The Indians unveiled their new four-headed closing monster against the Rays on Sunday afternoon. It is a beast that will be summoned from its bullpen until John Axford is deemed ready to return to his regular ninth-inning duties.
In the finale of a three-game series against Tampa Bay, Cleveland’s revamped late-inning crew endured a handful of hiccups, but ultimately slammed the door in a 6-5 victory at Tropicana Field. Josh Tomlin set the tone for the win with a solid effort, Nyjer Morgan sparked the Tribe’s offense and the Indians survived a late scare to notch their seventh win in eight games.
The replacements — relievers Cody Allen, Scott Atchison, Marc Rzepczynski and Bryan Shaw — banded together to cover the final three frames.
“We won, right?” Tomlin said with a smirk. “That’s the main thing. We won the game.”
Prior to Saturday’s game, Indians manager Terry Francona had two meetings with members of his relief corps. One involved Axford, who was informed that he would be temporarily removed from the closing role to iron out some mechanical and command problems that have plagued his season to date. The second meeting was a group gathering.
Allen, Atchison, Rzepczynski and Shaw headed into the manager’s office at Tropicana Field, where Francona explained the new plan for the ninth inning. No one pitcher would be given the closing job. While Axford is out, any one of the four might be handed the ball in the ninth. Their innings will depend on the situation and who is due to hit for the opposing team.
Considering the nature of Axford’s situation — Francona insists the closer’s role will eventually return to the right-hander — the other relievers liked the plan.
“We want Ax at the end of the ‘pen,” said Atchison, who has a 1.80 ERA this season. “He’s the guy we brought here to close, and we want to make sure we get him righted. If he needs a week or so here to get himself righted, then I think we have plenty of people capable of getting us through it until he’s ready to go again.”
Atchison was the first of the four to be called upon on Sunday.
The 38-year-old righty took over for Tomlin, who spun six solid innings, limiting Tampa Bay to two runs on six hits with two strikeouts and no walks for his second straight victory. Both of the Rays’ runs against Tomlin came courtesy of Matt Joyce, who launched a solo homer in the first inning and added an RBI single in the fourth.
Cleveland’s offense provided sufficient support for Tomlin to earn the victory.
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