CLEVELAND — With Charlie Sheen’s train-wreck traveling circus making a stop at Playhouse Square on Tuesday, what were the Indians doing in their series opener against the Red Sox at Progressive Field?
Duh, winning.
Sheen, who starred as Indians pitcher Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn in “Major League,” wasn’t required against a potent Boston lineup that came in starved for its first win of the season.
Not with Josh Tomlin on the mound for Cleveland.
“Josh Tomlin was fantastic,” said manager Manny Acta of the right-hander, who allowed just a run on three hits over seven impressive innings of his season debut to help the Indians to a 3-1 victory. “He kept those lefties off balance the whole night with that four-pitch repertoire.
“I think he deserves all credit.”
He gets it after breezing through a Boston batting order that included six left-handed hitters, with the dangerous Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz in the middle of the order.
Left-handed hitters went 2-for-15 off Tomlin, while the trio of sluggers went a combined 0-for-7 with two walks.
For the first time in three games, the Indians did not set a record-low for attendance at Jacobs/Progressive Field. But the 9,025 fans was the smallest crowd to see the Red Sox on the road since 8,488 fans showed up to watch them play the Twins, July 5, 2000, at the Medtrodome.
It was a far cry from the packed house that watched then Boston ace Josh Beckett outduel CC Sabathia in Game 5 of the ALCS at Cleveland in 2007.
Beckett was back on the mound in Cleveland but was on the other end this time around after allowing three runs on five hits over five innings.
The hard-throwing right-hander didn’t allow a run and just one hit over the first three innings before the Indians finally broke free for all they required in the fourth inning.
Travis Hafner got things started with a one-out double, then rode home on Orlando Cabrera’s base hit. A two-out single from Jack Hannahan put the Indians in front for good.
“We had some quality at-bats in that fourth (inning),” Acta said. “Hannahan and Orlando Cabrera got some clutch hits.”
The Indians knew Beckett was off his game and laid in wait before pouncing at the opportune time.
“Josh is a guy that is a really difficult guy to face,” Orlando Cabrera said. “He wasn’t hitting his spots, so we just let him pitch and just attacked him when we got our pitch.”
Cabrera’s double-play partner, Asdrubal Cabrera led off with a double and scored Cleveland’s final run on Carlos Santana’s sacrifice fly in the fifth.
Hafner, who was once again a big question mark to begin the season, is off to a hot start. He went 1-for-3 Tuesday and is batting .375 (6-for-16) with a home run and two RBIs through the first four games. More importantly, the injury-prone Hafner has been in the lineup for all of the Indians’ games thus far.
“We need Haf. It’s not a secret,” Acta said. “50 RBIs is not going to cut it this year. He’s got to be one of those big bats in the middle of our lineup.”
Boston, which entered the season amidst lofty expectations after adding big names Carl Crawford and Gonzalez to an already stacked lineup, entered its series with the Indians reeling.
The Red Sox were swept by defending AL champion Texas in their season-opening series and have scored just 12 runs over their first four games.
At that rate, the Indians might not need Sheen’s Adonis DNA to tame Boston in the final two games of the set.
“Right now, we’re just doing our thing,” Orlando Cabrera said. “We don’t really care who we face.”
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Fan him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.
