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Masterson's effort helps Indians win sixth straight

Apr 10, 2011 - 5:07 AM Seattle, WA (Sports Network) - Justin Masterson struck out nine in a solid start that helped the Cleveland Indians edge the Seattle Mariners, 2-1, at Safeco Field.

Masterson (2-0) limited the Mariners to one run on four hits and a walk in 6 1/3 innings. He had allowed only one run in seven innings in his first outing of the season, Sunday against the White Sox, though didn't strike out any in that start.

"He was filthy," Indians manager Manny Acta said of Masterson. "He had a very good fastball with his usual movement and he was able to pound the strike zone the whole night. He had a very good slider, too, that had the lefties and the righties swinging over it."

He helped Cleveland win its sixth straight game, and the Indians got the necessary runs in one play -- Asdrubal Cabrera scored on a sacrifice fly, and Shin-Soo Choo crossed the plate when Milton Bradley's throw from left field went into foul territory in the fourth inning.

Doug Fister (0-2) pitched six innings and took the loss for the Mariners, who have lost six in a row. In addition to the two runs he gave up, he allowed six hits, walked two and struck out three.

"We've just been a hit short too many times here early on," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. "We'll get better, we'll learn from it, but we got to keep grinding, keep pushing."

The Mariners scored their only run in the seventh, when Michael Saunders singled in Justin Smoak. Luis Rodriguez moved up to third on an error on the play, leaving runners on the corners with two outs. But Ichiro Suzuki's bunt attempt was unsuccessful, ending the threat.

Tony Sipp worked around a leadoff double by Chone Figgins to toss a scoreless eighth, and Chris Perez threw a 1-2-3 ninth to record his third save.

Game Notes

Figgins went 2-for-4. His sixth-inning single snapped an 0-for-26 skid...Cabrera and Choo both had two hits for Cleveland...The three-game series will conclude Sunday, when the Indians' Josh Tomlin is set to oppose the Mariners Erik Bedard.