CLEVELAND – Even a Brad Bergesen finds a win once in awhile, especially when he’s pitching against a Triple-A team posing as a major league one.

Bergesen, an unheralded right-hander for the Orioles, won for the first time in three months Wednesday night, pitching Baltimore past Cleveland, 3-1, with a complete-game two-hitter.

Bergesen, who allowed just five baserunners, entered the night with a 3-9 record and 6.26 ERA, but he rose above the numbers and the expectations to produce a career night against a hapless Indians offense.

“Bergesen threw a tremendous ballgame,” said Cleveland manager Manny Acta, whose team lost for the fourth straight time and for the ninth time in the last 12 home games. “He threw a lot of first-pitch strikes and changed speeds to get our hitters out. We just couldn’t do anything offensively.”

Bergesen didn’t allow a hit over the first four innings, losing his no-hit bid on Luis Valbuena’s RBI single with two outs in the fifth. He didn’t allow another hit until Asdrubal Cabrera’s two-out base hit in the ninth.

“He threw a lot of strikes and put the pressure on the hitters,” said Cleveland right fielder Shin-Soo Choo, who flied out to center to end the game as the tying run at the plate. “It was hard to get timing. He was throwing his fastball 92 (mph), but it looked harder.”

Bergesen, who threw his second career complete game, was efficient as could be, throwing just 102 pitches (63 strikes), while retiring the side in order in three of the last four innings.

Acta didn’t fault his hitters’ approach, choosing to heap the praise on Bergesen instead.  

“You can be patient on the first pitch, but it doesn’t do you much good when he’s throwing all those first-pitch strikes,” he said. “You can’t complain about our hitters today.”

A possible complaint could be lodged against Indians starter Josh Tomlin, who looked like a minor league pitcher for the first time in four starts since being promoted from Triple-A Columbus.

The right-hander, who shut down baseball’s best team (Yankees), had trouble coping with the last-pace Orioles, who entered the night with the worst record in the majors.

He allowed three runs (two earned) on 10 hits over five innings, walking one and striking out one.

“Josh didn’t look as sharp as he’s been and we felt he hit a wall in the fifth inning,” Acta said. “He just didn’t have that much life on his pitches. On any given night, a guy gives up three runs over five or six innings, and you’ll take it. It’s not like he was lit up on fire.”

Baltimore scored two runs over the first four innings, adding its final run in the fifth on a leadoff home run from Brian Roberts.

It looked as though the last-place Indians were catching a break from a rigid 24-game stretch since the all-star break with a visit from the Orioles. They’ve run into Baltimore at the wrong time, the O’s winning for the eighth time in nine games under new manager Buck Showalter.

“We’re not a team that’s going to look at this team as the worst team in baseball, because we’re not the New York Yankees,” Acta said. “There are going to be nights like this. There are going to be rough spots. You look at our offense, we’re going to have to battle until the end of the season.

“This game is very humbling. It doesn’t matter who you play.”

The two hits the Indians mustered were the fewest they’ve produced against the Orioles since 1970.

Cleveland’s major league-leading extra-base hits streak came to an end at 62 games. It is the longest by the Indians since they produced a 69-game streak in 2008. 

 

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.