Tomlin pitches superbly as the Indians defeat the Royals and ensure they won't finish the season with 100 losses.
View full sizeThe Indians' Josh Tomlin pitched the first complete game of his career on Friday at Progressive Field.CLEVELAND, Ohio — When the Indians needed a victory in the worst way, rookie right-hander Josh Tomlin grabbed the ball and refused to let go. The same Josh Tomlin who began the season in Class AAA and was not even on Cleveland's 40-man roster until the middle of the summer.
Tomlin pitched superbly in notching his first major-league complete game as the Indians defeated the Royals, 7-3, Friday night at Progressive Field.
How big was this victory on the North Coast? Not only did it snap a five-game skid, it guaranteed the Indians will avoid 100 losses. The Tribe improved to 63-91.
The Indians have not dropped triple-digits since going 57-105 in 1991.
The last-place Tribe pulled within a half-game of the fourth-place Royals (63-90) in the AL Central.
Based on the way these teams have played since the beginning of 2009, bank on the outcome being decided on the final weekend, perhaps the final day. The Indians and Royals each went 65-97 last season and looked up at the other three opponents in the division. The Tribe won the season series, 10-8.
Friday's victory by Cleveland evened this season's series at 8-8. The remaining head-to-head matchups are tonight and Sunday afternoon.
Tomlin (5-4, 4.50 ERA) carried a 7-1 lead into the ninth. He had allowed three hits.
After two groundouts, the milestone complete game appeared to be a lock. But Billy Butler walked and Wilson Betemit homered to right on a 1-1 cutter.
Tribe manager Manny Acta jogged to the mound as Kila Ka'aihue came to the plate.
"I told Josh, 'We want to make this special for you, but this is going to be your last hitter,' " Acta said. "He laughed because I said, 'You just better cowboy up right here and get this guy out -- or I'm coming to get you.' "
"When Manny told me to 'cowboy up,' I knew I had to do it," said Tomlin, who is a Texan.
Ka'aihue lined to right fielder Shin-Soo Choo. Fittingly, Choo put the stamp on the gem: He went 3-for-3 with two RBI, two walks and one steal.
Jayson Nix was 2-for-4 with two solo homers. He had been in a 6-for-56 slide covering 17 games.
Tomlin pitched as well as he had since being promoted from Class AAA Columbus on July 27. That night, he gave up one run on three hits in seven-plus innings of a 3-1 victory over the Yankees at Progressive Field.
Tomlin walked two and struck out a career-high six on Friday. Two of the punchouts came when third-base umpire Jeff Nelson decided a Royals left-handed batter had failed to check in time.
"Josh had very good command of all his pitches, especially his cutter," Acta said. "He kept throwing the cutter deeper and deeper to the lefties."
Tomlin also expertly commanded the four-seam fastball. He threw 75 of 112 pitches for strikes in a largely stress-free evening. He did not allow a hit until Mike Aviles doubled to lead off the fourth.
"Usually, this late in the season, we don't like these kids to throw that many pitches," Acta said, "but we felt it was special for this guy to throw his first complete game in the big leagues."
Choo had an RBI single to center in the first. He drove in Trevor Crowe from second. It made the Indians 1-for-1 with runners in scoring position; they went 0-for-6 Thursday night in a 4-2 loss to open the four-game series.
Nix homered in the second.
Travis Hafner's RBI single in the third made it 3-0. He drove in Asdrubal Cabrera, who slid through an attempted leg block by catcher Brayan Pena. Pena failed to secure the ball.
Aviles scored on Betemit's sacrifice fly in the fourth to pull the Royals within 3-1.
Choo doubled to drive in Cabrera in the fifth. Choo is hitting .350 (21-for-60) against the Royals this year.
Gil Meche relieved Luke Hochevar to begin the sixth. Meche gave up a bloop single to Shelley Duncan that drove in Choo in the seventh.
Nix homered in the eighth. Later in the inning, Lou Marson scored on Cabrera's single.
As it turned out, the two-run eighth provided Tomlin the cushion he needed to get the complete game. Acta said Tomlin would have been on a short leash in the ninth if the lead had remained 5-1, meaning Tomlin probably would have been hooked after the Butler walk.
Tomlin became the second Indians pitcher since 1920 to work at least five innings in each of his first 11 career starts. Steve Dunning strung 12 in 1970.
"I feel very blessed to be getting this opportunity," Tomlin said. "I'm trying my best to make the most of it."
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: dmanoloff@plaind.com, 216-999-4664