Game 144 Recap-
Scott Lewis(1-0) pitched 8 shut out innings in his ML debut, helping the Cleveland Indians defeat the Baltimore Orioles,7-1 Wednesday at Camden Yards. Lewis used 96 pitches(67 strikes) to get the win, he struck out 3 and walked no one. The rookie did not seem to mind being yanked, “I can’t be disappointed about anything today,” he said. “I only pitched eight innings once before and that was a complete game loss.” The Orioles have lost 15 of 17.
Lewis is a great story(see Star of the Game) and had a great season in minors, going 8-4 with a 2.53 era during stops in double and triple A. ” I always stayed positive. You can’t get caught up in whether you are going to be hurt all of your career,” he said. “I always had a vision in the back of my head and it came true. It was better than I had hoped. … I never expected to do this well. I had hoped to get deep into the game and maybe only give up a few [runs]. I stayed pretty calm.”
Cleveland made young Lewis’ job easier by scoring early and often. SS Jhonny Peralta(1st inning sac fly),2b Asdrubal Cabrera(4th inning 2 run double) and CF Grady Sizemore(sac fly in the 4th) had early rbis to make it 4-0 in by the 4th. C Kelly Shoppach supported his battery mate by hitting 2 solo homers in the 5th and 7th.
Orioles LH Chris Waters(2-3,5.73) did not pitch that poorly, he just picked the wrong night to throw! Over 5 2/3 innings, he allowed 9 hits and 5 runs with 6 Ks and 2 walks. RH Randor Bierd(0-2,3.66) allowed the final 2 Orioles runs to close the scoring.
Star of the Game-
Lewis- Great story having missed almost 3 seasons with various arm injuries including elbow ligament replacement surgery . His skipper was aware of his medical issues and talked about it post game. Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said, “We thought about taking him out after seven, but he coasted through the seventh effortlessly. We wanted to keep him under 100 pitches.”
Orioles Notes-
SS Alex Cintron had 2 of the Os 6 hits…. Ramon Hernandez was back at Cm while Oscar Salazar played 1B… 3b Melvin Mora tested his hamstring pregame and says he is about 70% and made himself available to pinchhit
Next Game-
Thursday, Series conclusion vs Indians at Camden Yards
7:05
Orioles RH Brian Bass(3-4,5.01) vs. Indians LH Zach Johnson(0-2,5.56)
