The Indians were all about rallies Thursday night at Progressive Field.

Cleveland overcame a five-run deficit only to watch closer Kerry Wood blow the lead in the ninth before the Indians rallied again in the bottom of the inning to win 8-7.

Rozonno McGhee shows color-coded bracelets identifying his newly born sextuplets. (AP photo.)

COLUMBUS — The father of sextuplets born in Ohio says he might have to work some overtime to support his new family.

Rozonno McGhee of Columbus says he’s a proud and happy new dad. The 30-year-old carpet cleaning specialist spoke Wednesday, hours after his wife Mia gave birth by cesarean section to four boys and two girls at Ohio State University Medical Center.

A team of about 50 medical staff members oversaw the delivery.

The first baby weighed in at a fraction over 2 pounds and the smallest at 1 pound, 12 ounces.

The babies will remain at the hospital for about three months as physicians monitor them for any health problems.

Fewer than 200 deliveries of sextuplets have occurred in the United States. It’s only the second in Ohio.

CLEVELAND — For much of the sea­son, Justin Masterson appeared to be destined to return to the bullpen.

Not anymore.

Masterson has pitched well out of the rotation over his last three outings, the crown jewel arriving Wednesday night as the right-hander offered up what was easily the best start of his career to help shut out the Red Sox, 11-0.

Working the second complete game of his career, Masterson allowed just two hits, and Cleveland’s offense backed him up with an eight-run eighth inning.

The Indians snapped a seven-game losing skid to Boston in the process.

“Justin was fantastic,” said Indians manager Manny Acta. “On any given night in baseball anything can happen. You can beat a ballclub like that. He set the tone for us. He just pumped strikes. He was wonderful from pitch one.

More photos below.

“For a few weeks, (the media) will stop asking me when he’s going back to the bullpen. He saved me with that one.”

Masterson, who recently ended a lengthy losing streak has looked like a quality starter his last three times out. His last two have come against two of the most potent teams in baseball — the Yankees and the Red Sox. A mechanical adjustment prior to his start at Yankee Stadium might have reversed his fortunes.

“It’s just kind of building off the last couple starts,” Masterson said. “It’s always fun. You get excited about it because you’re feeling good on the mound.”

Masterson’s bread-and-butter pitch, the sinker, worked wonders for him against his old mates. He recorded 17 outs by virtue of groundballs and was never in trouble, preventing Boston from advancing a runner to second base.

“That’s my best pitch,” said Masterson, who struck out six and walked just one. “Everyone knows it’s coming. The ability to control it and have some movement on it was what helped me tonight.”

Whether or not it mattered to Masterson that it came against his former team, it was still a significant victory against a club that was willing to trade him last season for Victor Martinez.

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“For me, once you get out on the field, it’s just game time,” Masterson said. “Half the time, it’s me versus myself, not the hitter.”

Masterson, who has been hampered by a lack of run support for much of the season, got more than enough this time around.

The Indians already led 3-0 before breaking the game open with a shocking surge in the eighth inning.

Cleveland batted around off Boston relievers Boof Bonser and Joe Nelson before recording a single out, with a grand slam from Travis Hafner highlighting the uprising.

“We put up some quality atbats,” Acta said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

It was the Indians’ largest shutout since they defeated the Blue Jays 12-0 in 2008 and the largest against the Red Sox since they won 11-0 in 1974. It was Boston’s lowest hit output of the season.

Masterson’s complete game was the fifth by a Cleveland pitcher this season after the club recorded just five all of last year.

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

CLEVELAND – For one of the few times this season, Progressive Field will be the place to be Sunday.

The Washington Nationals have confirmed that phenom pitcher Stephen Strasburg, whose spectacular major league debut Tuesday held the attention of the sports world, will start against the Indians in the finale of a three-game series. He will bring with him the hype that has surrounded the 21-year-old right-hander since the start of spring training.

According to Cleveland’s media relations department, the team has sold over 4,300 tickets in the last week – 3,000 alone on Wednesday – in anticipation of Strasburg’s arrival.

“How can you get away from it?” said Indians manager Manny Acta of the Strasburg hype. “Obviously the kid is special. He is gifted and we will see him on Sunday. We will have our hands full and we have to deal with it.”

