Angels 3, Indians 0: Tribe lays egg on scoreboard

CLEVELAND: It was a game in which Indians batsmen couldnt be blamed for their impotency. They were, in fact, expected to struggle mightily Monday night against the Los Angeles Angels, who opened a three-game set at Progressive Field with a 3-0 win.

Jered Weaver makes a habit of shutting down offenses much more explosive than the Tribes. And he had little trouble doing what he usually does, delivering seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and three walks.

Though Weaver (9-1, 2.13 ERA) is a load for any rival attack to handle, he has been especially lethal at Progressive Field, where he is 5-0 in eight starts. In fact, Weaver has the second lowest ERA of any pitcher who has made at least five starts on Tribe turf, lowering that figure to 1.52 Monday night.

Unfortunately, we couldnt do much offensively, manager Manny Acta said. We didnt have a very good approach to Weaver the first five or six innings. Im not taking anything away from him, because he does this to teams every five days.

But I felt we were swinging at his pitches, and we were swinging too early in the count. I know he was throwing strikes, but still.

Through six innings, the Indians had only two hits and Weaver walked a batter. But in the seventh, the Tribe loaded the bases with nobody out on walks to Jason Kipnis and Carlos Santana, sandwiched around Michael Brantleys single.

Yet what might have been the beginning of the end for Weaver looked almost like a setup. Like he purposely littered the bases with runners so he could show up his antagonists by giving up nothing.

Johnny Damon slapped a ground ball to third, and Alberto Callaspo forced Kipnis at the plate. Casey Kotchman followed with a weak pop fly to the catcher in foul territory, and Shelley Duncan waved at a sharp slider off the plate on a 2-and-2 pitch to take all the air out of the ballpark.

Hes a very good pitcher, but I let the team down, Damon said. In the worst case, we should push across one run. He gave me some pitches off the plate that I could have driven to left, but I didnt do that.

He has control over every pitch he throws. He brushed us back at times, but he knew exactly what he was doing, because then he would go outside.

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Angels 3, Indians 0: Tribe lays egg on scoreboard