CLEVELAND, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Billy Traber pitched seven innings Thursday night to outduel the struggling Freddy Garcia, lifting Cleveland to a 3-0 blanking of Seattle.
Winless with a 9.44 ERA in previous seven starts, Garcia's spot in the rotation had become uncertain. Manager Bob Melvin indicated recently the righthander could be dropped from the rotation with another poor performance.
Garcia (9-12) showed improvement, allowing solo homers to Jody Gerut and Travis Hafner among six hits over 6 1/3 innings. He struck out seven without a walk, throwing 65 of 109 pitches for strikes, but remained winless since June 24.
Garcia had the misfortune of facing Traber (6-6), who gave up four singles and a double. He walked two and struck out five in improving to 6-1 at Jacobs Field this season.
