hit a ball deep enough to serve as a sacrifice fly, scoring Choo.  Donald struck out but the 2 errors cost the Yankees both runs, and we took a 2-0 lead.

A-Rod hit another weak grounder to 1st and still couldn't hit the elusive 600th home-run of his career.  Another impressive inning by Tomlin who retired the Yankees in order for the 4th time so far.

To start the bottom of the 6th, Austin Kearns felt the need to smash a ball to deep center.  Granderson was on his horse and almost made a great catch, but after he collided with the wall, the ball was jarred loose.  Kearns made it all the way to 3rd base.  Duncan took a couple massive cuts but eventually struck out swinging.  After Peralta reached first, LaPorta finally came through and doubled, scoring Choo.  With runners on 2nd and 3rd Sabathia intentionally walked Donald to get to Giminez.  CC couldn't have thought he would walk Giminez to force another run in, but that's exactly what happened.  The Tribe took a 4-0 lead and then Crowe hit into a double play to mercifully end the inning for Sabathia. 

This whole time, Tomlin was making a solid case to be in the Indians rotation.  Through 6 innings, Tomlin had faced the minimum of 18 batters, and had only given up 1 hit to the Yankees.  Not bad for your first big-league outing.  Jeter grounded out to start the 7th and yet again proved why he is over-valued.  Swisher hit a 1-out double and then Teixeira grounded out on a nice play by Cabrera.  A-Rod was next, hoping to get the 600 Monkey off his back.  He did hit a ball pretty deep to right, but not dep enough.  The whole time I'm thinking, "Is Tomlin really shutting out the Yankees in his MLB debut?"  And , "Has CC really not lost a game since May?"  That streak was about to come to an end. 

After Tomlin gave up a lead-off double in the 8th, Manny Acta made the move to the bullpen, and Josh Tomlin walked off the mound to a standing ovation from the Cleveland crowd.  3 hits, 0 walks, simply beautiful shut-out baseball by Tomlin. 

Chris Perez came on to shut the door in the 9th, but it wouldn't come easy.  The Yankees started off the inning with back-to-back singles by Gardner and then Jeter.  Swish popped out for the 1st out, and then Teixeira did the same.  Alex Rodriguez would appropriately be the final batter, representing the tying run at the plate.  Would 600 finally come to fruition, on his 35th birthday?  Nope, groundout to Cabrera and the game is over, and Rodriguez is 0-8 in the series.  That's what you get for taking steroids.

The Cleveland Indians are on a Roll.. what up 6 game win streak

Things are finally starting to turn around for the Cleveland Indians.  Since the All-Star break, the Tribe has reeled of 6 straight wins.  That's a pretty decent turnaround for a team that was 33-54 at the break.  Manny Acta has finally started to put together lineups that work, and the Tribe is in the process of beating the Twins for a second straight night.

The emergence of several role players has been very important for the Indians.  Since losing Grady Sizemore, the Tribe had struggled to find the pieces that could win on a nightly basis.  Enter Trevor Crowe, and Nix.  These players have made an impact and have allowed the Indians to turn around their season.. somewhat. 

Tonight, Asdrubal Cabrera returned to the lineup and his presence was felt.  Not only did he rip a single into left field, he made a great diving play to throw a runner out at first.  Asdrubal is without a doubt the best shortstop the Indians have in their system, and his return was welcomed.  Manny Acta immediately re-inserted him into the starting lineup, and had him bat lead-off.  It must have been a confidence boost for Asdrubal to see his first Big-League action in over 2 months.

Justin Masterson has been pitching pretty well tonight.  After a shaky start, he calmed down and started striking out a bunch of Twins including former-Indian Jim Thome twice.  Masterson gave up a run in the 1st inning but settled down and really showed his ability to pitch in this league.  He sometimes can throw a wild pitch or two with his intense delivery, but that also throws off hitters some of the time.

It was also nice to see Shelley Duncan continue his hot streak, as he has now hit safely in a few straight games.  The Indians organization was expecting him to be a major piece this year, and he struggled to find his swing early in the season.  Personally, I think Duncan just needs to keep building his confidence and he can continue to help the Indians succeed this season.  His power is something that is missing in this lineup. 

Are the Cleveland Indians poised to make a run or is this just a lucky streak we have going?  I feel that the Indians are finally starting to find out what works for them, and some players we didn't expect to have an impact are starting to make their presence felt.  The only thing that is missing is a consistent bomb from Travis Hafner every now and then.  However, after the Twins tied up the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the 7th, Travis came up big for a clutch double in the top of the 8th that knocked in the game winning run.

With the emergence of LaPorta, Nix, Crowe, as well as Carlos Santana, the mid-level Indians have a chance to turn this season around and potentially compete late in September.  Who knows, maybe if we still had Cliff Lee this team could be competing for the playoffs?  The Tribe is starting to be fun to watch again, and I hope we can keep this streak going.  Let's do this.