Daisuke Matsuzaka is not exactly the one who got away from the Indians. The pitcher is, however, the one who came back, lulled Cleveland’s lineup to sleep and helped the Mets avoid a sweep of a three-game series at Progressive Field.
In that sense, it was a frustrating Sunday afternoon for the Tribe.
“It stinks when he comes in and deals against us,” Indians reliever Joe Smith said, “when we’ve had him the whole year.”
Released by the Indians less than three weeks ago, Matsuzaka gave New York a solid outing to send Cleveland on its way to a 2-1 loss in the finale of the Interleague set. The Tribe’s offense could not come through in a handful of key situations, and the result was a quiet ending to a modest four-game winning streak.
Matsuzaka tormented the Tribe with a fastball that became increasingly effective due to the sharpness of his breaking ball. The right-hander worked into the sixth inning, limited Cleveland to three hits and used his famous deliberate delivery to keep the Indians off-balance.
These traits were mostly missing in Matsuzaka’s most recent outings with the Mets — he was 0-3 with a 10.95 ERA in his previous three starts — and during his stay in the Indians’ farm system earlier this season.
“We watched him all year in Triple-A,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “This was the best by far his command has been with his breaking ball.”
Consider it a case of two steps forward, one step back for Cleveland.
Things did not go the Tribe’s way on Sunday, but the club did walk away with two wins in the series on the eve of the opener of a three-game division clash with Kansas City. The Indians fell to two games back for the American League’s second Wild Card spot after the Rays beat the Mariners.
“It’s nice to be greedy,” Indians designated hitter Jason Giambi said. “But at the end of the day, we won two out of three. That’s what we can do. You’d like to reel off as many wins as you can, especially in this situation, but that’s a good Mets ballclub.”
More to the point, it is a young Mets club trying to embrace the role of spoiler down the stretch.
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