The Cleveland Indians have not been shut out yet this season, but last night was about as lifeless as we’ve seen the offense, as they collected just three hits and one run against a rookie lefthander and a shaky bullpen. The Red Sox took game three of the series 4-1, and the Tribe now needs to win this afternoon to salvage a split of the series.

Felix Doubront, a rookie left-hander, shut down the Tribe for six innings, allowing just five baserunners while striking out five. Doubront had a fastball in the 95 mph range that he painted on the outside corner on a couple of occasions early, and the Tribe hitters were upset at the width of the strike zone from home plate umpire Alan Porter. The one hit that Doubront gave up in the first five innings was a single by Hafner where he was thrown out at second trying to stretch it into a double.

But, overall, the Tribe stayed in the game thanks to Zach McAllister, who made a surprise start replacing the injured Josh Tomlin. Zach got hit by back-to-back RBI doubles from the heart of the Red Sox order in Pedroia and Ortiz in the third inning, allowed a sac fly in the fourth, and surrendered a sixth inning homer to Cody Ross. Other than that, however, he pitched effectively and kept the Indians in the game. [Read more...]