How about that Tribe pitching?
Just the other day we were saying that Justin Masterson’s seven innings and one earned run on Sunday wouldn’t be the norm for the Tribe’s starting pitching, and then Josh Tomlin goes out Tuesday night and repeats Masterson’s performance.
“Josh used his change-up to keep the lefties off balance,” Indians manager Manny Acta said in published reports. “When they were looking for the change, he sneaked his fastball and cutter in there. He doesn’t throw in the mid-90s, but when his off-speed pitches are working, his fastball is effective.”
After a rough start, the pitching staff has clearly found a groove. In their last 25 innings of work (going back to the third inning of Saturday’s game against the White Sox), Tribe pitchers have given up just five runs. That’s a 1.80 ERA if you are scoring at home.
Included in those 25 innings are five scoreless innings, collectively, from Rafael Perez, Tony Sipp and Chris Perez out of the bullpen. Sipp was so efficient Tuesday night, needing only seven pitches to put the Red Sox down in the eight inning, that we missed his entire night while quickly stepping out of the room.
The pressure is now on Mitch Talbot to keep the positive trend going tonight.
Red Right 88 