Josh Tomlin is back from the dead – figuratively speaking, of course. But, then again, he’s been overcoming nearly insurmountable odds his entire professional career.

Plucked out of the late rounds of the 2006 draft, the 19th to be exact, Tomlin made his first big league start in 632 days on Tuesday night, thanks to the all too familiar Tommy John surgery. And, boy, the man known as Little Cowboy spun a beaut.

Tomlin baffled the Twins through six-and-two-thirds innings, allowing one run on four hits and one walk while fanning four. Sixty-six of his 93 pitches found the strike zone. And, more importantly, he gave the beleaguered bullpen a well needed night of rest. It also looks like his fringe-average fastball has rebounded to the pre-injury velocity as well; it averaged a shade under 89 mph.

A trio of relievers – Marc Rzepczynski, Scott Atchison, and Bryan Shaw – finished out the night by tossing 2.1 innings of near-perfect ball, allowing one hit, fanning four, and issuing no free passes.

The offensive stars of night for the Tribe were: Nick Swisher, who went 2-for-4 with a ribbie and one run; Michael Brantley chipped in one hit, a walk, and a ribbie while scoring one run; and David Murphy, Yan Gomes, who’s back from paternity leave, and the red hot Lonnie Chisenhall each added a base knock.

The Indians take on the Twins tonight, 7:05. Fire baller Danny Salazar looks to beat the struggling Ricky Nolasco.

1 Comment

  • Gvl Steve says:

    Kudos for putting such a positive spin on this game. Finding five offensive stars out of a six-hit performance is impressive. I guess right now we’ll take whatever we can get, right? It was great to see Tomlin back out there. I try not to think about the five starts Tomlin could have had that were wasted on Carrasco. Did you notice that Pretty Boy shaved off his beard? Maybe this is a sign of improved work ethic on his part. He did hit four line drives in one night. I started doing his little YMCA Brohio Dance in my living room. Whooooo!