CLEVELAND – The Indians thought they were beginning the lighter side of their second-half schedule with a visit to Progressive Field from Baltimore, the worst team in baseball.
But the wrong Orioles club arrived.
The Indians were served notice of as much Tuesday night, with Baltimore bludgeoning them 14-8 behind an offensive onslaught that included 13 hits and four home runs.
The Orioles are playing as well as any team in the majors now that Buck Showalter has arrived, winning for the seventh time in the new manager’s first eight games.
The Indians have dropped three straight and four of their last five games. They are 3-8 over their last 11 games at home.
“It’s unfortunate,” said Cleveland’s starting pitcher Justin Masterson. “You look up and see how many runs we scored, and we still didn’t win. We’re all trying to put the pieces together but sometimes the puzzle doesn’t get put together the way you want it.”
Cleveland’s offense was up to the task early, scoring six runs through the first four innings, including five in the fourth to take a 6-4 lead. But it got no help from the pitching department, beginning with Masterson, who offered up another disappointing effort.
The right-hander allowed seven runs (four earned) on six hits and three walks over five innings to fall to 4-11 with a 5.47 ERA in 23 starts.
“We scored enough runs to win the ballgame,” said manager Manny Acta, who actually defended Masterson, claiming Cleveland’s defense, which committed an error and failed to turn what Acta felt was a pair of routine double plays, let the pitcher down.
One of the double-play opportunities Acta was alluding to arrived in a pivotal fifth-inning that saw Baltimore take the lead for good.
With a runner on first and one out, Masterson got a ground ball to second baseman Jason Donald, but the Indians couldn’t turn two. Masterson walked the next batter before serving up a three-run homer to Felix Pie, who put Baltimore in front 7-6.
“It’s disappointing,” Masterson said. “You feel like you want to hold the lead for your team and you let everybody down.”
It didn’t get any better for the Indians once Masterson was gone, with three relievers – Tony Sipp, Frank Herrmann and Hector Ambriz – each allowing at least a run over the final four innings.
Sipp served up a solo shot to Corey Patterson to lead off the sixth, giving the Orioles an 8-5 advantage.
Herrmann followed by allowing five runs over 1 2/3 innings. The right-hander allowed the first four Orioles hitters in the eighth to hit for the cycle – Pie leading off with a double, followed by a two-run homer from Matt Wieters, a triple from Patterson and an RBI single from Cesar Izturis.
Ambriz allowed Herrman’s final two runs and one of his own in the eighth on a three-run homer from former Cleveland minor league Luke Scott.
Cleveland scored the first run of the game in the third, then after the outburst in the fourth didn’t score again until Michael Brantley’s two-run homer in the ninth inning.
It was a rare win for the Orioles in Cleveland, with Baltimore entering the night owning an 18-46 record at Jacobs/Progressive Field.
The Indians are likely to make a move today to add bullpen assistance from the minor leagues.
Starting pitcher David Huff, who has not pitched well in two starts since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus, might be on the way out again. The left-hander was called into Acta’s office after the game but no official word was given.
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.
