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Lewis dazzles in major league debut, stymies Orioles

Sep 11, 2008 - 2:54 AM By Sean Burns PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- If Scott Lewis was feeling any nerves before his major league debut, the lefthander certainly didn't show it.

Recalled from Class AA Akron on Sunday, Lewis tossed eight scoreless innings en route to shutting down the Baltimore Orioles as the Cleveland Indians cruised to a 7-1 victory on Wednesday.

"I just tried to stay focused," Lewis said. "You've got to respect this game? any time you take it lightly, it can blow up in your face. I just tried to take a deep breath and settle, and everything wound up working."

A three-run fourth inning rally provided the rookie with all the support he would need and catcher Kelly Shoppach added a pair of home runs as the Indians handed Baltimore its 10th loss in its last 11 games.

Lewis (1-0), who went a combined 8-4 with a 2.53 ERA in 18 starts between Akron and Class AAA Buffalo, was dominating throughout his debut, facing just two batters over the minimum and not walking a batter.

"He did a good job, trusted his stuff and worked confident," Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said. "He pounded the zone and kept the ball down. He had the same goal as all of our starters? give us a chance to win the ball game."

The 24-year-old had three strikeouts, including a strikeout-caught stealing double play in the sixth inning to eliminate one of the three base runners the Orioles did manage.

"His fastball command was good, and that's they biggest key to pitching (in the majors)," Shoppach said. "He had command of his off-speed pitches too. He just went out there and handled his nerves and we're happy to see him do well.

"We tried not to tell him too much before the game? we just wanted to make him feel like it's the same game he's gone out and played 100 times. Sure there's nerves, but he handled himself and made us proud."

Cleveland handed Lewis the lead before he set foot on the mound when Asdrubal Cabrera lifted a sacrifice fly in the first before adding three runs in the fourth and tacking on one in the fifth and two in the seventh.

Shoppach, who also had a single and walked in the game to reach base in all but one plate appearance, hit his 18th and 19th home runs, both solo shots.

"(Shoppach) did a great job all around, both handling the staff and at the plate," Wedge said.

Most of Cleveland's success came against Baltimore starter Chris Waters (2-3), who gave up nine hits and five runs in 5 2/3 innings, walking two and hitting a batter while striking out six.

Two of the three walks resulted in a run, with Shoppach and Franklin Gutierrez coming around in the fourth on a double by Cabrera and a sacrifice fly by Grady Sizemore. Cleveland's final run also came off a free pass, as Ryan Garko walked and later scored in the seventh.

"Fastball command wasn't there," Baltimore manager David Trembley said. "Didn't have very many first pitch strikes, and in the middle innings, the bottom of the lineup got to (Waters). They sat on pitches and got into hitters' counts."

Gutierrez's hit-by-pitch was Cleveland's 92nd of the season as a team, tying the American League record set by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992.

Baltimore's lone run came against reliever Masa Kobayashi in the ninth after Lewis was pulled prior to the frame. Aubrey Huff doubled deep into the gap to score Brandon Fahey, but Kobayashi settled to close the game out.