It gets a bit scary when a an inexperienced pitcher lacking phenomenal stuff goes into a bit of a slump. One might think that the book has finally caught up to him, the book and the long ball. Still, tonight Tomlin extended his 5+ inning start streak to 27 to begin his MLB career. Even during the struggles, Josh (9-4, 3.95) was able to pitch past the halfway point and, most importantly, did not allow his control to falter. Although he gave up 39 hits in the 23 innings of those starts, Tomlin did not try to alter his approach. Even when the opposition took advantage of the spots that he missed, the 26-year old remained locked in, weathered the storm and now seems to have arrived safely back to his early season form.
In earning his 9th victory tonight (6.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 2 HR) Josh prevented what would have been a demoralizing sweep that would have wiped away all the momentum that the team recouped against Pittsburgh. With three more scheduled starts before the mid-summer classic, Tomlin is, in my very humble opinion, poised to make a run at the All-Star roster. I believe that Asdrubal Cabrera is a virtual lock (see previous post, did you know that he is 12-for-12 in stealing bases?), but it would seem that the next best argument could be made for Josh (Did you know that no one has even attempted to steal off of him this season?), assuming that he stays plus for the next three weeks. He is now tied with six others for the AL lead in wins. If he could make that total, say, 11 by break time, I cannot see him being excluded.
In a more general sense, the Tribe seems to be returning to the standard that they set in getting out to a 30-15 start that featured 25 games (15-10) with a margin of 3 runs or less. Then came the 6-16 stretch leading into the Pittsburgh series wherein only 8 games were decided by fewer than four runs. Now, the two excrurciating one-run losses to the Rockies notwithstanding (How clutch was Travis Buck braking an 0-for-24 to tie the game on Tuesday?), the Indians took 4 of 6 in a home stand that included four games within the aforementioned spread. The recipe is simple: timely hitting (Pronk!!!!!!!!!!), quality starting pitching and a set-up staff that just will not quit. In fact, the entire 'pen (minus a goat named Chad of course) has allowed just four earned in 46.1 since June 3. That rounds out to a 0.78 ERA. Hell, the Mafia put the first four they faced tonight on strikes. Nice.
Like it.
Love it.
Gotta have it.
Roll Tribe.
Cheers.
P.s. Isn't it weird that we can now hear the umpire saying where the pitch misses on a ball?
