Josh Tomlin‘s job was simple enough starting Game 3: go five (or more) innings and hand over the reigns to the bullpen. While it doesn’t sound too difficult, given Tomlin’s propensity for allowing home runs and Boston’s knack for hitting them, nothing was a sure bet for Tomlin on Monday.
However, the man called Little Cowboy came through in a big way for Cleveland: he pitched five scoreless innings with near-perfect command. Tomlin had four strikeouts, with all but one looking, and only allowed four hits. Tomlin’s only walked of the night seemed to strategic, when he walked David Ortiz on five pitches to lead off the second inning.
Ultimately, Tomlin left the game in the sixth inning after allowing a leadoff hit to Dustin Pedroia, who would become Tomlin’s second earned run allowed after Andrew Miller surprisingly failed to strand him following a Mookie Betts double and a David Ortiz sac fly that made the score 4-2. However, Tomlin did leave the game in line for the win, and more importantly, having done his job.
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