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Pavano looks for better result in second start

Apr 14, 2009 - 12:12 PM By Jeff Mezydlo Stats Senior Writer

Cleveland (1-6) at Kansas City (4-3), 8:10 p.m. EDT

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) -- Carl Pavano's attempt at reviving his pitching career with the Cleveland Indians got off to a rough start.

Kyle Davies, meanwhile, appears to keep getting better for the Kansas City Royals.

Pavano looks to bounce back from an awful debut and help the Indians avoid a second straight loss to Davies and the Royals as they continue a three-game set Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium.

After four disappointing years with the New York Yankees, Pavano (0-1, 81.00 ERA) is looking for a new start with Cleveland (1-6), but will need to pitch much better than he did in his Indians debut in order to stick to that hope.

The right-hander allowed nine runs, six hits and walked three on 39 pitches in just one-plus inning of Cleveland's 12-8 loss at Texas on Thursday.

"I know my job going was to put us in a position to win," Pavano told the Indians' official Web site. "And I didn't do that at all."

The only time Pavano, who signed a $1.5 million, one-year deal with Cleveland, recorded fewer outs in 175 previous starts was for Florida in June 2003, when he gave up six runs without an out against Boston.

"It's disappointing," said Pavano, who appeared in 26 games and missed the entire 2006 season with an elbow injury for the Yankees from 2005-08. "I was trying to be aggressive and I let some pitches get away from me."

Hoping to bounce back from his latest debacle, Pavano makes his first appearance against Kansas City (4-3) since allowing five runs in 5 1-3 innings of a 5-2 road loss in 2005 for his only start against the Royals.

While Pavano hopes to simply keep his team in the game, the inconsistent Indians' bats will try to get the best of Davies, who's picked up where he left off at the end of last season.

After winning his final three starts of 2008, Davies (0-0, 0.00) allowed three hits and struck out eight in seven scoreless innings of the Royals' 2-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday.

"He's on the same roll that he finished August with, and went through September with," Royals manager Trey Hillman said. "Very impressive."

The right-hander is 1-3 with a 9.00 ERA in four starts against Cleveland.

The Royals didn't score until after Davies left the game, but they jumped out with three runs in the first inning of a 4-2 win over the Indians in Monday's series opener.

Mark Teahen and Alberto Callaspo hit RBI singles around Billy Butler's run-scoring double in the first. Mike Jacobs, who hit 32 home runs for Florida last year, hit his first for the Royals, who are looking for a third straight victory.

"Anytime you can get that first one out of the way, it's a good thing," said Jacobs, who is just 4-for-20 for the Royals. "I want to hit home runs over here as well."

Victor Martinez had three hits and Shin-Soo Choo two with an RBI for Cleveland, which stranded 12 and went 4-for-13 with runners in scoring position..

Martinez is batting .367 (11-for-30) and is 3-for-10 with a homer and two RBIs against Davies.