Marson hit his first career grand slam to highlight a five-run sixth-inning rally as the Indians beat the Angels, 6-1, to improve to 4-2 on this trip.
View full sizeThe Indians' Lou Marson, second from left, gets a pat on the head from Luis Valbuena, left, after Marson hit a grand slam in the sixth inning Tuesday in Anaheim, Calif. UPDATED: 2:27 a.m.
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Lou Marson was so disappointed with the way he has been hitting this season that before Tuesday night's game he said, "I could hit better left-handed."
The Indians are glad the right-handed hitting Marson didn't pick Tuesday to move to the other side of the plate. Marson hit his first career grand slam to highlight a five-run sixth-inning rally as the Indians beat the Angels, 6-1, to improve to 4-2 on this trip.
"No, I didn't think about hitting left-handed," said Marson, after the game. "But you know what I played hockey for years and I shot left-handed. But I never tried to hit left-handed."
Justin Masterson pitched seven innings for the victory. Masterson (6-12, 4.88) allowed one run on six hits in seven innings. The 6-6, 250-pound Masterson is doing his best to show the Indians he deserves to be a starter next season. He's 3-2 with a 2.95 ERA in his past seven starts.
"Early on, I was learning," said Masterson, who has never been a full time starter in the big leagues until this year. "Now the goal it to put it all together so we can take this momentum into next season."
Masterson has had his moments this season, but consistency has not been one of his strong points.
"There were times when things came together and I didn't really know what my check points were," said Masterson. "I'm a big, tall, lanky guy. You work through many things.
"I finally found some good check points to catch myself, even within the game. I can say, "Hey, remember what makes us good and what we can do.' I've been turning to those. That's what's kept me consistent over the last month or so and I was able to carry it into this game, too."
Travis Hafner started the sixth with a line-drive homer into the right-field seats off starter Trevor Bell for a 2-1 lead. The ball bounced back onto the field. Angels manager Mike Scioscia asked for a review.
The review went in the Tribe's favor for a 2-1 lead. Hafner, who has hit the ball hard since coming off the disabled list on Aug. 15, has 11 homers. It was only the second homer Bell has allowed in 61 innings.
"I wasn't sure if it was out or not," said Hafner. "I knew it barely got out or hit off the wall. I was dreading the umpires coming out and saying go to second. But Trevor (Crowe) ran up in the clubhouse and saw the replay and said it was a homer. After that I felt better about it."
The homer was Hafner's first in 61 at-bats. He doubled in the third.
"I think the key moment was Hafner answering back Torii Hunter's homer to give us the lead," said manager Manny Acta. "Then we blew it open when Marson had the huge hit."
When Matt LaPorta followed Hafner with a drive to the fence in left field, Bell's night was over and Francisco Rodriguez relieved. Rodriguez gave up a single to Jordan Brown, who was replaced by Crowe. Jason Donald and Luis Valbuena followed with walks to load the bases and bring Marson to the plate.
View full sizeThe Indians' Michael Brantley, right, dives back to first base ahead of a pickoff throw from Los Angeles Angels pitcher Trevor Bell in the first inning.Marson sent a 1-0 pitch over the left-field fence for a 6-1 lead and his first grand slam. It was the Tribe's fifth slam of the season.
The homer was Marson's third of the season. He entered the game hitting .111 (5-for-45) with runners in scoring position.
"I knew he'd come at me with a fastball," said Marson. "He left it up in the zone. It felt good."
In the fifth, Hunter went Bo Jackson on Masterson with a long homer onto the batter's eye over the center-field fence to make it 1-1. It was a flashback to Jackson's 448-foot homer in the 1989 All-Star Game. Jackson was named the game's MVP.
It was Hunter's second homer of the series and 21st of the season.
Bell (2-5, 4.72), making his seventh start, allowed two runs on four hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out four and walked three in 88 pitches.
Indians starters are 5-3 with a 3.04 ERA (28 earned runs in 83 innings) over the last 13 games. Masterson has won two of the five games.
"This a positive thing," said Acta. "This is the last month of the season. A lot of the kids that are in our rotation, in normal circumstances, would be done right now. This is an extra month for them, but they have responded well so far.
"We like the way our starters have thrown and given us a better chance to matchup at the back end."
The Indians started the game aggressively with Michael Brantley pestering Bell. Brantley walked to start the game and drew several throws from Bell. The Angels' right-hander finally bounced one of the throws into the seats behind first base as Brantley took second.
In the third, Brantley hit a leadoff single. After Jayson Nix struck out, Brantley stole second and went to third when shortstop Erick Aybar couldn't catch a high throw from catcher Mike Napoli. Aybar was charged with an error.
Shin-Soo Choo followed with a sacrifice fly to center for a 1-0 lead. It was Choo's 71st RBI.
Masterson, making his first start since Aug. 31, was sharp from the first pitch. He faced only 12 Angels through the first four innings. He was scheduled to start Sunday, but had to leave the team last week because of a family matter.
Reggie Willits opened the game with an infield single, but was erased on a double play. Willits opened the fourth with a single, but was erased on Alberto Callaspo's second double-play grounder. Bobby Abreu followed with a single, but Marson threw him out attempting to steal second to end the inning.
He threw out Hunter in the seventh as he tried to steal third even though the Angels were down, 6-1.
Marson leads AL catchers with a 36 percent (23-for-64) success rate in throwing out runners trying to steal.
The Indians, who have lost 20 of their past 31 games, are 4-3 in September. The Angels, who have fallen on hard times after winning five of the past six AL West division titles, have lost 11 of their past 15 games.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: phoynes@plaind.com, 216-999-5158