CLEVELAND — Few are questioning whether Justin Masterson belongs in the starting rotation at this point.
The right-hander, who many feel is more suited for the bullpen, continued to dispel that theory Friday night, as the Indians opened a three-game series against Baltimore with a resounding 8-2 win.
In what was his third start of the season, Masterson looked like he did in the first two, and that was good news for him and the Indians, who improved to 9-4 on the year — their best start to a season since 2002.
“I think we would all like to do this every time out there,” said Masterson, who allowed just a run on four hits over seven innings. “Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen. It’s nice. You ride it while you got it.”
Masterson has undoubtedly had it over his first three starts of the season. In those outings he has allowed only three runs over 20 1/3 innings, earning decisions in all three.
“It was another outstanding pitching performance by Masterson,” manager Manny Acta said. “He was tremendous. He had good velocity and good sink. All they could do was beat the ball down into the ground.”
With his sinker working wonders once again, Masterson was perfect through three innings — a leadoff single to Brian Roberts in the fourth ending both the perfect game and no-hitter.
He allowed his only run in the fourth, improving to 3-0 with a 1.33 ERA.
Masterson, who was a tough-luck pitcher last year, and was not nearly as effective early, didn’t win his third game until July 1 in his 16th start.
“Wow, that’s a long time,” Masterson said. “I’m glad I got that third one now.”
Masterson tinkered with his mechanics in the offseason and has gotten more run support out of the gate, but that hasn’t been the key to his fast start, according to the pitcher.
“A lot of it is just throwing strikes,” said Masterson, who owns a 2.45 ERA in 16 appearances since the beginning of last August. “Throwing strikes is the biggest thing. Getting that first strike in enables you to extend the zone. With my stuff that’s key.”
Cleveland’s offense backed Masterson with plenty of support.
After going in order through the first two innings against Orioles starter Zach Britton, the Indians struck in the third with four runs that would be all they would require on the night.
A leadoff triple from Matt LaPorta was followed by five consecutive hits, with a two-run single from Asdrubal Cabrera capping the output.
Cabrera continued his slugging ways by driving in four of Cleveland’s runs, adding another two-run single in the seventh for the Indians’ final runs of the game.
Cleveland’s No. 2 hitter is batting .302 with the team-lead in home runs (four) and RBIs (14) in 13 games.
“He’s done a phenomenal job for us so far,” Acta said. “He’s healthy. We’re expecting him to have a very good year for us. So far, so good.”
Travis Hafner also flexed his muscles again, belting a solo homer to right-center in Britton’s final inning of work in the sixth.
Hafner, whose power was largely vacant last year, has three homers and eight RBIs in 11 games.
The Orioles scored their second run in the ninth inning against right-hander Joe Smith, who made his season debut after being activated from the disabled list, where he lingered with a strained abdominal muscle.
Smith, a key member of Cleveland’s bullpen last year, got two outs before allowing consecutive singles and hitting a batter.
Bouncing back from two straight losses on the heels of an eight-game winning streak, the Indians saw a boost at the attendance gate, where they drew 16,346 fans with a walk-up crowd of 5,551.
It was the biggest crowd at Progressive Field since the season opener, and the fan base is likely to continue to grow should the Indians remain on their winning path.
The Indians are just concentrating on today.
“It’s every day,” LaPorta said. “I don’t care if we win 20 in a row. The 21st game, we have to prepare like it’s the first game.”
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.
