Tribe proving that pitching is the name of the game

Posted: Fri May 16 11:45 AM

By Mike Castiglione, Contributing MLB Editor

(Sports Network) - With each passing day, the Cleveland Indians starting rotation is cementing its status as one of the most dominant forces in the majors.

What the Indians' starters have been able to do during the team's seven-game homestand is nothing short of remarkable. Remarkable, as in 6-0 with a 0.16 earned run average. An unearned run allowed by Aaron Laffey in the second inning of Thursday's win over the Oakland Athletics snapped a 43 1/3 scoreless innings streak for the five-man group, which has now gone 50 1/3 innings without giving up an earned run.

The last time a rotation had a scoreless streak that long was 1974, and the run was Cleveland's longest stretch since 1948.

The collective season ERA of 2.88 produced by the Indians' starters is tops in the majors by a wide margin. But most importantly, Cleveland has taken over first place in the American League Central on the strength of its excellent pitching.

Cleveland's starters also rank second in the majors in innings pitched. Conversely, the relievers are being spared, having pitched the fewest innings in the majors. That's not a bad formula for success, especially while closer Joe Borowski makes his way back from the disabled list.

"When you talk about five guys doing it day in and day out, that's pretty impressive," Laffey said. "It's been an incredible week for starting pitching for us."

So let's rehash the week that was for the Tribe, starting back on May 9 against Toronto. C.C. Sabathia finally flashed that Cy Young form, scattering six hits and allowing just one run in seven innings. He struck out nine en route to just his second win of the season.

The following day it was Laffey tossing seven shutout innings. But his efforts were hardly needed, not with the Indians' hitters slugging their way to a 12-0 win over the Blue Jays.

On Monday, the Tribe had two starters toss nine-inning games during a doubleheader against Toronto, yet incredibly the result was a split. Fausto Carmona pitched nine shutout innings for a 3-0 Cleveland win in the opener, and game two saw Cliff Lee continue his dominance with nine innings of shutout ball. However, the Blue Jays went on to win, 3-0, in 10 frames.

It was Lee's fourth start this season where he did not allow a run, as he continues to lead the league with a dizzying 0.67 ERA.

On Tuesday it was Paul Byrd's turn, as the crafty veteran doctored his way to 7 1/3 shutout innings, striking out seven and issuing zero walks in the process, to lead Cleveland past the A's.

Sabathia turned in yet another strong performance on Wednesday, pitching a complete-game shutout with 11 strikeouts to boot as the Indians again defeated Oakland. And although the scoreless streak ended during Laffey's start on Thursday, the young left-hander did pitch seven innings without giving up an earned run. He struck out six, walked one and did not allow a hit after the third inning.

Laffey has been nothing short of spectacular while filling in for Jake Westbrook, who is on the DL with an ankle injury. The 23-year-old has not allowed an earned run in his last three starts, and he has lasted seven innings in each of those outings. His ERA on the season is now down to a minuscule 1.35.

Manager Eric Wedge knows he has been spoiled by his starters, a stretch of dominance he expects to see "rarely, if ever."

"You like to have that friendly competition," Wedge said on the team's official site. "You try to keep moving it on down the line and keep trying to one-up one another. I think these guys are feeding off each other right now."

BOROWSKI UPDATE

With Borowski on the shelf, Wedge has turned to Rafael Betancourt and to a lesser extent, Masa Kobayashi, to close out games. Betancourt is programmed to be a setup man, and he has struggled mightily in the closer's role.

Betancourt's 1-2 record and 7.31 ERA (four saves in five opportunities) aren't exactly closer's numbers. Kobayashi, meanwhile, has assembled a 2-0 record and a 1.86 ERA, and has saved two games. On Thursday, he entered the game in the middle of the ninth to bail out Betancourt.

Borowski, who has been sidelined since mid-April with a strained right triceps, was scheduled to travel with the team and pitch a simulated game Friday. Although no timetable has been set as far as how many rehab games Borowski will pitch, it is expected he could join the team within the next couple of weeks.

As far as who gets the call in the ninth, that's still up in the air as well. Wedge didn't exactly give Betancourt a ringing endorsement after Thursday's game, for obvious reasons. The team vested $6 million over two years for Kobayashi, who saved nearly 300 games over a nine-year career in Japan. And Borowski was a mess prior to landing on the DL (18.00 ERA in five games, two blown saves), though it isn't clear how much of that was due to his arm injury. Stay tuned.

WHO'S HOT

Obviously, the starters. At the moment, Cleveland has the best rotation in baseball, plain and simple (apologies to the Diamondbacks).

WHO'S NOT

Left fielder David Dellucci is not making general manager Mark Shapiro look very good for recently getting rid of Jason Michaels. Dellucci is in a 2- for-21 slump over his last six games.

A LOOK AHEAD

The Indians are in Cincinnati for a weekend set with the Reds, with Jeremy Sowers (0-0, 5.06) taking on Reds rookie Johnny Cueto (2-4, 5.91) in Friday's opener. Carmona (4-1, 2.40) will go up against Aaron Harang (2-5, 3.32) on Saturday. On Sunday, it will be Lee (6-0, 0.67) versus 24-year-old phenom Edinson Volquez (6-1, 1.12).