• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Byrd, Indians blank Tigers

Jul 29, 2008 - 3:15 AM By Todd Krepop PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Paul Byrd isn't afraid to try new things.

Displaying a new wind-up, Byrd pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings and Asdrubal Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta each drove in two runs as the Cleveland Indians recorded a 5-0 triumph over the Detroit Tigers on Monday.

Detroit and its $138 million payroll entered Monday night's game trailing the first place Chicago White Sox by 6 1/2 games in the American League Central Division. The Tigers entered the four-game series against Cleveland with a golden chance to make up ground as Chicago was facing the second-place Minnesota Twins.

But the Tigers were unable to get their offense going against Byrd, who changed his delivery three starts ago in an effort to keep the ball in the park.

Byrd has yielded an American League-worst 23 home runs this season, which forced him to try something new. So Byrd decided to cut his old-school delivery in half prior to his June 9 start.

Instead of going over his head with the ball, Byrd stops halfway before throwing home. The change seems to be working as Byrd has won his last two starts and hasn't given up a home run since the change.

"It's enabling me to keep the ball down," Byrd said. "It's helped me on some other pitches because I have thrown the ball sidearm and I haven't given up a home run. It allows my slider to get in a better slot, so I am going to stick with that and see what happens."

"Byrdie does whatever he has to - to get people out," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "Whether he tweaks his delivery or his arm slot, he will do whatever it takes to get guys out."

Using an assortment of off-speed pitches, Byrd (5-10) kept the Tigers hitters off-balance all night. The veteran righthander held Detroit to four hits and allowed three walks while striking out five.

"I went and pitched inside and buried the ball in on the righthanded hitters," Byrd said. "That opened up the outside of the plate later in the game.

Edward Mujica retired the last four batters to complete the Indians' 11th shutout of the season, tying them with Boston for most in the majors.

Despite the loss, Tigers' manager Jim Leyland doesn't think his team his out of it.

"That seems like a lot, but one team can go on a five-game losing streak and another team can go on a five-game winning streak," Leyland said. "That happens all the time in baseball. I think this team knows what's at stake."

Detroit 's best chance to score came in the sixth when Curtis Granderson led off with a double, but would advance no further has Byrd retired the next three batters to preserve the Indians' 2-0 advantage.

"Give a lot of credit to Paul Byrd," Leyland said. "He's been fantastic against us. He changes speeds. He stays out of the middle of the plate. He cuts the ball. He sinks the ball. He's a pitcher."

Cleveland then struck for three runs in the bottom half of the inning off Rogers (8-7) on a pair of home runs to extend its lead.

Kelly Shoppach started the inning with his ninth home run of the season and Cabrera followed with a two-out, two run homer later in the inning to cap the scoring.

"You're going to give up home runs, but those three runs were killer blows," Rogers said. "If it's still 2-0, maybe things turn out differently. The way Paul was pitching, you don't want to give up any more in these type of games.

Peralta plated the Indians' first two runs with an RBI groundout in the first and an RBI double in the third with two outs.

Rogers was tagged for five runs on nine hits in 6 1/3 innings while striking out only one batter on the 14th anniversary of his perfect game.