CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Indians finally got the aesthetic combination of large crowd and comfortable weather at Progressive Field. Right-hander Justin Masterson pitched superbly and catcher Carlos Santana caught three runners attempting to steal.
But the Tribe’s postgame clubhouse was relatively quiet Friday night because of a fielding mistake by reliever Joe Smith in the eighth inning. The unearned run that resulted pushed the Miami Marlins to a 3-2 victory.
Paid attendance of 29,378 was Cleveland’s second-largest in 21 dates, trailing only the 43,190 for the season opener April 5. The walk-up of 6,100 ranks as seventh-largest in Progressive Field history.
The fans were treated to an entertaining interleague opener that had more of a National League feel. The teams combined for 10 hits. Marlins right-hander Carlos Zambrano and two relievers allowed four hits. But it was not as if Tribe batters were swinging wet newspapers.
“We hit a lot of balls right at people,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “Give Zambrano credit — he pitched well — but I still liked how we swung the bats. Nothing fell for us.”
Zambrano (2-2, 1.96 ERA) gave up the two runs in seven innings. He and the relievers were particularly tough on the Tribe’s Nos. 3-6 hitters, who went 0-for-16.
“Zambrano did a good job of expanding the zone against those guys,” Acta said.
The Marlins were opportunistic in the eighth. With the score tied at 2, Bryan Petersen led off with a walk against lefty Tony Sipp. After Petersen moved to second on Jose Reyes’ sacrifice, Smith took over.
Omar Infante grounded routinely to Smith, who spun and had Petersen hung up. But Smith double-clutched, then threw the ball into the body of Petersen at second. As the ball rolled away, Petersen raced to third.
Hanley Ramirez followed with a sacrifice fly to center.
“I thought [Petersen] was going to stop and try to get into a rundown,” Smith said. “Instead, he planted and went right toward the bag. I had to get rid of it. I tried to make the play on the run and threw it away.”
Smith did not second-guess his decision to bypass the out at first. At worst, it would have been runner on third with two outs.
“I’d go to second base again,” he said. “It was the right play. If I just plant and make the throw, we’ve got him, no doubt. I got caught off-guard when he broke back to the bag.”
Acta said: “Joe’s probably our best fielding pitcher. He’s very good on the mound. He just didn’t get that one.”
Sipp was charged with the loss, his second. Each of the Marlins’ runs scored after a walk with none or one out.
“When you only score two runs, you almost have to play perfect baseball,” Acta said. “We didn’t.”
Masterson allowed two runs on six hits in seven innings, walked three and struck out five. He rebounded from a rough outing in Boston to notch the fourth quality start in his last five. In lowering his ERA from 5.40 to 5.04, he gave up one extra-base hit — a Ramirez double — and repeatedly handled lefties.
The Indians took a 2-0 lead in the second. Zambrano was one strike from an easy inning. He got two groundouts and had a 1-2 count on Johnny Damon. But Damon battled back to draw a walk.
Just as Damon was getting settled into his lead, Casey Kotchman ripped a first-pitch double down the right-field line. As Damon motored around second, right field Giancarlo Stanton briefly struggled to control the ball. Third-base coach Steve Smith took notice and began waving in Damon. Second baseman Omar Infante needed to reach for Stanton’s throw. Damon, flashing wheels from his Kansas City days in the 1990s, slid in just ahead of the tag from catcher John Buck.
The ripple effect was Kotchman taking third on the throw. After Jose Lopez walked, Shin-Soo Choo’s single to center drove in Kotchman. It might not have been enough to score Kotchman from second.
Miami pulled within 2-1 in the third. Petersen led off with a five-pitch walk and advanced to third when Reyes singled to right. Petersen scored on Infante’s grounder to short.
Santana helped prevent further damage by erasing Infante’s steal attempt. Miami was in a stolen-base slump by the end of the fifth. Speedy Emilio Bonifacio led off with an infield single. With Petersen batting, Santana’s laser caught Bonifacio for the first time in 21 attempts this season. Bonifacio did not finish the game because of a sprained thumb.
Petersen singled, then quickly became Santana victim No. 3.
“An outstanding performance by Carlos, especially against a team like that,” Acta said. “Carlos has that ability to shut down a running game.”
The Marlins tied it in the sixth. Infante drew a one-out walk, moved to third on Ramirez’s double and scored on Dobbs’ sacrifice fly to left. Damon made the catch in foul territory near the tarp, but his throw had nowhere near enough juice or accuracy.
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