Indians Waste Another Great Outing by Masterson

Justin Masterson went into last night’s game trying to become only the second pitcher to reach 6 wins thus far in the 2011 season. The only other pitcher to achieve this is Jered Weaver, who is pitching tonight against the Indians.

Masterson is currently 5-0, but should be 7-0 based on his last two performances. On May 1st against the Tigers, he went 7 innings allowing 2 earned runs on 7 hits. He was replaced in the 8th inning, which would be the inning when the Indians scored 3 runs and went on to win the game. I know Masterson is happy when he can keep the game close, but he would be much happier if the team could give him enough runs to earn the win.

Last night’s game was very similar to the one on May 1st, as Masterson threw 7 innings and only allowed 1 run. The Indians were shut down by Tyler Chatwood of the Angels on the way to a 2-1 loss. Justin did all he could to keep the Tribe in it, but they struggled on offense.

The lack of run support could be compared to that of last year’s Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez, except for the fact that the Indians are the best team in baseball. Also, Masterson is undefeated, while Hernandez usually watched his team lose when he only allowed 1 or 2 runs. The key for Masterson is to keep up his great work, because at this pace he should be among the first pitchers chosen for the AL All-Star team. Right now, the first pitcher looks like it will be Jered Weaver, but there is still two months until the game, and Masterson has yet to record a loss.