DAVIS PITCHES TRIBE PAST BENGALS
2-Hit Shutout Club's 2nd CG of Season
CLEVELAND, May 19 (AP) - Jason Davis fired a two-hit complete game shutout as
the surprising Cleveland Indians defeated the Detroit Tigers, 2-0, at Jacobs
Field. Despite holding the American League's second best staff earned run
average, Davis' effort was only the club's second complete game whitewash of the
season. C.C. Sabathia tossed a one-hitter at Texas on May 4.
Tigers starter Gary Knotts struggled with his control, walking five, but still
tossed an effective six innings, surrendering a pair of runs (only one
earned). Still, due to Davis' heroics, Knotts fell to an AL worst 0-8 on
the year.
All the game's runs came in the bottom of the third inning. Matt Lawton
led off with a single to right off Knotts and advanced to second when Omar
Vizquel reached on an infield hit. Ellis Burks struck out and Milton
Bradley flied to deep center for the second out, with Lawton advancing to
third. Jody Gerut then rolled a single between Ramon Santiago and Carlos
Pena into right field, scoring Lawton and moving Vizquel to third. Josh
Bard appeared to end the inning when he bounced a grounder to Eric Munson but
the Detroit third baseman booted the ball for an error, allowing Vizquel to
cross the plate with the second run of the frame. Casey Blake brought the
inning to a close by flying out to right field.
Davis was seldom in trouble. He retired the first eight hitters he faced
before walking Omar Infante with two outs in the third. This led to the
Tigers' best scoring opportunity of the day. Gene Kingsale reached base
when his swinging bunt resulted in an errant throw to first by catcher
Bard. The error allowed Infante to advance to second and the bases were
filled when Davis walked Santiago. But Higginson lined to Brandon Phillips
at second base for the final out of the inning. Davis carried a no-hitter
into the fifth inning before surrendering a lead-off single to Kevin Witt, who
was immediately erased on a double play grounder off the bat of Brandon Inge.
Bobby Higginson drew a two-out walk in the sixth, but was left stranded at
first, and Eric Munson singled with one out in the seventh, moved to second on
Witt's ground out and died there when Inge flied out. Davis book-ended his
outing by setting down the final eight Detroit batters in order.
Detroit's struggles continue. The Tigers were shut out for the sixth time
this season--the most in the AL thus far--and fell to a major league worst
9-33. Detroit is averaging a 3.3 runs per game--also a major league
worst--and has been outscored by 119 runs, nearly three per contest.
5/19/2003, Det03-Cle03, Jacobs Field 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Tigers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 5 2 2003 Indians 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 x 2 7 1 10 1 Tigers AB R H BI AVG Indians AB R H BI AVG Kingsale cf 4 0 0 0 .138 Lawton lf 4 1 1 0 .224 Santiago,R 2b 3 0 0 0 .327 Vizquel ss 3 1 1 0 .250 Higginson rf 3 0 0 0 .178 Burks dh 3 0 1 0 .248 Young,D lf 4 0 0 0 .299 Bradley cf 3 0 0 0 .319 Pena,C 1b 4 0 0 0 .173 Gerut rf 4 0 1 1 .323 Munson 3b 3 0 1 0 .245 Bard c 2 0 1 0 .298 Witt dh 3 0 1 0 .200 Blake 3b 3 0 0 0 .290 Inge c 3 0 0 0 .232 Broussard 1b 3 0 1 0 .263 Infante ss 1 0 0 0 .190 Phillips,B 2b 3 0 1 0 .202 Monroe ph 1 0 0 0 .311 Selby ph 1 0 0 0 .030 Halter ss 0 0 0 0 .184 McDonald 2b 0 0 0 0 .333 29 0 2 0 29 2 7 1 Tigers INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Knotts L 0-8 6.0 6 2 1 5 6 115 67 6.31 Avery 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 14 6 2.45 Roney 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 11 7 4.95 8.0 7 2 1 6 6 140 80 Indians INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Davis,Ja W 6-2 9.0 2 0 0 3 7 122 73 2.91 9.0 2 0 0 3 7 122 73 Det: Monroe batted for Infante in the 8th Halter inserted at ss in the 8th Cle: Selby batted for Phillips,B in the 8th McDonald inserted at 2b in the 9th E-Munson, Bard. RBI-Gerut(9). SB-Burks(1), Phillips,B(1). K-Santiago,R, Young,D 2, Pena,C, Munson, Witt, Inge, Lawton, Burks, Bradley, Gerut, Blake 2. BB-Santiago,R, Higginson, Infante, Vizquel, Burks, Bradley, Bard 2, Broussard. SH-Blake. GWRBI: Gerut Temperature: 70, Sky: clear, Wind: in from right at 17 MPH. Attendance: 16,630 Game Time: 2:31