Strasburg’s debut against the Pirates – 7 innings, two runs, 14 strikeouts and no walks — was a historic one. He became the first pitcher in major league history to strike out 14 without a walk in his debut.

According to Elias Sports Bureau, Strasburg is one of just four rookies since 1969 – Roger Clemens (15 strikeouts in 1984), Dwight Gooden (16 strikeouts twice in 1984) and Kerry Wood (20 strikeouts in 1998) – to strike out at least 14 batters in a game without a walk. Wood’s stellar outing came in his fifth career start.

“My first start was no where near what he did,” Wood said. “My fifth start, yeah, that was like what he did. I watched the highlights of what he did and it brought back memories. The thing is there’s a lot of attention, and I say, ‘Let him go pitch.’

“He’s got a little more than normal stuff and throws free and easy. I was hoping he’d do well, because it is so good for the game, for that team, for that city.”

Some Indians players are looking forward to taking their hacks at Strasburg.

“Whether you have any success or not, you always look forward to facing guys like that. It will be a fun challenge,” said outfielder Austin Kearns, who saw highlights of Strausburg’s debut. “It was impressive. He’s as advertised it seems like.”

“Baseball is the same game,” said outfielder Shin-Soo Choo. “I’m not thinking it’s anything special. I’ve seen a lot of good pitchers, (Justin) Verlander, (Roy) Halladay.”

But Choo had to admit that he might get to see another one Sunday.

“He’s impressive,” Choo said of Strasburg. “Fourteen strikeouts in seven innings, two strikeouts in every inning, that’s a pretty good major league debut, really good.”

Cleveland shortstop Jason Donald is familiar with Strasburg, playing with him on the U.S. National Team last summer.

“We knew he was going to be special back then,” Donald said. “You could just see it in practice.” 

Not everyone is impressed by Strasburg’s feats thus far.

“Wake me up when he wins 100 games,” said Indians Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller. “The media makes too much of this. It is about making money and then making suckers out of the fans.”

Mr. Martin

The Nationals’ visit to Cleveland will also bring back a familiar face in right-hander JD Martin, who will start the second game of the series for Washington on Saturday.

Martin was one of Cleveland’s four first-round draft choices in 2001, when the Indians took five right-handed pitchers out of high school with their first seven picks. Martin is the only one that’s made it to the majors.

He was released by the Indians at the end of the 2008 season and made his big league debut with the Nats last year, going 5-4 with a 4.44 ERA in 15 starts. Martin is 0-1 with a 2.31 ERA in two starts this year.

Livin’ the dream

The Indians’ eighth-round selection from the recent First-Year Player Draft, catcher Alex Lavisky (Lakewood St. Edward), was in attendance Wednesday, meeting with the media prior to the game.

Lavisky, who helped the Eagles to a Division I state title, grew up on the west side of Cleveland.

“It was exciting,” said Lavisky of being picked by the Indians. “I grew up watching the Tribe. It is a great opportunity and we are so thankful, and getting to play for the hometown team eventually, would be a dream come true.”

Lavisky has a decision to make after already giving his oral commitment to Georgia Tech.

“We are going to see what happens over the summer,” Lavisky said. “We will negotiate and see what happens at the end.” 

Minor details

Right-hander Alex White, Cleveland’s first-round draft choice (15^th overall) last year, didn’t allow an earned run Tuesday and just one hit over six innings of Double-A Akron’s 4-3 win over New Hampshire. On the year, White, 21, has posted a 2.33 ERA in 12 starts with advanced Class A Kinston and Akron – 2-1 with a 1.40 ERA in four starts for the Aeros. … Single-A Lake County will send five players to the Midwest League All-Star Game on June 22 in Fort Wayne, Ind. – RHP Trey Haley (4-1, 3.73 ERA), RHP Nick Sariandies (5-1, 3.77), C Roberto Perez (thrown out 55 percent of base stealers), C Chun-Hsiu (.338, 4 HR, 30 RBIs) and OF Bo Greenwell (.314, 4 HR, 35 RBIs).     

Roundin’ third

The Indians had lost seven straight games to the Red Sox through Tuesday. … Travis Hafner entered Wednesday with three hits in his last 34 at-bats (10 games). … Tonight, 7:05, Channel 3/WTAM 1100-AM/WEOL 930-AM. Mitch Talbot (7-4, 3.54) vs. Jon Lester (7-2, 2.73).

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