Trevor Crowe is 2-for-3 with two runs as Indians lead Red Sox, 3-0, through six innings.
Trevor Crowe scores past Boston catcher Victor Martinez to give the Indians a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Crowe scored on a sacrifice fly hit by Jhonny Peralta.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- This is a daily briefing of the Indians' 2010 regular season. The Tribe faces the Red Sox tonight at Progressive Field.
Game 58
In-game updates:
The Indians led the Red Sox, 3-0, through six innings.
Trevor Crowe, who wore the goat horns Tuesday night, was 2-for-3 with two runs.
Crowe led off the first with a single and moved to second when Shin-Soo Choo walked.
After Austin Kearns flied out, Russell Branyan walked. Jhonny Peralta had a sacrifice fly to right to make it 1-0.
Crowe tripled to lead off the third and scored on Kearns' double-play grounder.
Peralta led off the fourth with an infield single to third. He eventually scored on Clay Buchholz's wild pitch.
Master lock: Tribe righty Justin Masterson gave up two hits -- a single by Victor Martinez in the second and a single by J.D. Drew in the fifth -- walked one and struck out four.
Masterson is making his first start against the franchise that traded him July 31, 2009. Martinez went to Boston.
Among those playing good defense behind him was first baseman Branyan.
Pregame notes: The Indians-Red Sox series has two games remaining, but much of the talk Wednesday afternoon was about the weekend set against the Washington Nationals in Cleveland.
To be precise, the focus was on Sunday afternoon's game, when Indians lefty David Huff opposes Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg.
Nothing against Huff, but fans are gobbling up tickets to watch Strasburg, the 21-year-old phenom who crafted a debut for the ages Tuesday night.
Strasburg, one of the most-hyped prospects in baseball history, struck out 14 and walked none in a victory over the Pirates in Washington, D.C. He gave up two runs. The day had a holiday feel to it in the nation's capital, then Strasburg lit up the night.
Strasburg is the first in major-league history to whiff 14 with zero walks in his debut.
According to Elias Sports Bureau, only three other rookies since 1969 did not walk a batter in which they struck out at least 14: Roger Clemens in 1984 (15 K), Dwight Gooden twice in 1984 (16 K both times) and Kerry Wood in 1998 (20 K).
Wood, now the Tribe's closer, gave up one hit in a complete-game victory over the Astros at wet Wrigley Field in his fifth major-league start.
The Indians were busy losing to the Red Sox on Tuesday night, but by the time they arrived at the ballpark Wednesday, most -- if not all -- personnel had watched highlights.
"Strasburg was impressive and as-advertised,'' said outfielder Austin Kearns, a former National. "It will be a fun challenge (Sunday).''
Tribe manager Manny Acta said: "The kid's special. Those fans deserve something to cheer about.''
Tribe outfielder Shin-Soo Choo said: "The debut was special. Two strikeouts every inning is pretty good.''
Lineups:
Red Sox (35-25) -- 1. Marco Scutaro ss; 2. Dustin Pedroia 2b; 3. David Ortiz dh; 4. Kevin Youkilis 1b; 5. Victor Martinez c; 6. J.D. Drew rf; 7. Adrian Beltre 3b; 8. Jeremy Hermida lf; 9. Josh Reddick cf; and rhp Clay Buchholz (8-3, 2.39).
Indians (21-36) -- 1. Trevor Crowe cf; 2. Shin-Soo Choo rf; 3. Austin Kearns lf; 4. Russell Branyan 1b; 5. Jhonny Peralta 3b; 6. Travis Hafner dh; 7. Luis Valbuena 2b; 8. Anderson Hernandez ss; 9. Lou Marson c; and rhp Justin Masterson (1-5, 5.46).
Notable: Masterson will make his first appearance against the franchise that traded him July 31, 2009. Martinez went to Boston.
Hernandez will make his first start as an Indian.
Umpires: P -- Todd Tichenor; 1b -- Andy Fletcher; 2b -- Adrian Johnson; 3b -- Mike Everitt.
Next for Indians: Series concludes Thursday night with Indians RHP Mitch Talbot (7-4, 3.54) facing Red Sox LHP Jon Lester (7-2, 2.73).