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Tribe pitcher earns win against Angels at Progressive Field
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published on Monday, Aug 18, 2008
CLEVELAND: If the measure of a starting pitcher is the minuscule size of his earned run average, Jeremy Sowers has a long way to go.
On the other hand, there are other elements that factor into any rational equation of a pitcher's effectiveness. Moreover, the journey can be as important to a pitcher's development as any single result, such as the Indians' 4-3 win over the Angels at Progressive Field Sunday, a game in which Sowers earned the victory.
''Jeremy is showing a little bit of progress,'' catcher Sal Fasano said. ''I think over the next few years, he's going to start having a pretty good career.''
The low point in Sowers' season (the high point of his ERA) came on July 8, when he was forced to swallow hard whenever he looked at the number, 7.81, which seemed to flash red-and-yellow neon as it glowered at him off the page of team statistics.
Since then, his ERA has dropped slowly. Very slowly. From 7.81 it dipped to 7.51, 7.33, 5.86, 5.82, 5.70, 5.70 again, and now to 5.46.
Each step along the way seemed to signify a line of demarcation in Sowers' season, maybe an upgrade in his fastball or his ability to throw inside with precision or an advancement in the quality of a particular off-speed pitch.
When Sowers starts a game now, there is much less trepidation that he will fall on his sword. He has regained the calm self-confidence that was so obvious in his rookie year of 2006, a demeanor he seemed to have been born with.
Mostly through no fault of his own, Sowers gave up
two runs in the first inning Sunday, yielding a cheap hit to shortstop, a hard ground ball single up the middle, an RBI bloop hit and an error by Grady Sizemore in center that allowed a run to score.
''That inning was kind of ironic after I gave up two runs in the first inning of my last two starts,'' Sowers said. ''But this time, there was one big difference. I made good pitches today. In my last game, I caught a couple of breaks to keep it to two runs.''
Sowers stayed around for 62/3 innings, giving up one more run (on Fasano's passed ball) in the fifth. Overall, Sowers allowed eight hits and two walks. One of the three runs was unearned, but it could be argued that all three were undeserved.
''Jeremy was a little erratic with his fastball early, but I felt like he dialed it in later in the game,'' manager Eric Wedge said. ''And his changeup continues to improve.
''A couple of innings, we gave them an extra out, and when you do that, it really puts it on the pitcher.''
In Sowers' past six starts, he has posted a 4.31 ERA and has both his wins, one loss and three no decisions.
''You definitely can lose confidence when things go wrong,'' he said. ''It's the guys who bounce back who are going to have success.''
With only 98 pitches in the book, Sowers probably could have gone longer. But with two outs and a runner on second, Wedge elected to bring Rafael Perez in from the bullpen. In his last outing, three days earlier, Perez failed to retire a batter and was charged with four runs.
This time, things were a bit different. He struck out Mark Teixeira to end the seventh, then got Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter on strikes to begin the eighth, which ended with Howie Kendrick slapping a ground ball to second.
Jensen Lewis got the save in the ninth, but had to work hard after putting runners on first and third with two outs.
The Indians figured to struggle against Angels starter Joe Saunders, who came into the game with a 14-5 record and 3.07 ERA. And they did, probably more than they should have.
Franklin Gutierrez salvaged the first inning by ripping a two-out single up the middle that scored two runs, but the Tribe should have produced more than one run in the third.
However, after Jamey Carroll led off with a walk and stopped at second on Ben Francisco's single, Jhonny Peralta bounced into a double play, leaving Carroll on third. Ryan Garko got the run in with a well-placed flare that landed in no-man's land, between the back of the pitcher's mound and the second baseman.
As has been their recent custom, the Indians stranded nine runners against Saunders and his predecessors, five in scoring position, and grounded into two double plays.
Gutierrez was on base four times, three times with singles and once with a walk.
''Franklin hit some tough pitches,'' Wedge said. ''He's doing better in pitchers' counts.''
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com.
CLEVELAND: If the measure of a starting pitcher is the minuscule size of his earned run average, Jeremy Sowers has a long way to go.
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