Justin Masterson knows that all he is guaranteed is this season with the Indians. With that in mind, and without worrying about what his future might hold, the starter has embraced the responsibility of leading Cleveland’s staff and setting the tone for the year at hand.
If Opening Day is any indication, Masterson is ready to hoist Cleveland on his broad shoulders.
Masterson led the way in Monday night’s opener against the A’s, overpowering Oakland for seven innings to initiate the Indians’ quest to build on last summer’s run to the postseason. The Tribe offense was a little slower out of the gates, waiting until the ninth inning to rally in a season-opening 2-0 victory over the A’s at the Coliseum.
“It was a nice tone,” Masterson said with a smile. “I think that’s as good a tone as you can set.”
In his third consecutive Opening Day start for the Indians, Masterson blanked Oakland’s lineup and probably could have gone the distance had this been a midseason start. The right-hander certainly looked to be in midseason form, inducing a pile of ground balls and escaping the handful of jams he encountered along the way.
“I think we’ve kind of come to expect that,” Indians manager Terry Francona said.
A victory was not in the cards for Masterson, but the Indians still found the win column, sending the A’s to a Major League-record 10th straight loss on Opening Day. Cleveland accomplished that by sidestepping a dicey eighth inning, rallying in the ninth and then having new closer John Axford lock things down for his first save in a Tribe uniform.
“Everything seems a little bigger, because it’s the first game,” Francona said. “It’s hard to get past that, but it is only one game. But, heck yeah, we showed up this morning to win and we did. Now, we get to show up tomorrow and see if we can do it again.”
Facing Oakland closer Jim Johnson in the ninth inning, center fielder Nyjer Morgan delivered a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to put the Tribe on the board. Nick Swisher followed with an RBI single, giving Axford a two-run cushion that proved sufficient. Axford walked two batters, but he also had a pair of strikeouts in closing things out.
“It still worked out, right?” Axford said with a grin. “No runs and we ended up with the win. So, it was perfect.”
It was a satisfying ending to what had been a mostly frustrating game for Cleveland, which struggled to solve right-handed starter Sonny Gray. Over six innings, Gray struck out seven and sidestepped any damage that might have come from the five hits and three walks he allowed.
Cleveland went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position before breaking through in the ninth.
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