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.

“Josh Tomlin was fantastic,” said Indians 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, as well as 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 represented the smallest crowd to see the Red Sox on the road since 8,488 fans showed up to watch them play the Twins on July 5, 2000, at the Metrodome.

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 Cleveland mound but 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 the runs they required in the fourth inning.

Travis Hafner got things started with a one-out double, then rode home on Orlando Cabrera’s 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. “Fifty 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 or Tiger Blood 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. Like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.

ELYRIA — The pains of traveling the pothole-marred thoroughfare known as West River Road North soon will be a thing of the past.

But motorists first will have to get through this year, when the more than $4.3 million improvement project gets under way. It will be the biggest project the city undertakes this year.

In 2009, the city made a quick fix of the road by placing a 1-inch overlay on the road from Stoney Brook to the city limit for about $40,000. The temporary fix was done while the city applied for funding through the Northeast Ohio Area Coordinating Agency.

City Engineer Mukund Moghe said the particulars of the project and several others will be explained Thursday at an Engineering Department open house. Moghe said there will be so many projects this year that holding a meeting for residents seemed like a good idea. Most will be water main and sewer projects, but there will be quite a few road projects.

The city plans to begin construction on 18 projects this year and three next year. The estimated cost for this year’s projects is about $23.45 million.

In addition to West River Road North, the city plans to resurface Gulf Road from Cleveland Street to Hilliard Road and Abbe Road North from state Route 57 to Loyola Drive. The Ohio Department of Transportation is handling the Abbe Road North project.

City Council on Monday approved the streets that will be resurfaced under the 2011 street resurfacing program. The list includes one street from each ward that was ranked as being in desperate need of repair.
But for some, those streets are not enough.

Councilman Larry Tanner, D-1st Ward, said he would like more streets to be done in more wards, and he said he believes that is what residents want to see, too.

“I probably have at least five streets in my ward that really need it,” he said. “But I at least know the Eastern Heights area is having their water main replaced this summer and they will have some resurfacing work in the project. I guess you can say I got lucky this year.”

Moghe said he will touch on projects that will be completed by other agencies such as the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Ohio Turnpike.

Information boards will be displayed detailing the plans, costs and timetable of each project and there will be a question-and-answer period.

Elyria road projects

The Elyria Engineering Department will hold a public meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday to discuss upcoming projects. Residents are encouraged to attend to hear about how each project will affect travel. The meeting will be in City Council Chambers in City Hall, 131 Court St.

Street improvement projects

• West River Road North
• Brooklyn Street
• Gulf Road
• Abbe Road North

Sewer projects

• Cascade siphon removal and bottleneck elimination project
• Turner Street area project
• Overbrook Road area project
• Pinewood Drive area project
• Mussey Avenue area project
• Sewer extension projects
• Various wastewater pollution control plant projects

Water main projects

• Middle Avenue from 16th Street to Second Street
• West side
• Furnace Street area
• South side
• Eastern Heights area
• St. Jude area

Contact Lisa Roberson at 329-7121 or lroberson@chroniclet.com.

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CLEVELAND — Proposals before Cleveland’s city council would outlaw artery-clogging trans fats in restaurant food and ban smoking at public parks and within 150 feet of city buildings.

Councilman Joe Cimperman told The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer newspaper the measures he introduced Monday would back up a health campaign launched by four Cleveland hospitals and Mayor Frank Jackson. “Healthy Cleveland” began in February toward making the city the healthiest in the country.

A spokeswoman for the mayor said the proposed ordinances would boost the campaign.

Cimperman said some critics who’d call the legislation too intrusive said the same thing about laws requiring seat belt use in cars.

Violations of the smoking restrictions would bring fines of up to $250. The trans fats ban would be similar to one enacted in New York.

CLEVELAND — While the Cleveland Indians have more question marks covering them than the Riddler from the Batman comics, No. 4 starter Josh Tomlin has become their superhero of consistency.

Tomlin

The right-hander became the team’s first pitcher since 1919 — an era when pitchers would sometimes stay on the mound for both games of a doubleheader — to pitch at least five innings in his first 13 major league starts, and led the Indians to a 3-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night.

“Tomlin did a fantastic job out there tonight,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “He especially did good against left-handed batters, getting 13-of-15 out. He used his change-up to keep them off balance, then when they were looking for the change-up he would sneak in that cutter … and that pitch gets in on the batters quickly.”

In his 2011 debut, Tomlin allowed just one earned run on three hits through seven innings. He improved to 7-4 in his brief career with the Indians — 6-1 at Progressive Field — and has turned away some of the most prolific ballclubs and feared lineups in baseball.

Tomlin made his major league debut July 27, and handed the New York Yankees — with former Indians Cy Young Award winner CC Sabathia on the mound — a 4-1 defeat.

“I’m not scared of the competition,” Tomlin said. “I just go out there and do what I’m supposed to do and everything else will take care of itself. That’s just how I was raised.”

Growing up in Tyler, Texas, has given Tomlin his country charm — he loves hunting, George Strait and lists his father, Jerry, as the biggest influence on his life.

Being selected in the 19th round of the 2006 MLB Draft — No. 581 overall — has kept him humble. Tomlin worked his way up from Single-A Mahoning Valley to Double-A Akron to Triple-A Columbus before finally getting his chance to shine in the major leagues last season.

Tomlin said the steady climb up the ladder was because he remained consistent.

“I approached every start the same,” he said. “Whether it was my first start in the minor leagues to this last start against the Red Sox, I just want to go out there and pitch deep into games.”

While Tomlin has shown a knack for that — he even threw a complete-game four-hitter against the Kansas City Royals on Sept. 24 — Acta said he doesn’t expect Tomlin to see too many triple-digit pitch counts.

“He throws a lot of strikes,” Acta said. “They are either going to hit him or he’s going to get them out. He’ll be out (of the game) after 70-80 pitches because he pitches to contact.”

Tomlin said that’s his plan of attack.

“I try to get the ball in play,” he said. “Those guys behind me get paid millions of dollars to do what they do … and they do a great job.”

The Indians defense bailed out Tomlin a couple of times Tuesday. Matt LaPorta made a diving stop on a line drive to retire leadoff hitter Jacoby Ellsbury in the sixth inning, and right fielder Shin-Soo Coo picked up an assist when he gunned down J.D. Drew at the plate in the second.

“I knew (Drew) was out the minute (Jarrod Saltalamacchia) hit the ball,” Tomlin said. “I thought if he tries to score on that from second base, Choo was going to throw him out at home.

“Choo’s arm speaks for itself — his arm is unbelievable.”

Indians fans could soon be saying the same about Tomlin.

Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.