Indians manager Terry Francona sat inside the interview room on Tuesday night, attempting to answer questions over the rap music that blared from inside the team’s clubhouse across the hall. He allowed himself to smirk.
Under the circumstances, Francona did not mind the celebratory inconvenience.
“I’m not necessarily sure I like the words to that song,” Francona said. “But I like when it’s playing.”
With wins comes loud music, and the Tribe has had its playlist on repeat lately. The Indians’ latest victory was of the 1-0 variety over the A’s at Progressive Field, where right-hander Zach McAllister paved the way to the win column with a stellar performance. Cleveland’s potent lineup took a breather, giving the rotation a night in the spotlight.
The Indians (16-14) have pieced together eight wins in their past nine games, pounding out at least six runs in each of the previous seven victories. Hidden beneath the pile of runs recently scored by the Indians, however, has been a string of solid pitching performances.
McAllister was detemined to keep that trend going.
“It’s exciting,” McAllister said. “Every one of us wants to go out there and pitch better than the guy in front of them. It’s a friendly competition.”
McAllister (3-3, 2.63 ERA) followed Ubaldo Jimenez’s solid showing on Monday (5 2/3 innings and two runs allowed) by blanking the A’s over 7 2/3 superb frames. The big right-hander had strong command of his fastball, kept hitters honest with his slider and mixed in a few splitters, which is a pitch he has been fine-tuning this season.
Oakland (18-16), which is tied with the Astros for the most offensive shutouts (four) this season, never had a runner in scoring position in the ballgame. Only once against McAllister — Derek Norris in the third inning — did the A’s have a hitter work into a 2-0 count. The Tribe starter finished with 111 pitches, five singles surrendered, four strikeouts and one walk.
“He ran the game,” Francona said.
In the season’s first 21 games, the Indians’ starting staff went a combined 5-13 with a bloated 5.72 ERA. Things have changed dramatically over the past nine games, dating back to Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Royals on April 28. Since then, Cleveland’s rotation has combined to go 7-1 with a 2.50 ERA (16 earned runs in 57 2/3 innings).
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