CLEVELAND – The Indians have been talking about putting it all together for a while now. Monday night in the opener of a three-game series against Central Division rival Chicago, they finally did.
Receiving a positive outing from starting pitcher Carl Pavano, some surprising production from their sagging offense and an effective effort from their bullpen, the Indians beat back the White Sox, 9-4.
The win not only snapped a four-game losing skid, it erased the negative vibe that has been following the club for at least one night.
“That`s what we`re talking about,” said manager Eric Wedge, whose team entered the night 10 games under .500 and trailing the first-place Royals by seven games in the division standings. “That`s the type of baseball we need to play.”
A slumbering Indians offense produced an early wake-up call, scoring twice in the opening inning on consecutive hits from Shin-Soo Choo and Mark DeRosa (double). Choo`s hit to right that scored Grady Sizemore accounted for Cleveland`s first first-inning run in 11 May games.
The Indians kept going from there, scoring four times in the fourth and three more in the sixth to break the game open and chase White Sox starter Gavin Floyd, who allowed eight runs on 11 hits in five innings.
Shortstop Jhonny Peralta was one of four Indians with multihit games, going 3-for-5 with three RBIs. A struggling Peralta was benched for two games, but has returned with gusto, producing three hits in each of his first two games back in the lineup.
“Wedge gave me two days off. It`s helped,” Peralta said.
The early support made for a smooth ride for Indians starter Carl Pavano, who continued to pitch effectively as of late, allowing four runs on 10 this through 61/3 innings.
Pavano (3-3, 6.45) was strong early, shutting out the Sox on three hits over the first four innings before allowing two in the fifth and running out of gas in the seventh.
After allowing four straight batters to reach with one out in the seventh, Pavano was pulled.
“The team won, but it`s a game I need to go deeper in,” he said. “I got aggressive at the end and made some bad pitches. Overall, you can`t complain.”
After a slow start, Pavano has fared much better, posting a 3.66 ERA over his last three outings – all wins.
“I feel like I`m getting stronger and more consistent,” Pavano said. “I feel strong.”
Pavano received assistance from more than his offense. The defense did not commit an error, while turning in some quality plays. One of them came from DeRosa, who made a diving snare on a groundball down the third-base line that prevented a bigger inning from the White Sox than they got in the fifth.
“They made some great plays behind me,” Pavano said.
With Pavano on the ropes in the seventh, converted reliever Aaron Laffey rode to the rescue to get the final two outs without a run scoring before returning to work a scoreless eighth.
“It`s only been two times but he`s done a very good job in that role,” Wedge said of Laffey. “He`s really taken to it and he`s helped us.”
The win might not mean much in the grand scheme, but for a scuffling squad with playoff aspirations, it was substantial relief.
“We`ve been battling,” Pavano said. “We`re trying to get all the pieces moving on all cylinders. I`ve been in this game a long time. I`ve been on quite a few teams that were in this situation and we turned it around.”
The Indians have the opportunity to take another small step to recovery tonight when they host the White Sox on a bid to win consecutive games for the just the second time this season.
“We don`t need to talk about it any more. We need to see it,” Wedge said.
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.

TONIGHT

WHO: Cleveland vs. Chicago
TIME: 7:05
WHERE: Progressive Field
PITCHERS: Sowers (0-1, 12.60 ERA) vs. Richard (0-0, 4.41)
TV/RADIO: SportsTime Ohio; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM

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