Baseball

First, the Indians' offensive slump appeared to be over. On May 5 Cleveland was hitting only .261 and averaging 5.2 runs per game. They scored at least even runs in seven of their text nine games and bated .342 with 15 home runs luring that rampage. The streak was highlighted by 116-run, 22-hit explosion against the Royals last Thursday.

Why the awakening? Facing the mediocre staffs trot-ed out by Toronto, Minnesota and Kansas City would help get any team well it the plate, but the Tribe also adjusted to the steady diet of off-speed stuff they were seeing from opponents, even on fastball counts. 'Pitchers are throwing us 5-and-0 changeups and 5-and-0 curveballs, and we're overswinging," said Indians manager Charlie Manuel just before his team's resurgence. "Teams have figured out how to pitch to our lineup, and we have to adjust."

Cleveland, which played with its Opening Day lineup intact in only seven of its first 31 games, has also been getting healthier. Catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. returned on May 8 after three weeks on the disabled list with a pulled right hamstring. Centerfielder and lead-off hitter Kenny Lofton (strained left biceps) came off the DL last Friday, the same day ace Bartolo Colon, who had missed three weeks with a strained abdominal muscle, returned and struck out eight in six innings of a 7-3 Indians win over the Royals.

The next step for the Tribe is to get Roberto Alomar healthy. Hampered by soreness in his left shoulder that has kept him from batting lefthanded, Roberto was hitting .184 with runners in scoring position and .250 overall. Still, the Indians are in no mood to panic, especially after winning two of three from upstart Kansas City last weekend. "The Royals and White Sox are better," says Sandy Jr. "They believe in themselves, but it's a 162-game season, and in the long run we'll find out which team is the best."

The Lowdown on Lowe
Workingman's Closer

The early innings of a game are the hardest for Red Sox closer Derek Lowe. That's when he fidgets and squirms in the bullpen, searching for a way to amuse himself. "I'll mess around, talk and eat seeds," says Lowe. "I pay attention to the game, but not that closely. When I come in, I usually can't even tell you who has gotten tire hits in tire game."

Fortunately for Lowe, he doesn't sit out there as long as his counterparts on other teams. Lowe, who was perfect in eight save opportunities through Sunday, is a throwback to a time when closers weren't limited to cushy ninth-inning-only assignments. Lowe had pitched at least VA innings in 11 of his 14 outings-seven of his saves had come in games he entered before the ninth—and his average of 1.61 innings per appearance was easily the highest of any American Leaguer with more than four saves. ( Mariano Rivera of the Yankees was second with 1.24.) "I still have a starter's mentality, and in spring training I said I don't want to be just a one-inning guy," says Lowe, who was 2-0 with an 0.79 ERA "I asked to pitch the eighth and ninth to get saves."

Lowe was a starter throughout his minor league career and made 10 starts for the Red Sox in 1998 while going 3-9 with a 4.02 ERA in 63 appearances that season. He didn't blossom as a major leaguer until his conversion to a full-time reliever last year. Pitching in every bullpen role, he went 6-3 with 15 saves while carrying one of the heaviest (109? innings) workloads of any reliever in the league. With Tom Gordon out for the season after elbow surgery, the sinkerball-throwing Lowe, 26, was anointed the Red Sox' closer this spring. "He was a starter, then a long man and then a setup guy, so this hasn't been a sudden transition," says Boston pitching coach Joe Kerrigan. "He's taken baby steps to get here."

"Getting those save opportunities last year really helped me," says Lowe, who blew only five of 20 chances. "In the past I was hoping to get hitters out. This year I know I can get them out."

More often than not they go down chasing his sinker, beating it into the ground if they hit it at all. Unlike many closers who stomp into games breathing fire and trying to blow hitters away with heat, Lowe fantasizes about one-pitch, ground ball outs. "My goal is to have every pitch hit on the ground," he says.