Josh Tomlin and the Indians beat Seattle 5-0 on Tomlin's one-hitter.
SEATTLE, Wash. – Before he took the mound at Safeco Field on Saturday night, Josh Tomlin wasn't pitching like Josh Tomlin. The Little Cowboy had been knocked around by Detroit and Arizona.
Saturday night Tomlin didn't exactly pitch like himself either. Not if you call throwing the best game in his career a normal occurrence.
Tomlin struck out 11 and allowed one hit in the Indians' 5-0 victory over the red-hot Mariners. It was a career best in hits allowed and strikeouts for Tomlin, who started the season at Class AAA Columbus after missing most of last year following Tommy John surgery.
The last Indians' pitcher to throw a one-hitter was lefty Billy Traber on July 8, 2003. Tomlin's previous best complete game effort was a four-hitter against Kansas City on Sept. 24, 2010.
"He put on a pitching clinic," said GM Chris Antonetti, who was at Safeco Field. "He was locking guys up with fastballs right down the middle because they were looking for his off-speed stuff."
Kyle Seager's leadoff single in the fifth inning was the only thing that stood between Tomlin and a no-hitter.
Tomlin (5-5, 3.80) started the game with 12 straight outs. Only one of those 12 outs was worthy of a hit, but Ryan Raburn turned Seager's screamer to right field into a diving, highlight reel catch for the first out of the second.
"That was a great catch," said manager Terry Francona. "It was early in the game and I'm glad it doesn't get lost because it was a really good play."
Tomlin gave Raburn a thumbs up from the mound after the catch.
"That was a great play," said Tomlin. "He read the ball off the bat pretty well. It took a dead sprint and a dive to catch that ball and that's exactly what he did."
Seager, who burst onto the big-league scene in 2011 by hitting .769 (10-for-13) in a three-game series against the Indians, earned his revenge in the fifth. Seager took a strike from Tomlin and then sent a soft single into left field to end the no-hitter.
"He hit a fastball away," said Tomlin.
Tomlin said it didn't register that he'd lost the no-hitter.
"That stuff doesn't really bother me," he said. "If I'm in the seventh inning and they don't have a hit, you know about it, but my main goal is to go out there and go as deep as I can and help the team win.
"You understand that you're doing something pretty special if it does go on that long. But I wasn't thinking about that stuff at all when that ball landed."
Still, that hit was the only thing that separated Tomlin from a perfect game.
"I'm not going to beat myself up doing that," said Tomlin, when asked if he would always wonder what if. "I won't do that."
Seager, one of eight left-handed hitters in the Seattle lineup, entered the game hitting .395 (32-for-81) lifetime against the Indians. After reaching base, he almost ruined the shutout as he took second on a two-out wild pitch and third on catcher Yan Gomes' throwing error. Tomlin, however, struck out Michael Saunders to strand Seager.
"He was on third for about a second," said Francona.
After Seager's single, it was clear sailing for Tomlin. He retired the last 15 Mariners. Seattle came into the game having won six of its last seven and nine of its last 12 games.
Lefties were hitting .259 (29-for-112) and righties .281 (32-for-114) against Tomlin before Saturday. Seattle's lefties went 1-for-22 against him.
"I don't know why I've been able to do a better job against lefties this year," said Tomlin. "It used to be just the opposite. Lefties gave me a lot of trouble.
"For some reason, I've been able to command both sides of the plate this year. The fastballs inside and the cutters inside open the outside part of the plate for me. That's what I have to do against them."
Tomlin threw 69 percent of his pitches (77-for-111) for strikes.
"He was tremendous," said Francona. "Eleven strikeouts and no walks. . .it was a tremendous outing. That's a lineup that came in feeling pretty good about themselves."
From an offensive standpoint, the Indians ended this game early against rookie left-hander Roenis Elias.
The Indians dusted Elias (7-6, 4.04) for five runs on six hits in six innings. Yes, the Indians beat a left-handed starter, who they were facing for the first time. If Tomlin had thrown a no-hitter, this would have really been a night to howl at the moon.
Asdrubal Cabrera started the first-inning rally with a double past third against his old team to end an 0-for-15 skid.. Michael Brantley scored him with a single to left for his 53rd RBI.
Carlos Santana doubled Brantley home for a 2-0 lead before Elias, who has won four of his last five starts, ended the inning.
The score stayed that way until the Indians broke through again in the fifth. Mike Aviles singled with one out and scored on Michael Bourn's double. Bourn came into the game hitting .350 (14-for-40) in his last nine games.
Elias balked Bourn to third and Cabrera made the mistake hurt with a sacrifice fly for a 4-0 lead.
In the sixth, Gomes homered to make it 5-0. It was Gomes' ninth homers, he hit 11 last year, and his second on the trip.
Tomlin credited Gomes with directing him behind the plate.
"We were on the same page all night long," said Tomlin. "The key for me is to throw a strike and then throw the same pitch for a ball an inch or two outside to get them looking out there and then come back inside to get some easy contact.
"I just followed Yan all night."
Tomlin is 4-1 with a 3.41 ERA in five starts against the Mariners. He's 3-0 with a 2.12 ERA in four starts at Safeco Field.
