CLEVELAND — In a lost season for the Indians, they may have found a gem for their pitching staff.
Jeanmar Gomez came through with another fine performance Thursday night, allowing one run and six hits in six-plus innings, as the Tribe posted a 4-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles.
Baltimore was bidding for its first three-game sweep in Cleveland since April 1987 — before the 22-year-old Gomez was even born — but was unable to solve the rookie from Venezuela.
“He’s mature beyond his age and he’s able to slow things down out there on the mound,” Indians manager Manny Acta said of his blossoming righthander. “He’s already given us four quality starts and continues to go out there fearless. One thing we know already is he’s not going to back down when guys hit him around.”
Gomez (3-0, 1.54 ERA) was in command all evening against the Orioles, who had their season-high winning streak snapped at four. He faced the minimum number of batters through 4 2 / 3 innings, finishing his outing with three strikeouts and no walks.
In the process, Gomez became just the fourth Tribe pitcher since 1920 to win three of his first four MLB appearances, joining Jim “Mudcat” Grant (1958), Wynn Hawkins (1960) and Scott Lewis (2008).
“He has good, late life on his fastball and he pounded the strike zone,” Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. “I was impressed. I can see why they’re so high on him.”
Rafael Perez and Chris Perez followed with three innings of hitless relief to snap Cleveland’s four-game losing skid. It was Chris Perez’s team-high 14th save and came in front of 14,533 fans (who consumed 18,932 $1 hot dogs).
Center fielder Michael Brantley ignited the Indians’ offense with a career high-tying four hits, one run and one stolen base. Left fielder Trevor Crowe, batting in the five spot for the first time, added two hits and two RBIs.
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After Gomez left the game with a 3-1 lead, the Tribe tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. Orioles third baseman Josh Bell failed to stop a smash by Andy Marte for an error, which proved costly when Asdrubal Cabrera brought him home three batters later.
“Brantley set the tone really well, Crowe did a fantastic job driving guys in, and that hit by Cabrera was huge,” Acta said.
Baltimore starter Kevin Millwood — the 2005 American League ERA champion with Cleveland — continued his quest for a far different crown by allowing three runs and nine hits in seven innings.
Millwood (2-12, 5.74 ERA) took over sole possession of the AL lead in losses, breaking a seven-way tie for first place, and fell to 1-8 on the road. The veteran right-hander’s last win came June 24.
“I felt like I at least kept us in the game,” Millwood said. “I guess I have to pick a better night to pitch on when we score more runs.”
The Indians took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Crowe beat out an infield single with two down, allowing Brantley to score from third. Crowe reached the bag a split-second before the throw from Baltimore shortstop Cesar Izturis.
Tribe catcher Lou Marson made it 2-0 in the second with an RBI groundout that scored Jason Donald.
In the fifth, Shin-Soo Choo was hit squarely on the right hand by a Millwood pitch. He came around when Crowe doubled off the base of the wall in left-center field to extend Cleveland’s lead to 3-0.
The Orioles finally broke through against Gomez in the top of the sixth when Ty Wigginton’s two-out single scored Bell, who had led off with a double.
Contact Brian Dulik at brisports@hotmail.com.
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